2663. Dean Lane

I have been aware of this piece for a little while, but it is only when I changed my walking pattern in the Dean Lane area that I found it. It was such a wonderful surprise to find an enormous mural like this when I wasn’t actually looking for it.

Xenz, Dean Lane, Bristol, December 2019
Xenz, Dean Lane, Bristol, December 2019

The artist Xenz is an absolute master at painting this kind of fantastical scene. In this piece he has painted a conventional countryside view at dawn (I think) with his trademark bee eaters (although these might be parakeets) strung out along a telegraph wire. I imagine that this was a commission, or a very nice gift from Xenz to a friend. It is sure to go down as a classic Bristol mural and one for me to upload onto the Street Art Cities app when I have a moment.

Xenz, Dean Lane, Bristol, December 2019
Xenz, Dean Lane, Bristol, December 2019

This piece is bound to turn a few heads as it is on a corner in the road where people will be driving slowly – it will be particularly prominent for those driving North. Xenz has a strong relationship with Bristol, I think he used to live here, so it is always a real pleasure to see his work, especially one as large and prominent as this. I am sure this will become a local landmark and is one for the street art tour circuit.

2652.Dean Lane skate park (269)

Here is another piece from earlier this year by Flava136 in Dean Lane. He is an artist I have been aware of for a fair while, but the infrequent bursts of activity have rather predicated against posting his pieces regularly, especially if these pulses coincide with lots of other new pieces.

Flava136, Dean Lane, Bristol, August 2019
Flava136, Dean Lane, Bristol, August 2019

Flava136’s monsters share some characteristics with those of other artists such as Nol and Nevergiveup, and I guess this all boils down to adopted techniques, such as long tongues or white spots on the eyes.

I feel I have missed a trick a bit by not getting to understand more about Flava136 and his work, but have plenty more to look forward to I’m sure.

2648. Dean Lane

This is the bit of Dean Lane that is the Real Dean Lane, that runs around the skate park. In fact this mischievous bunny rabbit by Nevergiveup is outside the Bedminster swimming baths, and although it has probably been there for an age, I only recently saw it.

Nevergiveup, Dean Lane, Bristol, December 2019
Nevergiveup, Dean Lane, Bristol, December 2019

This is one of many that I still have in my archives, and barely a day goes by when I don’t find a new one somewhere or other, so plenty more to come even though the artist no longer lives in Bristol. Rabbit, rabbit, boing boing, rabbit rabbit, boing boing…

2644. Dean Lane skate park (268)

I am seeing more and more work by Dasco, but I think I have only ever posted one piece by this artist before. I have quite a few in my archive, and I think I’ll have to dig them out and post them, because pretty much everything I have seen is really very good. I think that my lack of Dasco posts is basically down to knowing nothing at all about the artist.

Dasco, Dean Lane, Bristol, December 2019
Dasco, Dean Lane, Bristol, December 2019

This particular recent piece of graffiti writing from Dasco in Dean Lane is absolutely masterful. The more I look at and study it the better it seems to get. Using the tried and tested black, white and red colour combination (Decay would approve) Dasco has crafted a beautiful and stylish font, elaborate and fancy without being precious. I need to find out more about this great graffiti writer.

Dasco, Deal Lane, Bristol, August 2019
Dasco, Deal Lane, Bristol, August 2019

2634. Dean Lane skate park (267)

This is a recent piece from Hire in Dean Lane which appears to have been dogged with some green paint in the middle. The curious thing is that it is the same colour paint as that used in the background. I can only summise that the splodge was either self-inflicted or done by a passer-by who used the discarded can – either way it is a pity.

Hire, Dean Lane, Bristol, December 2019
Hire, Dean Lane, Bristol, December 2019

I like Hire’s work, it has such a distinctive Gothic style and is quite unlike ahy other graffiti writing in Bristol. Although I haven’t seen him for a long time, Hire is a quiet, unassuming and decent artist who has always stopped for a chat. Looking forward to more in 2020.

2630. Dean Lane skate park (266)

There is something about the work of Elvs that I find rather compelling. His letters are so very distinct and always easy to identify. I love what he has done in this piece, using a little spaceship to create a ray of light over his writing and offer the opportunity to show off two discrete colour variants, one within the arc of light and the other outside it.

Elvs, Dean Lane, Bristol, December 2019
Elvs, Dean Lane, Bristol, December 2019

The piece is really clever and I’m not sure I have seen this kind of idea on a wall very often. As always, Elvs has turned out some really tight graffiti writing that speaks volumes to his great talent.

2608. Dean Lane skate park (265)

Well, so long as Slim Pickings keeps churning out his magnificent TES pieces, I’ll continue to post them. As always his work is clean, sharp and he has some decent colour selections although I fear there might be just a little bit too much contrast between the letter colours and the green and yellow background.

Slim Pickings (Tes), Dean Lane, Bristol, November 2019
Slim Pickings (Tes), Dean Lane, Bristol, November 2019

I have a great many pieces by Slim Pickings in my archive and I’m just waiting for a lean period to publish them (the chance would be a fine thing). More to come in due course – maybe I feel a gallery coming on…

 

 

2596. Upfest 2018 (167)

This extraordinary piece at Upfest 2018 wasn’t actually an official piece, but one of those ‘extras’ that we get in Dean Lane from visiting artists who didn’t get an Upfest pitch. I have tried to find out a little bit about the artist, but haven’t had much success. I found Mowcka’s website, but the ‘About’ section is beautifully lyrical and mysterious, but evasive and I expect that is the whole point.

Mowcka, Upfest, Bristol, July 2018
Mowcka, Upfest, Bristol, July 2018

I am troubled that on this day I managed to get water on my lens and didn’t check it or discover it until I uploaded the photographs. The result is presentationally disappointing, but the artwork magnificent. There is something very ‘mother Earth’ about these characters and a fair amount of symbolism going on too.

2589. Dean Lane skate park (264)

Another nice piece from the archive, this time from the brilliant Hire. I managed to snap this piece just as it was being overwritten, so kind of got lucky. You can see the outline of the piece that went over it.

Hire, Dean Lane, Bristol, April 2019
Hire, Dean Lane, Bristol, April 2019

I think that Hire is probably one of the overlooked heroes of the Bristol street art scene and his work is always on point. His gothic style is his trademark, and we mustn’t forget his rabbits that were being painted in Bristol before the arrival of his compatriot Nevergiveup. These letters, skilfully filled with black and yellow spell out HIRE… I think. A great Deaner piece.

2567. Dean Lane skate park (263)

When I saw this little collaboration from Tasha Bee and Stupid Stupid Meathole, my first thought was that it looked a bit old and weathered, and I wondered if I might have overlooked it on previous visits to Dean Lane… in other words I have absolutely no idea when it was painted.

Tasha Bee, Dean Lane, Bristol, October 2019
Tasha Bee, Dean Lane, Bristol, October 2019

The collaboration is bookended with two beautiful faces from Tasha Bee and filled with what looks like the word ‘meat’. These two have collaborated before in the past, but not for some time. In fact I don’t recall seeing much from Stupid Stupid Meathole for quite a long while.

Tasha Bee, Dean Lane, Bristol, October 2019
Tasha Bee, Dean Lane, Bristol, October 2019

I’ll always have time for Tasha Bees stylised faces and am equally fond of SSM’s rather grotesque figures. This piece of writing though is quite uncharacteristic because there is lots of colour, not just the single pink SSM usually uses. A nice low-key collaboration.

Stupid Stupid Meathole, Dean Lane, Bristol, October 2019
Stupid Stupid Meathole, Dean Lane, Bristol, October 2019