A gallery of superb abstract figure pieces by Bristol artist Shab.
Instagram: @s.h.a.b
All photographs by Scooj
Shab
Tag: Figure
5343. Cumberland Basin
The Bristol Mural Collective, formerly the Bristol Womxn Mural Collective, is a loose aggregation of artists in Bristol, organised by women and with a focus on creating a safe space for women and others to paint on the streets of Bristol. Through their paint jams, they provide an access point for artists to transfer their studio skills to a street scenario, and also for wannabe street artists to gain confidence with expressing themselves and getting a toe hold in the slightly intimidating scene.
The most recent paint jam was held on the 25/26 June 2023 and took up half the long wall at Cumberland Basin, involving some 9 or 10 artists, one of whom was the lovely Esme Lower.
Esme Lower’s highly stylised figures are in a yoga pose and have exaggerated hands and feet, and tiny little heads, a theme/concept that Esme told me she enjoys painting. When I watched her roughly half way through painting this superb mural, I wasn’t quite sure how it would all come together, but she absolutely smashed it in my view. The design is one that I could easily see gracing the front of a greetings card or as a wall poster. There is definitely a Matisse influence in there somewhere.
The paint jam was enjoyable if not a little windy, but with superb views of the Clifton Suspension Bridge and the River Avon, it must be one of the best spots for artists in the city.
3945. M32 roundabout J3 (347)
What a pleasant surprise this little combination was a couple of weeks back on my routine scout around the M32 roundabout. Unannounced and unusual, this pairing of Ra and Vee is both welcome and refreshing. Neither artist has been on my radar before, but since seeing this, I note they have painted more pieces on Bristol and the West.
On the left hand utility box is a piece by Ra, whose name and artwork is obviously influenced by ancient Egyptian culture. The god Ra is normally depicted with the head of a falcon, and is male, so this piece is likely to be someone else. Stunning nonetheless.
The smaller utility box has been painted by Veee, and is a bright and cheerful face. The styles of the artists couldn’t be more different, and next to one another you’d never guess that this was a collaborative paint. It seems that these two routinely paint together. I wonder whether their styles ever meet.
3874. St Werburghs tunnel (254)
This is the second recent piece from Tasha Bee that appeared at the other end of St Werburghs tunnel to her collaboration with Antikki. It is such a pleasure to see her painting again. Although she is really busy with her Pot Heads business, I hope that she finds time to splash a little paint at walls more often.
This is classic Tasha Bee. A stylised portrait with eyes shut, this time wearing a rather colourful and fetching cap. The criss-cross patterning on the cap I think is a technique she picked up from Soap a while back. Let’s hope this is not a one-off return to painting.
3856. Purdown HAA Battery (31)
There is always something joyous about the work of Antikki, good karma perhaps, and this piece definitely has the feel-good factor about it. The poise of the two figures and the relationship between them is full of kindness and hope. Another feature of her work is the connection with nature, which comes across with the plants weaving in and out of the figures.
Antikki appears to like painting these concrete slabs up at Purdown, but the risk up there is that it is easy pickings for taggers who also seem to like this spot, at least the tags on this one haven’t affected it too much. I always get fired up by the optimism and goodness in Antikki’s work. Hoping for more before too long.
3622. Stokes Croft
I drove past this about a week ago and pulled in to photograph it. The Merny (Morny) piece had slipped under the radar a bit, and I’m not too sure how long it had been there. No matter though as I am always delighted to see something new from him.
This one, along with many of his pieces, is a political piece that is critical of our current administration. Simply put ‘what a sad state of affairs’ more than adequately presents the utter mess out country is in, not just in its appalling initial response to Covid-19 but also in its disregard for moral decision-making and corruption at the highest levels of government. The Conservative way seems to be that as long as it makes money it makes sense, no appreciation of the consequences.
The ordinary man, maybe a cyclist or runner, is sitting to contemplate this mess. A wonderful human piece from one of my favourite Bristol artists.
3236. Jamaica Street (23)
Tucked away in a doorway on Jamaica Street is the third of three recent pieces in Bristol by London-based artist Nathan Bowen. All three have been roughly the same size and in portrait orientation, which is quite unusual for street art, most of which is in landscape.
The scribbled cartoon character is holding a sign with the words ‘I am a Man’ on it. I don’t know what this piece might refer to nor whether it has any political significance but I really like it. I am a fan of Nathan Bowen’s unique style and would surely love to see him hitting the walls of Bristol more often. Pitu about the rather useless ‘plus’ tag in blue, but it goes with the territory.
3161. Brunel Way bridge (54)
This is another nice column piece from Skor85 under Brunel Way. I have always liked her work from the first time I saw it at a time when I thought she was a he… before I knew any better. To add to the fact that I like her work, I also really like her as a person, she is so full of energy and always seems pleased to see me, which can’t be said for everyone I know. One of life’s dynamos.
This column piece seems to be of a female monster figure representative of I don’t quite know what, but surely representative of something. There is a sadness about the piece and I am drawn into feeling sorry for the figure. So much from a small and modest piece. Love her work.
2986. M32 roundabout J3 (214)
I love making discoveries. Finding things that were meant to be found, but only by those who are looking. This drawing is one such discovery, in one of the tunnels of the M32 roundabout. There are a trio of other pieces by the same artist not far away. Regular readers will know that I am particularly fond of paste ups, and when they are by an artist unknown to me, they are that little bit more special.
I think the artist is called Jarvis, but that is as much as I know about them. The crown on the top of the signature indicates to me that this artist understands street art culture and is deliberately being a part of it. The piece itself, roughly A4 size, is vibrant and striking. The colours and elements are simple and bold. A red figure in profile, the sea, the sun, the moon and a possible reference to Bristol, a hot air balloon. The wheatpaste is set on a jaunty angle and seems to have been torn from a pad at the top edge. I like this paste up very much and it feels like we might be seeing the emergence of another Bristol street artist. I’ll post the other three pieces soon, and will be on the lookout for more.
2908. Shoreditch, London
The last of this sequence of five pieces from a trip to Shoreditch in November 2018 is this magnificent dorway work by Stik (who else). The simplicity of his work tells stories far greater than many more complex pieces and certainly backs up the saying ‘less is more’.
There is something very human about these two stick figures and although the only features they have are eyes, we understand what the piece is saying and for that alone it should be admired. Stik has hit upon a style that taps into our core senses and feelings at the most basic level and elicits emotions in ways that sophisticated pieces sometimes fail to do. I love this.
Natural adventures 