Even if you haven’t seen the film series – ‘A Nightmare on Elm Street‘ you will almost certainly have seen representations or images of Freddy Krueger, the villain of the piece. If you haven’t, then here he is in all his nightmarish glory. This is a magnificent stencil piece by JPS (who else), that faithfully conveys the Krueger character.
When I first started my two days a week working in London this Summer, I stayed in a hotel on City Road and ventured out towards Shoreditch without really knowing what I would find. One of the first encounters with street art I had was this bold signature piece by Thierry Noir.
Thierry Noir is a significant French street artist and has a Wikipedia page just to emphasise the fact. He claims to have been the first street artist to paint the Berlin Wall…more in the link. I love his simple style and bold colours. He hardly needs to sign his works, but this one said to me ‘welcome to Shoreditch’.
Sometimes, when a piece is so good, it is probably better not to say too much about it. This magnificent work is by AKA Jimmy C and immediately adjacent to another of his fine pieces that I posted about on August 18 this year.
I particularly like the photograph that shows all the air conditioning pipes on the wall. Placement is a major skill with street art and this is perfectly placed. Massive respect to AKA Jimmy C. This is so good.
In a small side street off Brick lane, there is a fairly squalid car park…the perfect site for some great street art and graffiti art. At this site there were some wonderful pieces which I will get round to posting some time. My eye was caught, however, just as I was leaving the side street by this fabulous D7606 pasteup.
I like the bright colours he uses, the icons he adopts (in this case the telephone itself and David Bowie) and his recognisable style. Although a small piece, this is really fun art.
It is not so long ago that I hadn’t come across Osch. Now it seems he is popping up in my blog rather regularly. This is another in his series of orange/yellow circles with a scene going on inside. This particular piece incorporates another of his trademark styles, which is to have an unfurling ribbon effect.
I like this piece for several reasons, but particularly for its location and subject that reflect the adjacent tourist shop.
Cheba is fast growing a national profile and seems to be in demand for painting his large cosmic spacescapes all over the place. This is one of his amazing creations from back in April this year.
Nobody else does these space pictures quite as well as Cheba, he has really mastered the technique and gives us something to marvel at. This particular piece is one of my favourites, but I don’t think it lasted long before being badly tagged. I’m just pleased that I managed to snap it before it was ruined. It was painted on the People’s Republic of Stokes Croft outdoor gallery.
Check out the grey-haired skater!
Since I’m on a run of posting about artists that I know little about I thought I’d include this understated work by Jee See on one of the ramps at Dean Lane skate park. There are other works by Jee See scattered around the city in the bearpit, in St Werberghs tunnel and in Montpelier, but he remains elusive on the Interweb.
Many of his pieces feature a girl’s face, sometimes in revolutionary garb, and there is something very compelling about the artwork. I can’t put my finger on it, but it feels edgy and interesting. More from this local artist to come.
It has been quite some time since I posted anything by Angus and I have had this witty piece by him on the shutter of a butcher’s shop in my ‘to do’ folder for an age.
The ‘Shaun the Sheep’ character was all the rage a couple of years ago in Bristol, with a trail of painted statues across the city, and this humorous piece embraces and reflects that focus. I like it because it is just plain funny on a butcher’s shop. Eat more beef!
Deep in the heart of Montpelier (Alex Lucas land) there is a recent, and rather small, addition to the street art landscape. A hare and a purple baloon, which might be a reference to her work with the Ribena Colouring Cafe in Covent Garden.
Well I have been defeated. I’m sure the explanation is simple, but I have exhausted all my investigative powers. This amazing piece by OHMS appeared back in April 2016 and I fell for it immediately. It is quite unlike other pieces I have seen. Amazing pastel colours, great wildstyle writing and a character, Mickey Mouse. I love this a lot.
BUT…can I find out anything about OHMS? No I bloody well can’t. Several months of searches have thrown up nothing. I hope that posting this and the image on Instagram will help me to track down this elusive artist/crew. Anyone out there who has any clues…fire away.
Worse still, I have several other wonderful pieces by OHMS lined up, but I am reluctant to do so until I have a bit more to say about the artist.
Natural adventures 