Tag: Fingers

6689. Frome Side (47)

Bloem, Frome Side, Bristol, January 2025
Bloem, Frome Side, Bristol, January 2025

I don’t get down to this spot underneath the M32 nearly as much as I’d like to, but I do get there often enough to capture most of the pieces that are painted there, because the turnover is quite slow. This is a wonderful Bloem piece that was painted alongside her friend Sub.

Bloem, Frome Side, Bristol, January 2025
Bloem, Frome Side, Bristol, January 2025

I have noticed that quite a few of the pieces that have been painted over the winter in this spot are showing signs of rain damage, including this one. This piece is a bit of a ‘retro’ piece for Bloem, taking us back to some of her earlier themes when she was painting under the name Hiccup, such as the ‘brick’ mobile phone clutched in a hand with very long fingernails. It is always such a treat finding her work.

6449. M32 roundabout J3 (629)

Klashwhensober, M32 roundabout, Bristol, October 2024
Klashwhensober, M32 roundabout, Bristol, October 2024

Klashwhensober is as busy as ever, and I only tend to post a fraction of the pieces he produces, I expect I’ll need to go back through the archives and do a couple of sweep-ups of his work in due course. Every now and then one of his pieces catches the eye, and this one on the roundabout is one of those.

Klashwhensober, M32 roundabout, Bristol, October 2024
Klashwhensober, M32 roundabout, Bristol, October 2024

This modest spot is tucked away behind a tree, and isn’t easily seen without looking for it. Klashwhensober has written the word SOBER in ribbon letters, filled skilfully in blue and yellow, with a variety of well-painted patterns and features. There is some menace lurking in the form of clutching hands and fingers wafting from the cloudy background. I think that Klashwhensober’s pieces often indicate a busy and cluttered mind, and it would be interesting to see if he could create a piece of writing that was simpler in structure and could show off his skill as an artist. Unlikely to happen methinks.

5542. Purdown (61)

Hiccup (Bloem), Purdown, Bristol, September 2023
Hiccup (Bloem), Purdown, Bristol, September 2023

Certain artists have a little ‘je ne sais quoi’ that makes their work exciting and interesting and compelling for me, and one of them is Hiccup (Bloem). Her work is highly original and eye-catching. She is working hard to improve and tries out new ideas with each piece she paints. If what she has produced so far is anything to go by, she will be a leading light in the city.

Hiccup (Bloem), Purdown, Bristol, September 2023
Hiccup (Bloem), Purdown, Bristol, September 2023

The Purdown walls tend to be square and reasonably small, perfect for honing your skills. In this piece Hiccup (Bloem) has painted a torso with interlocked hands bearing shiny bright red nails. Notable is the texture and depth that she has managed to achieve in the garment. Her style is still a little crude, but at the same time quite sophisticated too, as her technique improves, so will her finishing. A final touch… the rings on the fingers spell out ACAB – (All Cops Are Bastards).

5524. BB Gallery (5)

Object..., BB Gallery, Bristol, September 2023
Object…, BB Gallery, Bristol, September 2023

I don’t often visit the BB Gallery (Bristol to Bath cycle path), mainly because the turnover there is fairly slow, and it is a bit of a death trap, especially while walking the dog. The bicycles, e-scooters and e-bikes, whizz along this stretch of the cycle path, making navigation more like running the gauntlet. It is only a matter of time before there are some serious accidents. (Sounding like the old man I am becoming).

Object..., BB Gallery, Bristol, September 2023
Object…, BB Gallery, Bristol, September 2023

What a thrill to find this small piece by one of my favourite Bristol artists and all round nice guy Object…. The curious imaginary beast is all eyes and fingers, creating a rather grotesque image which is somewhat softened by the speech bubble and the words: “Nah, this has gone all wrong, where’s my rubber gone…”. I love the way this has been painted on an old piece of scrap wood and screwed onto the posts as a contribution to this free outdoor gallery. Utterly unusual (unless you are Object…), slightly disturbing and understatedly brilliant. A classic piece.

5073. M32 Spot (157)

Object..., M32 Spot, Bristol, February 2023
Object…, M32 Spot, Bristol, February 2023

A little while ago, I was taking a Japanese friend on a tour of street art and graffiti spots around Bristol. She is writing an article on street art for a Tokyo journal and was getting a feel for the Bristol scene. Over the course of the day we were lucky enough to meet several artists, including Object… who was blitzing the columns under the M32 with his distinct expressive fingers and hands.

Object..., M32 Spot, Bristol, February 2023
Object…, M32 Spot, Bristol, February 2023

In this first piece, Object… has managed to work his fingers around existing pieces, making very good use of the Boris Johnson head, originally painted by John D’oh, creating something of a grotesque figure (not too difficult in the case of BJ).

Object..., M32 Spot, Bristol, February 2023
Object…, M32 Spot, Bristol, February 2023

It was an education watching Object… paint these pieces (more to follow in another post), which he did with rollers and brushes. He would create the rough shape of the fingers with the roller in white, and then add outlines and some definition, resulting in these extraordinary gnarly digits. Of course, it was really great to catch up with the artist, as always.

2403. M32 Spot (47)

It has been a long while since I last posted anything by Object…, but that might be because he has been very busy with retrieving boards from The Bearpit and running events at the People’s Republic of Stokes Croft gallery in Jamaica Street.

Object..., M32 Spot, Bristol, August 2019
Object…, M32 Spot, Bristol, August 2019

Object…’s work often looks pained and tortured, but especially so in this instance The disfigured fingers have a grotesqueness to them and in a strange way, I find the piece a little upsetting. Of course I don’t know the context of the piece, but it feels terribly troubled. Object… is very good at this challenging kind of artwork.

2020. The Bearpit (174)

Fingers emerging out of clouds set on a blue background with pink spots. Unmistakably a piece by Object… but what is different about this is the gentleness of it and the pink spots are something I’ve not seen him use before.

Object..., The Bearpit, Bristol, January 2019
Object…, The Bearpit, Bristol, January 2019

I love the passion and often rage in Object…’s pieces but every once in a while it is great to see something that is perhaps more subtle. I’m not too sure what the story is here, or why one of the fingers appears to be pushing the crown down, but there is a story. Also I rather like the broken nail by way of observation. This bit of wall is a devil to photograph, but thankfully I was there on an overcast day and so the shadows were not too much of a problem. Nice piece.