Tag: Face

1125. Cheltenham Road, Library (1)

Now this is a beautiful recent piece by Jody, and make no mistake I rate this extremely highly. I am however slightly conflicted by its placement. As part of Government public spending cuts, Local Authorities have had to make some difficult choices. Closing under-used libraries has been one way of reducing costs, and generating income from sale of the land. This hoarding has been erected around the building site that was formerly the library.

I am not particularly conflicted about any of that though, my issue is that the construction firm have gone out of their way (it seems) to avoid attracting graffiti to the hoardings (in an area where hoardings quickly become ‘decorated’). As part of this, they have commissioned two great street artists to complete panels, of which this is one. I suppose what bothers me is that it is that the message this sends out is that these boards are ok for some artists, but not for others. Who decides? On what grounds? How do the artists feel about this? It all feels a little uncomfortable.

Jody, Cheltenham Road, Bristol, November 2017
Jody, Cheltenham Road, Bristol, November 2017

Putting all of that aside though, I think that this is absolutely stunning, and I consider this piece by Jody to be as good as any other I have seen of his. He does beautiful women’s faces to perfection, and I like the way the hair morphs into a smokey cloud.

Jody, Cheltenham Road, Bristol, November 2017
Jody, Cheltenham Road, Bristol, November 2017

What a treat for me to be able to walk past this every day on my way to work. It will be interesting to see how the graffiti community treat this. Jody is held in high regard, but there are some taggers out there who have no respect and they may take exception to this hoarding being for the select few and not the many.

I will update this post if anything happens.

1123. The Bearpit (106)

This is the second piece by an unknown artist I have posted in the space of a week, which is really unusual for me, but I don’t think I will ever uncover the mystery of this one as it is so unlike anything I have seen in Bristol before.

Unknown artist, The Bearpit, Bristol, August 2017
Unknown artist, The Bearpit, Bristol, August 2017

There are two faces adjacent to one another that ahve the appearance of having been etched out of the thick layers of paint laid down on this tunnel wall. They are in fact painted but in this really unusual style.

Unknown artist, The Bearpit, Bristol, August 2017
Unknown artist, The Bearpit, Bristol, August 2017

The face on the right hand side appears to be more complete that the other one and is lighting up a ‘cigarette’. The shading and colours used for the piece are from an interesting and varied palette; for example the thumb is made up of greens, yellows, pinks and reds.

Not knowing who the artist is was not a good enough excuse for not posting this piece. I like it a lot.

1102. Bedminster

I took this picture a couple of months ago in Bedminster, and of course it is instantly recognisable as a piece by Laic217. All the signature elements are there, a portrait, distortion, this time through broken glass, the bucket hat and smiley.

Laic217, Bedminster, Bristol, July 2017
Laic217, Bedminster, Bristol, July 2017

it was after seeing this piece, that the frequency of work Laic217 was churning out decreased markedly. I am pleased to say that he appears to be back up and running and firing on all cylinders.

Laic217, Bedminster, Bristol, July 2017
Laic217, Bedminster, Bristol, July 2017

Although this is not my favourite of his pieces, it is striking, and the colours really stand out.

1097. Upfest 2017 (90)

On the hoardings in South Street Park, not far from the Miss Wah and Korp collaboration, was this exceptional piece by Hazard. I am not all that familiar with Hazard’s work, but she has been recognised by The Guardian as one of the top five female street artists in the UK, and you can see why.

Hazard, Upfest, Bristol, July 2017
Hazard, Upfest, Bristol, July 2017

Her pieces are often feature a female portrait with ornate hair ornamentation, and this is a really superb example of her work. It is interesting to see that she completed the portrait first and then went on to decorate the hair with scarves and feathers. The horns add another strange element to the whole thing.

Hazard, Upfest, Bristol, July 2017
Hazard, Upfest, Bristol, July 2017

I didn’t get a chance to meet her, but with any luck she will be back in Bristol before too long. I have a feeling, from reading her biography on her website, that she might live somewhere in the West of England, but that is just a hunch.

1080. M32 roundabout J3 (51)

As long as FaceF1st keeps spraying, I will keep posting his work. This one looks like it is a tribute to someone called Minty. Perhaps this is why the face looks sad. This is yet another fine piece from FaceF1st and I particularly like the sprayed drips and the real black drips.

FaceF1st, M32 roundabout, Bristol, September 2017
FaceF1st, M32 roundabout, Bristol, September 2017

I’m not sure if this is a Google algorithm feature linked to my computer or if it is a real thing, but when I type ‘FaceF1st Bristol’ into google images, I see an amazing gallery of many of the images I have taken of his work. I have to admit it makes me feel pretty good that I have been able to record his work over the last couple of years.

1043. Rivington Street, Shoreditch, London (6)

Just a quick canter back to last summer when I spent a while working in London and, of course, took quite a lot of pictures of street art in Shoreditch and Camden Town. Most of the pictures I took are so far unpublished, but I will try to post a few more.

Ananda Nahu, Rivington Street, London, August 2016
Ananda Nahu, Rivington Street, London, August 2016

This amazing piece in Shoreditch is by Ananda Nahu. I will let her Facebook profile do her talking for her:

‘Ananda Nahu was born in Juazeiro, on Bahia, Brazil, in 1985. Moved to Salvador in 2001, in 2003 she attended College of Design abandoning it to start in 2004 to attend Fine Arts at the Federal University of Bahia. In this period, she became interested in studying photography and engravings, marked by time studies and research lithography, Serigraphs, metal engraving, and consequently a deepening works in references to these engraving techniques that are Posters.

In 2005 begins to develop the stencil, one type of engraving that is leaked into the mold to obtain shapes of and pictures. From the beginning of the fitting colors of the pictures, apply this combination on the stencil and began to work with multiple layers of color. Use these pictures in creating artistic compositions in urban environments and canvases, also begins to improve regional fabric painting, oriental and African, as well as calligraphy and sources together to compose the picture stencil.

The photographs used to make stencil or free hand painting of his (sic) characters are mostly written by the artist itself, which is done a photographic essay for construction work, or if not, are based on photographs from renowned photographers of Latin America.

In her references are album covers and movie posters, posters and banners, black culture, Latin, Islamic and Asian, urban and goticas calligraphy, printing and fabrics Brazilian, African, Chinese and Japanese, also classical and religious paintings.

Ananda has established itself as a reference in the technique of stenciling and painting, she maintains an international presence for the Arts since 2006, mainly in Holland, Germany, France and Brazil, having many collectors around the world.’

Ananda Nahu, Rivington Street, London, August 2016
Ananda Nahu, Rivington Street, London, August 2016

This was one of the first pieces I saw in London and it had a lasting impression on me. There is something about it that reminds me of Gustav Klimt. It is a lovely piece.

1025. M32 roundabout J3 (47)

A street artist I have long admired is Facef1st, about whom I still know practically nothing. He keeps a low profile and that’s that. I guess it is because he mostly does his work on illegal walls and hoardings (although such things are tolerated much more in Bristol than in other cities).

FaceF1st, M32 roundabout, Bristol, September 2017
FaceF1st, M32 roundabout, Bristol, September 2017

In recent months he has taken to using muted colours that are much more subtle than some of the work you see around the place. This particular work is also rather larger than most of his pieces. It is difficult to judge from this picture, but the wall is probably about 12ft high.

FaceF1st, M32 roundabout, Bristol, September 2017
FaceF1st, M32 roundabout, Bristol, September 2017

The wildstyle writing of this piece is much more disguised, but you can make out the word FACE if you look hard. As always, the simplicity of the face itself is part of what makes these pieces so effective. I still enjoy finding his work dotted about the place, and have quite a few in my archive yet to be published.

1012. Upfest 2017 (50)

Well, I have clocked up my first 50 Upfest 2017 pieces, and we are only in September – maybe I’ll get everything posted before next year’s festival, although I doubt it – there is just so much street/graffiti art happening in Bristol at the moment.

This was the brilliant official Upfest piece by Caro Pepe and Age Age, which was in the covered section of the Tobacco Factory car park, which given the weather over the three days was probably something of a blessing.

Caro Pepe and Age Age, Upfest, Bristol, July 2017
Caro Pepe and Age Age, Upfest, Bristol, July 2017

These two artists have collaborated many times, and really seem to enjoy working together. At last year’s festival they had adjacent spots and created separate works, however it seems that since then they have worked together much more.

Caro Pepe and Age Age, Upfest, Bristol, July 2017
Caro Pepe and Age Age, Upfest, Bristol, July 2017

Working in soft mauves and browns, the two artists have combined the distinctive portraits of Caro Pepe with the elements of function and machinery that Age Age specialises in. The blend works well and I can see why they like to combine their styles. I am not sure, but I think the final version below was tampered with over the eye. It is possible that this was part of the original work, but Caro Pepe’s ‘blind’ eyes don’t usually have a patch like this.

Caro Pepe and Age Age, Upfest, Bristol, July 2017
Caro Pepe and Age Age, Upfest, Bristol, July 2017

As well as this wonderful piece, the pair worked on another wall and a shutter during their short stay in Bristol, which is a real bonus. Both of these to follow.

965. Moon Street (34)

I never thought I’d say this, but Laic217 has gone a little quiet of late, which is fine, because I have a bunch of his pieces to catch up on. Here is one from a while back in my favourite spot in Moon Street. This is also one of Laic217’s favoured locations.


This piece features things we would expect to see from his work: bucket hat; smiley; weed; melting face; brick wall. Somehow these all come together in a bold statement about some of the preoccupations the artist might have, as these are repeating motifs in his work…rather like bowler hats and apples in the work of Rene Magritte.


Another nice piece from Laic217.

945. Stokes Croft, the Carriageworks (27)

The work of Face F1st continues to develop and improve. Recently he has moved much more into pastel shades for much of his work, which gives his pieces an unassuming quality. They blend in more with the walls with modesty.

Face F1st, Stokes Croft, Bristol, July 2017
Face F1st, Stokes Croft, Bristol, July 2017
In this particular piece, Face F1st has become more elaborate with his wildstyle writing, and it is lees obvious that it says ‘face’. Also the face itself has less expression on it that in previous work, giving nothing away to the viewer.

Face F1st, Stokes Croft, Bristol, July 2017
Face F1st, Stokes Croft, Bristol, July 2017
The colours and the paisley patterning make this a really interesting piece. It is one that few stop to look at, even taggers, because, I would assert, of its subtlety. (whoah – slow down on the commas).