Tag: Graffiti

589. Upfest 2016 (83)

I like 23 Magpie’s work so much that I recently bought a small piece that she was selling through Instagram. It is waiting for a frame, along with several other things that need frames…I really do need to earn a little more money.

23 Magpies, Upfest, Bristol, July 2016
23 Magpies, Upfest, Bristol, July 2016

As well as her official work, 23 Magpies left a treasure trail of paste ups all around North Street, some of which I have posted on this blog, and others that I have yet to post. I think I may have got them all, but I can’t be sure. This is a fox painted with a design onto sheet music, something that she does quite a lot. It is always a pleasure finding one of these.

 

 

587. Upfest 2016 (81)

Face the Strange seemed to have a great time at Upfest 2016, spreading the love all over North Street with a fine selection of his wheatpastes, each one of them curiouas and humorous.

Face the Strange, Upfest, Bristol, July 2016
Face the Strange, Upfest, Bristol, July 2016

This one seems to show four red-shirted gentlemen with projector or television tubes for heads. Nobody said that peculiar wasn’t allowed at Upfest, so Face the Strange has provided it in bucket-loads. A commentary on techno-geek-physics-heads? Reminds me a little of Kraftwerk, remember them?

 

586. John Street (1)

Some pieces in Bristol are really hard to photograph and this is one of them. It is a large work by 3Dom sprayed on the side of a business unit in a residential area of St Werburghs. There are always cars and vans parked outside the unit, so the pictures are from rather awkward angles and distances to avoid bonnets, wing mirrors interfering with the shot.

3Dom, John Street, Bristol, May 2016
3Dom, John Street, Bristol, May 2016

I spotted this some time ago and have tried, unsuccessfully, to get a single clean shot of the whole piece. It is a 3Dom classic. Dreamlike and fantastical. I am not entirely sure what exactly is going on in the picture, but looking at the detail of the piece brings out more than first meets the eye.

3Dom, John Street, Bristol, May 2016
3Dom, John Street, Bristol, May 2016

For example, the leg is like an X-ray exposing the bones, and the shoes are literally rooted to the ground. The head is like a light attracting moths and insects and the whole figure appears to be paying homage to a little toadstool.

3Dom, John Street, Bristol, May 2016
3Dom, John Street, Bristol, May 2016

Creative and fun, but utterly unintelligible. I love 3Dom’s work.

585. The Bearpit (34)

Tracking through my archives I found this piece by Decay. I thought that I had posted it, but it seems I had not, so here for the first time I bring you a piece which was sprayed during a bit of a Decay frenzy, shortly after he had arrived in Bristol.

Decay, The Bearpit, Bristol, March 2016
Decay, The Bearpit, Bristol, March 2016

This piece is quite different from most of his other work. The colour regime is typical, but the composition is something else. Usually Decay works with concentric rings of graded shades working out from the centre (although they are sprayed from the outside in – I think) and topped off with a smiley face. None of that here. This is a one-off.

Decay, The Bearpit, Bristol, March 2016
Decay, The Bearpit, Bristol, March 2016

I like this work, even though it reminds me of a duck.

584. Richmond Road (3)

I was actually looking for something else when I found this goat stencil by Stewy. I have known about it for sometime, but had no idea where it was. Finding it was the reward for my curiosity in seeking out some graffiti nearby.

Stewy, Richmond Road, Bristol, January 2017
Stewy, Richmond Road, Bristol, January 2017

Stewy has produced some wonderful stencils around the city, including this Robert Wyatt piece posted last year. Animals and well known people are the areas Stewy specialises in and his stencils are distinctive in that they are nearly all two tone.

When I first photographed the goat, the sun played havoc, with half the goat in sun and half in shade. I tried making a shadow with my body, but it looked, frankly, a bit crap, so these pictures are a second attempt ion a flat-light day, and not great pictures either.

583. M32 Spot (2)

Following on directly from the previous post, here is another wonderful piece from the concrete sprawl under the M32. This is by 3Dom from back in September 2016, and you might get a flavour of what he thinks of it from a hashtag he used on his Instagram feed: #skullsareprettyboringafterawhile.

3Dom, M32 Spot, Bristol, January 2017
3Dom, M32 Spot, Bristol, January 2017
I happen to rather like it, and it works well in the troglodytic surroundings. I don’t think it took too long to spray, although I don’t know, I just have a feeling. He has real flair for attention to detail, the shading, the folds around the eye, the reflection in the eye and drips from the skull. The piece is humorous and the fly coming out of the hole at the top sets it off nicely.

582. M32 Spot (1)

Tucked under the M32 is a well known Bristol wet-weather skate spot which has developed through great DIY work to create ramps, rails, steps etc. A busy place in the Winter. The area lends itself really well to graffiti artists as there is rather a lot of concrete in the form of walls and pillars. This is the first of many posts I will be writing about art in this area.

Silent Hobo, M32 Spot, Bristol, January 2017
Silent Hobo, M32 Spot, Bristol, January 2017
This is a lovely new piece by Silent Hobo. The proportions of the pillars work well for individual characters and this is a great example. I really love this, although Silent Hobo’s style is not to everyone’s liking. It is good news that he is out painting the streets again, as he appeared to have slowed down a little last year.

Silent Hobo, M32 Spot, Bristol, January 2017
Silent Hobo, M32 Spot, Bristol, January 2017
I don’t know where the ‘we are golden’ slogan comes from, but I like it. Positive stuff from one of Bristol’s established street artists.

 

 

581. Wilder Street (11)

Occasionally, when looking for street art on my wanderings, I am confronted by a piece that is unsigned and looks nothing like anything I have seen before. This is one of those. It is an unusual and rather compelling portrait beautifully sprayed, but it is tucked away on a small hoarding and largely out of view, except to those who seek out these places.

Unknown artist, Wilder Street, Bristol, September 2016
Unknown artist, Wilder Street, Bristol, September 2016

I wonder if it is an artist having a bit of a practice at the street scene, or maybe a visitor to Bristol who is uncertain of the rules governing walls. Either way it is a refreshing piece, and I am content to not know who painted it. Maybe I’ll find out in the fullness of time.

Unknown artist, Wilder Street, Bristol, September 2016
Unknown artist, Wilder Street, Bristol, September 2016

580. M32 roundabout J3 (31)

This work by Soker goes back to the lovely late summer days of September 2016. The colours are suitably striking, and the writing typical of Soker’s style

Soker, M32 Roundabout, Bristol, September 2016
Soker, M32 Roundabout, Bristol, September 2016

I’m not sure why it has taken me so long to post this piece, because I rather like it, and in an archive of pictures it leaps out at you. It is here now though and that should be enough.

 

579. Welsh Back (1)

You have to hand it to Feoflip, the wall space he covered during his trip over to Bristol for Upfest 2016 was extraordinary. I am not too sure how long he spent in the city, but he must have spent much of it spraying.

Feoflip, Welsh Back, Bristol, October 2016
Feoflip, Welsh Back, Bristol, October 2016
This is just another example of his fantastic work. Subtle gentle colours, picassoesque portraiture, perfect location and framing. Feoflip is a master, and I sincerely hope he visits us again soon.

Feoflip, Welsh Back, Bristol, October 2016
Feoflip, Welsh Back, Bristol, October 2016
I like the way he has incorporated the window panels into his design, and that the shirt has a quilt-like property, each panel with a different design, but the whole thing working together. I can’t get enough of this visitor’s talents.