4646. Dean Lane skate park (520)

Zake, Conrico and Daz Cat, Dean Lane, Bristol, August 2022
Zake, Conrico and Daz Cat, Dean Lane, Bristol, August 2022

I have not missed my routine tours around Bristol photographing street art, while I have been away, it is good to have a break from routines, but it is one of the things that will soften the blow of returning home.

Zake, Dean Lane, Bristol, August 2022
Zake, Dean Lane, Bristol, August 2022

Shortly before leaving Bristol I managed to photograph the curved wall in Dean Lane, with this fine collaboration between Zake, Conrico and Daz Cat. The Zake portrait is a fine 3/4 profile of a woman with fine blonde hair. Very nicely done.

Conrico and Daz Cat, Dean Lane, Bristol, August 2022
Conrico and Daz Cat, Dean Lane, Bristol, August 2022

The main part of the wall is slightly crazy and brilliant all at the same time. The dragon hatching from an egg in front of a mountain and desert scene is by Conrico, and the cats, but Daz Cat, although I am not sure if the larger orange cat is a cat. A refreshingly different kind of collaboration from these three.

4643. Dean Lane skate park (519)

Teao One, Dean Lane, Bristol, July 2022
Teao One, Dean Lane, Bristol, July 2022

This piece from Teao One was painted on the same wall as the Hire piece I posted yesterday, and only lasted a short while before being painted over. I have to confess to having no idea what is going on in this piece. It looks like Teao One has written TETE, but I am not sure, and the piece is headed with the phrase: ‘Gunshot in the area’, which might be a lyric or something.

Teao One, Dean Lane, Bristol, July 2022
Teao One, Dean Lane, Bristol, July 2022

The elephant in the room in this piece is the can of special brew, which, when I was growing up was the beverage of choice for alcoholics, or heavy drinkers due to its super strength. Here the can reads ‘Special Bren’. Too many local cultural references for me to unravel. Nice to see work from Teao One though.

4642. Dean Lane skate park (518)

Hire, Dean Lane, Bristol, August 222
Hire, Dean Lane, Bristol, August 222

How fantastic, a classic piece of Hire writing with the inclusion of one of his rabbit characters, still looking as unsettling as ever with its narrow eyes and huge teeth. I am so pleased that he continues with his work, albeit not as frequently as when I first encountered him. In this picture you might notice a rather irritating bit of fencing with a blue tarp attached to it. It has been in Dean Lane since they started developing the building next to the skate park, but it has been abandoned, and is really bloody irritating. I think it needs to be removed into the street, but it is more than a one-man job.

Hire, Dean Lane, Bristol, August 222
Hire, Dean Lane, Bristol, August 222

Hire’s letters have softened a little in recent months, but still have that characteristic sharp and pointy edge thing going on, always with an underlying edge or threat, which graffiti always lends itself to so well. I like this piece, it kind of reminds me of when I first met Hire several years ago.

4627. Dean Lane skate park (517)

Andy Council, Dean Lane, Bristol, July 2022
Andy Council, Dean Lane, Bristol, July 2022

I can’t think of a time when Andy Council was busier painting murals on our streets, although he might well have been more active before I started writing about street art in 2015. I’m not complaining, moind, I am always super-happy to see his work.

Andy Council, Dean Lane, Bristol, July 2022
Andy Council, Dean Lane, Bristol, July 2022

This is a wonderful rendition in his customary style of an archaeopteryx, I would guess from memory of dinosaur books I used to read as a kid. Andy Council has captured all the elements of the beast with a collection of shapes, which when viewed as a whole create this amazing precursor to birds. So good to see and beautifully painted.

4619. Dean Lane skate park (516)

Ceus, Dean Lane, Bristol, July 2022
Ceus, Dean Lane, Bristol, July 2022

Since his first tentative appearance in Dean Lane a year ago, Ceus has become something of a regular, who clearly likes to paint in Dean Lane, and on this curved wall in particular. His compositions usually feature his letters CEUS and wings, and this one has both.

Ceus, Dean Lane, Bristol, July 2022
Ceus, Dean Lane, Bristol, July 2022

The letters almost appear as if they are translucent, with the background pattern seeping through into the the word. Very cleverly done. Above, two caps are held aloft by angelic wings, spraying colour into the piece. This is a creative and imaginative piece from the Spanish writer.

4610. Dean Lane skate park (513)

I am not the biggest fan of this bit of wall. There is no easy way of photographing it without a wide-angle lens or similar capability, so you are getting it fence and all, to see what it really looks like, rather than a sanitised version, although I have tried that too.

Laic217, Dean Lane, Bristol, July 2022
Laic217, Dean Lane, Bristol, July 2022

There is little need for me to say much about Laic217, the artist, as I have said pretty much everything I can in the past. This is another skeletal offering, which although not to everyone’s taste, has artistry that can still be admired. He is doing a lot of greyscale work these days which is not easy, but he manages to generate great depth in his pieces with light and shade and folds etc. This is yet another fine piece in a long series of outstanding work from this excellent artist.

4608. Dean Lane skate park (514)

Collaborative walls don’t often get more prestigious than this one, with Soker and Dibz combining in a green buffed wall. There was a time when Soker was painting all the time and Dibz occasionally, over the last couple of years their roles have reversed slightly. It seems I post a couple of Dibz pieces every month, but Soker rather rarely.

Soker, Dean Lane, Bristol, July 2022
Soker, Dean Lane, Bristol, July 2022

To the left is an absolute belter from Soker, spelling out SOKEM, a variant of his name, simply to give him some variation in lettering. Every element of the piece is technically superb, but I am drawn to the rather special fill, and colour selections from bottom to top. Classy stuff from Soker.

Dibz, Dean Lane, Bristol, July 2022
Dibz, Dean Lane, Bristol, July 2022

On the right is a piece from Dibz. Nothing too fussy or big, just some nice black (purple tinged) letters with a cream 3D shadow set on some bursts of orange and red splashes. A nice Example of Dibz’ work and expertise. And great to see these two coupling up.

4607. Dean Lane skate park (513)

It is so obvious that most street artists do what they do because they love doing it. It is as simple as that. This is perfectly demonstrated by a scattering of small pieces by Andy Council recently in the Dean Lane and Brunel Way spots.

Andy Council, Dean Lane, Bristol, July 2022
Andy Council, Dean Lane, Bristol, July 2022

Andy Council has had a long fascination with prehistoric creatures, he even incorporates an ammonite into his signature. His dinosaurs and other creatures can be found all over the city, but these are small, fleeting, fun pieces painted for the sheer hell of it.

Andy Council, Brunel Way, Bristol, July 2022
Andy Council, Brunel Way, Bristol, July 2022

I think that the creatures are trilobites or at least related to them and seem to blend in so well in all of the locations selected, it is as if they were always meant to be there in this urban ecosystem.

Andy Council, Brunel Way, Bristol, July 2022
Andy Council, Brunel Way, Bristol, July 2022

Beautifully observed and nicely painted, these four pieces (there may have been some others that I missed) add colour and interest to our great city. Thank you Andy Council.

4598. Dean Lane skate park (512)

I have encountered a small dilemma, it happens quite a lot in the world of documenting street art. Flava136 is making a deliberate move towards refreshing his moniker to Saor. Part of me feels that I should follow his lead, but the other part of me feels like it will simply muck up all my tagging and labelling which is a nightmare for archiving, searching etc. So as you will see I have decided to stick with Flava136, even though it is now Saor.

Flava136, Dean Lane, Bristol, July 2022
Flava136, Dean Lane, Bristol, July 2022

The name is somewhat irrelevant when it comes to his artwork, which is always presented to the highest possible standards. The piece is horizontally bisected with different colour transitions either side of the line. We also see a return of the toothy monster character, which is becoming a less central part of his work these days. This is yet another sharp, on-point piece from an outstanding artist.

4581. Dean Lane skate park (511)

It doesn’t seem to matter what Kosc does, he always does it with class. This superb piece of writing, part of an NTS collaborative wall, spells out Kosc, and is really top notch stuff.

Kosc, Dean Lane, Bristol, July 2022
Kosc, Dean Lane, Bristol, July 2022

This is classic wildstyle writing with a contemporary feel to it. The design is reasonably complex, but the elements perfectly clean and tidy. The horizontal colour transitions through the letters are expertly done, and the whole thing benefits from being painted on a well prepped wall. More great work from Kosc.