This is an old one going back a year, but what a great piece to be able to pull out of the archives. It s a stunning piece of writing from Epok, with all the things we expect from him, strong lines and sharp angles merging with round edges and curves. A geometric style that is pretty unique to Epok.
Epok, Upper York Street, Bristol June 2016
I dug this out, because I am trying to finish the Upfest 2016 posts before Upfest 2017 at the end of this month. This particular work was sitting in my folders from 2016 which I have been trawling through and screamed out at me…’publish me’.
Epok, Upper York Street, Bristol June 2016
There are other oldies to follow. I can only guess that I didn’t publish this before, because I always have way more material than I can possibly post about on two posts a day.
It is always great to see artists emerge from their studios and create wonderful public pieces like this one. In this case the young artist is Liz Clayton, a graduate artist from University College Falmouth who is now living and working in Bristol.
Liz Clayton, Raleigh Road, Tobacco Factory, Bristol, June 2017
I have heard great things about University College Falmouth and I believe Louis Masai went there too. I have a niece studying there now and she seems to rate it very highly, and what a gorgeous part of the country to be a student in.
Liz Clayton, Raleigh Road, Tobacco Factory, Bristol, June 2017
This is a striking piece and reminiscent of Mexican art celebrating Dia de Muertos (Day of the Dead), which I am sure is entirely deliberate. This is a great stencil piece by Liz, and it is fortunate to have pictured her while she was working on it. I hope to see more of her public work.
Liz Clayton, Raleigh Road, Tobacco Factory, Bristol, June 2017
Another fine contorted ‘Icarus-like’ figure plummets to the ground in this wonderful column piece by Object000. My first thought when I saw this was ‘De Chirico’ the great Italian artist whose work influenced the surrealists. It is the arches that did it. Just google his name and images, and you’ll see what I mean.
Object…, M32 Spot, Bristol, June 2017
I managed to catch up with Object000 when he was spraying this piece, and it turns out that his name is actually not Object zero zero zero, but actually Object ellipsis. So from this point forward I will write his name as Object… . For him the zeros appeared as a result of a digital artifact created because one of the digital platforms he uses wouldn’t accept the ellipsis.
Object…, M32 Spot, Bristol, June 2017
I am not going to go through my back catalogue of posts and change anything as Thisd blog is evolutionary, and I have made many mistakes and learned much on the way. The past is the past. Unlike some in society, I do not wish to rewrite history, however inconvenient.
Object…, M32 Spot, Bristol, June 2017
Too much of a ramble. This is a lovely fresh work by Object… and makes reference to the skate park with two skating figures, which unfortunately are on the other side of the column and only one is pictured here.
All over Bristol you can find collaborative walls by Ryder and T Rex, from the RAW (Read and Weep) crew. What is different about this one is that Ryder (on the left) is more commonly associated with his name in full as part of the work. I think this googly-eyed character is an ‘R’. T Rex meanwhile is…well…T Rex.
Ryder and T Rex, The Bearpit, Bristol, June 2017
The piece is at the base of a stairwell of The Bearpit, and has been sprayed over a Mr Draws piece. Nothing here lasts long, but it is the taggers that are the real menace here. You have to have a thick skin if you want to spray a piece down here.
So, I introduced you to NEVERGIVEUP a few days ago, and here is another of his ‘goofy bunny’ pieces adorning the walls in one of the Bearpit tunnels. I rather like these and, having seen several different colour variants am looking forward to seeing what else he might do.
NEVERGIVEUP, The Bearpit, Bristol, June 2017
NGU appears to have a method for constructing these dangerous/cute creatures, with strong clear lines and filling work. So far I have only seen his pieces in The Bearpit. As he gets to know Bristol it will be interesting to see where his work might pop up next.
The third piece from this site down by Temple Meads Station. The day I first went to take pictures here, Copyright and Paul Monsters were just finishing off their magnificent piece. To their left, working hard was Loch Ness diligent in his work on this piece.
Unfortunately for him, I broke his concentration for a little while. The piece is quite unusual and full of details and little stories. The main figure looks like it is a reindeer – unusual for this time of year.
To the left of the reindeer is what I would describe as a burst of nature, and this was the part Loch Ness was working on when I photographed the work (first time).
As he was working it looked very much like he was working to a plan, and he was almost ‘painting by numbers’. Of course one has to recognise that he designed the plan and has the incredible skill to execute it, I am not suggesting for a moment that the process he uses is any easier than any other.
Now that construction appears to have begun at this site, the hoardings are much reduced and harder to access, not that this has deterred the amazing Mr Laic217. This is a rather nice piece with the words ‘Aerosoles (sic) addicts’
Laic217, Old Bread Street, Bristol, June 2017
This really appeals to me, but I’m not sure why. The grotesque face with blue colouring is not unlike a piece he did at Dean Lane skate park a while back…lots of big teeth.
Laic217, Old Bread Street, Bristol, June 2017
In the piece, the blue-faced character is snorting paint, a metaphor for his own addiction to spraying the streets. I’ve not thought about it before, but Laic217’s prolific nature may in some way be a type of addiction. Perhaps spraying walls is what he gets up in the morning for, or so it would seem.
Laic217, Old Bread Street, Bristol, June 2017
I love the piece, and I’m sure I’ve seen those eyes in the mirror after a heavy night before.
Skor85 is an artist I know precious little about, but I have been finding pieces by her all over Bristol. She is not the most prolific of artists, but her work is out there and some of it I have recently discovered in my archives. Her work is usually a little understated, and frequently accompanied with some message or other.
Skor85, Dean Lane, Bristol, June 2017
This piece is tucked away on the back of a skate ramp, and opposite one of the main graff walls. The more I look at it the more I like it. At first is appears to be a bit crude, but actually the layering is really good, and the fine lines creating the detail are nicely done. More to come from this artist, and best of all she will be at Upfest, so I hope to get a chance to meet her.
A rather poor featured image picture of a rather unusual collaboration by Beastie and Decay. This is not the first time these two have collaborated – or rather shared a wall – and I posted this Raleigh Road piece a few weeks back. The picture is poor, because I took it on a bright day with the sun behind the wall…never a good idea.
Beastie, Greville Road, Bristol, June 2017
This shared wall – I use this expression rather than collaboration, because the two works were painted at the same time, but there is little read-across between the two, each having its own distinct style.
Beastie, Greville Road, Bristol, June 2017
On the left is an unusual piece by Beastie featuring what I would describe as a fictional bird (I might be wrong here) near a small woodland and pond. I don’t know if it is symbolic or representative, but it is a rather pretty bird. I love it when artists incorporate the street furniture, in this case a litter bin, into their works.
Decay, Greville Road, Bristol, June 2017
On the right, is a nice piece by Decay. His work, arguably, is the most distinctive in Bristol. There is absolutely no way that it could be confused with anyone else. The abstract symmetry and concentric bands of reds, greys, whites and blacks have Decay written all over them. Really good drips here too.
Decay, Greville Road, Bristol, June 2017
Overall this is a lovely shared wall, but it will be here only for a fleeting moment as we approach Upfest at the end of the month, and this wall is a popular one for the festival.
This is an absolutely wonderful piece by Dibz, featuring a character from the animated television series ‘Pinky and the Brain’. This is actually ‘the Brain’ as Pinky is somewhat skinnier and more stupid looking. Lots more from the excellent Wikipedia page on this cartoon.
Dibz, Dean Lane, Bristol, June 2017
What I like about this work is just how fantastically sharp and clear all Dibz’s lines are, it is a really strong technical piece. He spends a lot of time perfecting his designs before committing them to a wall, and his black book is well worth looking at on his Instagram feed.
Dibz, Dean Lane, Bristol, June 2017
Care has been taken, even providing a neutral grey background to help the lime green and pink stand out on this piece. One of the best on this wall for a while. Incidentally, and quite by accident, it is on the exact same space as the previous post from Inkie.
Natural adventures 