Tag: Clown

5100. M32 Cycle path (202)

Rozalita, M32 Cycle path, Bristol, March 2023
Rozalita, M32 Cycle path, Bristol, March 2023

Ooh! This is a superb throwback piece from Rozalita, who used to be Rosalita, and now prefers the moniker Rohzi. I shall continue to use the name Rozalita. I say this is a throwback piece, because her earlier works were almost entirely influenced by circus or carnival characters, but this is the first one I have seen for a while.

Rozalita, M32 Cycle path, Bristol, March 2023
Rozalita, M32 Cycle path, Bristol, March 2023

As always with stage makeup, one always wants to know what is going on behind the smiling facade, and Rozalita has captured this duality perfectly in this stunning portrait. I am looking at it and trying to examine the face behind the mask, is she happy, is she sad? The stylised hair adds to the deceit. What a wonderful portrait piece, and one of my favourites of the year so far.

4395. BB Gallery (2)

As I mentioned in a post a couple of weeks ago, I have only recently discovered the delights of the Bristol to Bath cycle path gallery, and so many of the pieces that I photographed had been there for some time. This introduction is a preamble designed to explain why I am posting a beautiful piece by Rozalita that is obviously quite old because it features a clown, a subject or theme that she has moved away from in recent months.

Rozalita, BB Gallery, Bristol, April 2022
Rozalita, BB Gallery, Bristol, April 2022

This piece has been sprayed on boards that have been attached to a fence, giving it a bit of  a makeshift appearance. The face and neck ruffle are very nicely done, and the whole portrait is bursting with colour. I’m not sure exactly when this piece was painted, but she has visibly made great progress since then. I am a big fan of her work, and I am so pleased I eventually found this one, with a little help from Paul H.

4222. Boiling Wells Lane (2)

Here we have yet another spectacular carnival portrait piece from Rozalita in the smaller tunnel just beyond St Werburghs tunnel on Boiling Wells Lane. The character has a stunning and intricate ruff around his neck which looks amazing.

Rozalita (Rosalita), Boiling Wells Lane, Bristol, January 2022
Rozalita (Rosalita), Boiling Wells Lane, Bristol, January 2022

It was Rozalita herself who told me the whereabouts of this one when I met her a couple of weeks ago, and it was one of two that she painted on that day. One of the features I really like about the portrait piece is the leaves and vines decorating the clown’s blue face.

Rozalita (Rosalita), Boiling Wells Lane, Bristol, January 2022
Rozalita (Rosalita), Boiling Wells Lane, Bristol, January 2022

There is so much of interest in the piece from the ruff to the face to the hair. Even the  background is rather special. Rozalita is on fire and I am a big fan of her work. More to come soon.

4213. Devon Road (15)

I met Rozalita for the first time last week, painting down at the tunnel, and what a pleasure it was too. Of course I knew exactly who she was, which must have felt a bit creepy really, especially as I was able to talk to her about her work with some knowledge and authority. I sincerely hope she doesn’t think me a bit weird or peculiar, because I am just a regular guy who appreciates street art. Anyhow, Rozalita is absolutely smashing it out of the park at the moment, with at least four other recent pieces. I understand that she is upping her game with a view to gaining more paid work from her artistic talents, and with that she has my full support.

Rosalita (Rozalita), Devon Road, Bristol, January 2022
Rosalita (Rozalita), Devon Road, Bristol, January 2022

This clown piece is in Devon Road, which had had a few new pieces added recently, and definitely brightens the place up beautifully. Carnival and circus are themes that run deep in Rozalita’s  work and I always have a sense of tragedy in her characters, once you strip away the mask. I don’t know if that is Rozalita’s intention, but that is what I see. Look out for more from Rozalita here soon.

3920. Greenbank (14)

While the quality of this extraordinary portrait piece by Rosalita (who has changed her Instagram from Rosalita to Rozalita) is unquestionable, the woman’s face disturbs me a little. The exaggerated features have a clown-like quality, and clowns are scary at the best of times.

Rosalita, Greenbank, Bristol, August 2021
Rosalita, Greenbank, Bristol, August 2021

Rosalita has associations with a travelling lifestyle and the circus or performance arts seems to have a profound impact on her paintings, most of which encompass a carnival theme. There are so many good things about the artwork in this piece, but it is the impact it has on me as a viewer that I value the most. I find it completely compelling.

3618. Greenbank (6)

I knew all about this wonderful new collaboration from Rosalita’s Instagram feed, and because I recently (and at last) found the Greenbank wall, I rushed down to take some photographs. It was well worth the trip.

Rosalita, Greenbank, Bristol, April 2021
Rosalita, Greenbank, Bristol, April 2021

The collaboration is from Rosalita and Antikki and they certainly decided to go big with this one. There is so much to love here. Rosalita’s clown face behind layers of theatrical make up that disguise the emotional disposition of the subject, as is so often the case with Rosalita’s work there is something sad or uncertain about the portrait. The hair, oh my goodness the hair. Antikki has done an extraordinary job of weaving her dancing figures into the hair, which if you don’t look properly you might miss. The whole portrait is set on a starry and atmospheric background. This is a masterclass in collaborative working where the two styles and cleverly fused into the one piece.

Rosalita, Greenbank, Bristol, April 2021
Rosalita, Greenbank, Bristol, April 2021

Like many other people, I am so enjoying Rosalita’s strong presence on our streets, which has blossomed over the last six months or so and it is great to see Antikki joining her. I would love to see more collaborations from these two.

3148. St Marks Avenue (10)

A short while ago I posted a portrait piece by an unknown artist in St Marks Avenue, and said at the time that there was another one by the same artist that I would post perhaps once I knew who the artist was. Since then I posted the piece on Instagram and thanks to Rusk I now know that the artist is Rosalita from the RAW crew.

Rosalita, St Mark's Avenue, Bristol, July 2020
Rosalita, St Mark’s Avenue, Bristol, July 2020

The face with clown paint reflects a lot of face-painting work that Rosalita appears to do and carries that over onto our streets. I think that this and her other portrait are masterful, sensitive and original pieces that add to the wide spectrum of street art that we are lucky enough to see in Bristol. I truly hope that Rosalita carries on with these wonderful portraits.

Rosalita, St Marks Avenue, Bristol, July 2020
Rosalita, St Marks Avenue, Bristol, July 2020

492. Stokes Croft, the Carriageworks (18)

A week or so before Haloween, this scary clown appeared in Stokes Croft. Now I am the first to say that I am not a big fan of the scary clown thing that seems to be sweeping the nation at the moment, but I really like this piece.

Dose?, Stokes Croft, Bristol, October 2016
Dose?, Stokes Croft, Bristol, October 2016

The artist is unknown to me, and I can’t find out anything about him anywhere. He signs himself ‘Dose’ or ‘Dase’ and was responsible for this fabulous ghost cat a few months ago, in exactly the same spot.

Dose?, Stokes Croft, Bristol, October 2016
Dose?, Stokes Croft, Bristol, October 2016

His works are so clean and beautifully executed…really fine work, but they also have some menace, some edge, which for me is one of the things I love about street art. I wish I could find out something about him (I know it is a he, because I have seen images of him painting the cat on the internet, but the photographer/blogger also didn’t know who he is).

Dose?, Stokes Croft, Bristol, October 2016
Dose?, Stokes Croft, Bristol, October 2016

If anyone reading this can put me out of my misery and knows who the artist is, please leave a comment at the end of this post. Scary clowns…they really are scary.