Following on from yesterday’s collaboration post (Kid Crayon, Rama and Largo), here is a piece by Rama over the fence at Dean Lane skate park. Weirdly I actually saw him painting this when dropping my son off at the swimming pool for his lifeguard training – I didn’t stop for a chat, because at that point I didn’t realise that he was one of the artists that Kid Crayon had been in contact with. If I had known I would most certainly have stopped for a chat.
Rama, Dean Lane, Bristol, April 2019
This is quite simply a really decent and well executed burner with a fabulous two-tone fill and a rather Inky-esque 3D shading with a vanishing point below the piece. Nice work. Rama was not painting alone, but was actually with his travel companion from Spain Largo… see the next post.
It is most satisfying knowing that something is going to happen and then discovering that it has indeed happened. This is a wonderful collaboration between Bristol artist Kid Crayon and two Spanish artists, I think from Barcelona, Largo and Rama. I spent a while a few weeks back chatting with Kid Crayon in a bar and he told me then that he had been in touch with two Spanish artists on Instagram, and had agreed to paint with them on a planned visit to Bristol. This, I guess, is the result and I love it.
Largo, M32, Bristol, April 2019
Set on a purple background and starting on the left is a fabulous cartoon style man and his blue car by Largo. I love the style in the man’s face, the hatching bringing out his features and his glasses are brilliant. There is a simplicity to this work that works really well. I wonder what the story is.
Rama, M32, Bristol, April 2019
In the middle of the collaboration is this ashtray by Rama, with a smoking Posca pen in it – a reference to a tool of the trade, a bit like the way many artists feature spray cans in their work. I am particularly drawn to the little chips in the ashtray – fabulous attention to detail.
Kid Crayon, M32, Bristol, April 2019
Finally, on the right hand side is this stunner from Kid Crayon. Heaven only knows what is going on here, a country bumpkin maybe with a sheriff badge with the word Eat (his crew with SPZero76), grating a plate of cheese. I don’t know why, perhaps it is the unuisual story and concept, but I absolutely love this piece a whole lot, even the overpainted white outline names behind each section.
Kid Crayon, M32, Bristol, April 2019
Unfortunately this collaboration didn’t last long, and was overpainted with some inferior burners, but that is the way with street art. I am just so pleased I got to see this wall before it was ruined.
A highly unusual piece in Moon Street by DNT on the wall where his three-eyed cat used to be. I met DNT (Dante) for the first time just as he was finishing this piece off. Like several street artists that I am acquainted with, he has a larger than life personality and didn’t seem to mind too much chatting about the piece. He said he wasn’t too happy with the the colour scheme and was suggesting that he had run out of a particular colour.
DNT, Moon Street, Bristol, April 2019
The copper tones remind me of a large tribute piece he did in The Bearpit a few months ago. It almost looks like two discrete works, the copper surround with soft lines and patterns and in the centre a red and yellow heart in a much more blocky style. Here DNT is showing his love for BS1. A nice piece, but I do miss the cat.
A gallery of extraordinary graffiti writing by Epok, Bristol artist.
All photographs taken by Scooj.
Epok, Coach and Horses, Bristol, February 2021Epok, Brunel Way, Bristol, February 2021Epok, M32 Spot, Bristol, December 20203Dom, Piro, Epok, Sepr and Feek, New Gatton Street, Bristol, June 2020Piro and Epok, Dean Lane, Bristol, May 2020Epok, Dean Lane, Bristol, September 2019Epok, Mina Road, Bristol, May 2019Epok, Mina Road, Bristol, May 2019Epok, Upper York Street, Bristol, April 2019Epok, Brunel Way Bridge, Bristol, March 2019Epok, Armada Place, Bristol, January 2019Epok, Moon Street, Bristol, October 2018Kleiner Shames and Epok, Dean Lane, Bristol, July 2018Epok, Brunel Way bridge, Bristol, June 2018Epok, M32 roundabout, Bristol, May 2018Epok, St Werburghs tunnel, Bristol, April 2018Epok, Upper York Street, Bristol, February 20183Dom and Epok, Dean Lane, Bristol, January 2018Epok, Brunel Way bridge, Bristol, November 2017Epok, M32 roundabout, Bristol, November 2017Epok, Wilder Street, Bristol, November 2017Sled One and Epok, The Bearpit, Bristol, October 2017Sled One and Epok, The Bearpit, Bristol, October 2017Epok, M32 roundabout, Bristol, April 2017Ments, Sled One, Epok, Peal, Meds, Wilder Street, Bristol, February 2017Ments, Sled One, Epok, Peal, Meds, Wilder Street, Bristol, February 2017Ments, Sled One, Epok, Peal, Meds, Wilder Street, Bristol, February 2017Ments, Sled One, Epok, Peal, Meds, Wilder Street, Bristol, February 2017FLX, 3Dom, Epok, Soker, Sepr, Horley Road, Bristol, October 2016Epok, M32 roundabout, Bristol, February 2017Epok, M32 cycle path, Bristol, January 2017Epok, Unity Street, Bristol, June 2016Epok, M32 Roundabout, Bristol, December 2016Sled One and Epok, Armada Place, Bristol, June 2016Epok, Bolton Road, Bristol, February 2016Epok, Bolton Road, Bristol, February 2016Epok, M32 Roundabout, Bristol, August 2016Epok, Upper York Street, Bristol, June 2016Epok, Brookfield Avenue, Bristol, February 2016
I got really lucky with this one, I was doing a bit of an evening tour of favourite street art areas, and stopped at the M32 spot. I almost couldn’t be bothered to walk along the M32 cycle path, because I had been there quite recently, but something made me go and take a look anyway. Who should I find but Nightwayss, finishing off this striking and rather brilliant piece.
Nightwayss, M32 cycle path, Bristol, April 2019
This was fortuitous on two counts, firstly to be able to meet the artist, who seems to be a very nice chap and secondly to be able to photograph it as a finished piece. All too often I have work in progress photographs without a final completed piece, because by the time I return it has been buffed or tagged.
Nightwayss, M32 cycle path, Bristol, April 2019
We chatted a little about his work and I asked Nightwayss why he likes to feature monkeys in his work, he told me it was because they are quite like us so we can identify with them, which I get. There is a lot to look at and admire in this piece, which is full of detail, like the dunce cap (what is that about?) and a wrist watch around the monkey’s head. An unexpected and most welcome surprise.
Another first, but certainly not the last from an artist who does something a little different from the usual fare we see on the streets. This framed slogan or saying is by #DFTE, who is a Bristol-based artist who places these little gems to carefully thought out places in the City.
#DFTE, St Werburghs, Bristol, March 2019
If you look up at the north end of the St Werburghs tunnel, you will see this installation clinging to the bricks on the arched roof. It says ‘This is for you’, which is very nice… I guess it is a message to those who look around them and live in the now. It must have been quite a challenge getting it up there and sticking it to the ceiling, but it was utterly worth it and certainly brightened my day when I first saw it. More to come.
Right, there is an interesting thing going on here with the work of Panskaribas, and I’m not entirely certain how it all works. I understand that when he signs the piece with his Reseau signature, it indicates that it is a collaboration, but this piece looks like his work only. I think that Reseau might be the crew he belongs to and that there are one or two others who paint with him from time to time, which would explain the mix of styles seen in some of his pieces. The members of this crew appear to draw inspiration from the Cubists and surrealists though.
Panskaribas, M32 Spot, Bristol, March 2019
This is a witty piece showing one of his cartoonesque characters viewed from behind. I love the ‘Picasso’ hands and the cheeky face looking over his shoulder. Really interesting art, and so unlike anything else on the streets of Bristol at the moment.
This brightly coloured piece by Soap looks almost good enough to eat. Lots of stuff in there that looks like delicious confections, and the trademark mouth/teeth seem to be getting stuck in.
Soap, M32 roundabout, Bristol, March 2019
I have said it before about his recent work, that Soap seems to have found a new spring in his step and there is a joi de vivre in his work over the last year or so. It is great to see this, and in my view his work just seems to be getting better and better.
A beautiful quick one by Sled One in Wilder Street. He has the incredible ability to animate whatever it is he paints, and in this case he has brought alive the word ASK (from the crew After School Klub, to which he belongs).
Sled One, Wilder Street, Bristol, April 2019
Great colours and patterns. At the time of writing this, I am aware of two more new pieces on this wall , curated by Where the Wall, which have appeared subsequently by other ASK crew members Sepr and 3Dom. Expect to see them here soon.
I don’t head up to Horfield skate park very often, as I consider the turnover of street art and graffiti there to be pretty low and it doesn’t seem to be a particularly favoured spot for many artists. I was delighted therefore to be rewarded on a rare trip on Good Friday with this magnificent stencil by John D’oh.
John D’oh, Horfield skate park, Bristol, April 2019
The stencil works for me so very very well. It shows the unspeakably toxic Jacob Rees-Mogg standing behind Theresa May who appears to be his ventriloquist’s dummy. Brilliantly funny but also it speaks volumes about how so many of us feel about the way the European Research Group (ERG – what kind of name is that anyway? Research? swap the word ‘research’ for ‘hating’ and you might get a sense of what they’re all about) have been holding May hostage throughout Brexit negotiations. Their hard-line and uncompromising Brexit desires, and her determination to hold the Conservative party together, mean that they have dictated the terms of the failed negotiations, along with the jaw-droppingly selfish DUP.
Rees-Mogg represents everything I dislike about self-interested politicians who do not serve their people, but rather manipulate narratives that appeal to under-represented groups. I would guess he also cares more about his income security (and growth) than he does about the pressing fate of our planet. I suspect he shares Owen Patterson’s loathing of the environmental movement that might, just might, interfere with their comfortable lives for the sake of trying to reverse the shocking state of carbon emissions and biodiversity loss.
Thank you John D’oh for giving us this fabulous visual reminder of just how disgraceful the political class (and indeed party politics in general) are in the UK.
Natural adventures 