Tag: Graffiti

1145. Camden Town, London

I knew where to look first when I emerged from the tube station in Camden Town, and on locating my first spot, I was rewarded with a small parking yard which had been pretty much resprayed since I was here a year ago. Unfortunately the gates were closed, which made photographing the side walls a little tricky, but this end wall, a gateway to an inner yard, was thankfully unobstructed and face on. The piece is of course by Stinkfish, who is also responsible for the most iconic piece in Stokes Croft, Bristol.

Stinkfish, Camden Town, London, November 2017
Stinkfish, Camden Town, London, November 2017

Stinkfish specialises in painting yellow portraits from photographs that he takes of people he meets, and adorns them with vibrant patterns of colour and light, creating a magical movement all around the piece. These characteristics make his work easy to identify.

Stinkfish, Camden Town, London, November 2017
Stinkfish, Camden Town, London, November 2017

His pieces are always great to look at and seem to ask many questions about who these characters are. I am not sure about the background, which looks like it is by another artist. In my view, the pieces fight for attention instead of complementing one another, so I would suggest that this was not a collaboration, but I am usually wrong about these things.

 

1144. Camden Town, London

Anyone familiar with Bladerunner (the original) will be familiar with the Tyrell quote: ‘The light that burns twice as bright burns half as long – and you have burned so very, very brightly, Roy’.

Pegasus, Camden Town, London, November 2017
Pegasus, Camden Town, London, November 2017

This quote could equally well be applied to the extraordinary vocalist Amy Winehouse who died of a drugs overdose in July 2011. In the UK, and especially in North London there is a terrific fondness for this amazingly talented young woman whose moment in the spotlight was so short and fragmented. This wonderful stencil, by Pegasus, is a fine tribute to the singer.

Pegasus, Camden Town, London, November 2017
Pegasus, Camden Town, London, November 2017

I have featured a couple of Pegasus pieces in previous posts, this one of Mother Teresa from last year’s upfest, and this one of Donald Trump. Pegasus is fond of creating works of iconic public figures and is not afraid of controversy.

1143. Camden Town, London

On a recent trip to Camden Town, I visited a few of the streets I had been to a year previously. This particular hot spot for street art was rather annoyingly obstructed by this hoarding, which rendered any photography pretty useless, along the narrow passage where the best walls are. However, it was an ill wind really, as the hoarding has become the canvass for this fine and rather haunting piece by Irony.

Irony, Camden Town, London, November 2017
Irony, Camden Town, London, November 2017

I could tell, the minute I saw this portrait piece, that is was by an established and talented artist, but it wasn’t until I got home and properly looked at the pictures (and started seeing the image appearing on Instagram) that I realised it was by Irony. I am guessing that it is a reasonably new piece, and feel quite lucky to have ‘bumped into it’.

1142. The Bearpit (107)

The weather, and time of day can be a real pain in the backside when taking pictures of street art. I always feel I have to take pictures, even if the light conditions are a bit crap, just in case the piece I am photographing isn’t there the next time I pass by…a very real possibility in Bristol. I am saying all this as a bit of an elaborate excuse for a rather poor picture of a beautiful recent piece by Decay.

Decay, The Bearpit, Bristol, October 2017
Decay, The Bearpit, Bristol, October 2017

This Halloween piece is notable because it is one of those rare examples of Decay’s work that departs from his customary reds, greys and blacks. I really love this piece, and love the way he has ‘respectfully’ sprayed around the sign that says ‘exhibition in progress, please respect’. It made me smile. Something different and yet so familiar from Decay.

1141. Raleigh Road, Vector (17)

The hoarding in Raleigh Road has become a popular spot with Cheo, Soker, Voyder and Deamze in particular, and between them they keep refreshing it with some great work. This is a great piece from Cheo featuring a couple of spraying characters and his signature bee.

Cheo, Raleigh Road, Bristol, October 2017
Cheo, Raleigh Road, Bristol, October 2017

This piece is fresh and clean, and looks as tidy as if it were still in his black book. I’m not quite certsin what the characters actually are, but they are both dressed in hoody and baseball cap respectively. Very street.

Cheo, Raleigh Road, Bristol, October 2017
Cheo, Raleigh Road, Bristol, October 2017

So many more of his pieces in my archive…more time needed.

1140. Dean Lane skatepark (89)

Thelochnessmonster specialises in these large rectangular line drawing pieces. In this case it s a white line on a blue background. There are several of the motifs that Thelochnessmonster uses in this piece, such as the yin yang icon, peace symbol and a crystal.

Thelochnessmonster, Dean Lane, Bristol, November 2017
Thelochnessmonster, Dean Lane, Bristol, November 2017

As is often the case with this artist, there is a story going on in this picture. It would be great to get into his head a little mor and start to unpick some of his work. Another nice piece from this artist with a quite unique atyle and approach to street art.

1139. Moon Street (37)

This is my favourite wall in Bristol. It is small and self contained, and has been shared by a wide variety of artists over the last couple of years. The latest resident is Deamze with one of his tight angular wildstyle pieces – no characters on this one.

Deamze, Moon Street, Bristol, November 2017
Deamze, Moon Street, Bristol, November 2017

To the untrained eye, this might appear to be just a random bunch of lines and jags. It actally spells out DEAM, and it has a little ASK, the crew name, to the left of the piece. Deamze just keeps on churning out his excellent work.

1138. Armada Place (11)

The board has been nicely grey washed, making it a perfect backdrop for this superb clean piece of wildstyle writing from Subtle. It has been a little while since I saw anything by him, but this is one of at least two recent works I know about.

Subtle, Armada Place, Bristol, November 2017
Subtle, Armada Place, Bristol, November 2017

It is always nice to se his work on the streets, it keeps things fresh. In my view, this is a very classy piece of writing. I hope it is the beginning of many more pieces from another one of bristol’s talented pool of graffiti writers.

1137. Upper Perry Hill

On an environmental leave day a couple of weeks back I was litter picking down on the New Cut, the diverted course of the tidal River Avon in Bristol. During the litter pick, one of my colleagues asked whether I had looked at a piece of street art she has been telling me about for a little while. During the lunch break, I took a short walk into Bedminster where the mural was, not far from the New Cut.

Anderw Burns Colwill, Upper Perry Hill, Bristol, November 2017
Anderw Burns Colwill, Upper Perry Hill, Bristol, November 2017

I found the piece, and instantly saw that it was by Andrew Burns Colwill, his style is so distinctive. This piece has breathed new life into what was previously a bland wall and brought with it an exotic feel – street art for a local community. It is beautiful.

Anderw Burns Colwill, Upper Perry Hill, Bristol, November 2017
Anderw Burns Colwill, Upper Perry Hill, Bristol, November 2017

This work has a lovely watercolour quality to it. The details of the piece poke through a misty haze, and the derelict archway give it a classical feel, the whole thing being soulful, peaceful and romantic. I’m not sure if the church is based on a real one or whether it is from Burns Colwill’s mind, probably the latter.

Anderw Burns Colwill, Upper Perry Hill, Bristol, November 2017
Anderw Burns Colwill, Upper Perry Hill, Bristol, November 2017

I am a big fan of Andrew Burns Colwill’s work, and have found him great company on the few occasions I have met him. One day I will go for that drink with him and get that interview he agreed to some months ago!

1136. Cheltenham Road , Library (2)

This is the second stunning piece that has recently been commissioned (I guess) on the hoardings outside the site where the library used to be. You can read more about my thoughts on this here. The shark here is absolutely amazing and Sophie’s trademark drips are to die for. I honestly think this is one of the best street pieces I have seen in a little while.

Sophie Long, Cheltenham Road, Bristol, November 2017
Sophie Long, Cheltenham Road, Bristol, November 2017

Sophie Long has captured the form and slow movement of the shark perfectly and the reflected light ripples across the dorsal surface. Of course, as someone with a marine biology training, I am particularly taken with this piece. Sophie Long is a local artist whose work I have seen before, but not posted yet. Her website gives you a good insight into some of her work.