It is high time that I posted another fabulous wheatpaste by Tian from his recent tour of Bristol and the UK. I think that this might be my favourite of the lot. The figure is, I am sure, a very famous image, but regrettably my classical education was so very long ago and although I am familiar with the image, I don’t know who it is. Actually…on second inspection it looks a lot like Elizabeth Taylor (Cleopatra?).
Tian, Stokes Croft, Bristol, April 2016
Tian certainly brightened up the Stokes Croft area with his paste ups back in April 2016 and some of them are still there for all to see. Some though have been tagged, and others removed.
Tian, Stokes Croft, Bristol, April 2016
I rather hope Tian returns soon for another tour, he provided something very different for us to enjoy.
There are a great many talented artists out there, I mean really talented, that choose to paint on the walls of our streets from time to time. I guess these people must enjoy it, because the work is often so fleeting, and the footfall of appreciating viewers is small. What I am rather clumsily trying to say is that creating street art, because you can must be very fulfilling, and that is a good thing.
Lemak, Dean Lane skate park, Bristol, June 2016
This incredible piece is by Lemak, and in my view is technically brilliant. However, it is tucked around the back of some skating ramps and will be seen by so few people before it is over-painted. I have my photograph, and I am very happy with that, but a part of me feels sad that all the effort that has gone into this remarkable stencil? work will be lost so soon.
Lemak, Dean Lane skate park, Bristol, June 2016
I have been writing about street art long enough to know that the ephemeral nature of it is understood and accepted by all, but when confronted by a piece such as this I wish it weren’t so. Lemak was the artist who created this beautiful tribute to DJ Derek back in April 2016.
Lemak detail, Dean Lane skate park, Bristol, June 2016
Well, here’s one for the cat lovers. I really don’t like posting street art without knowing a little bit about the artist, but in this instance I simply cannot resist sharing this piece as quickly as I can.
Dose, Stokes Croft, Bristol, June 2016
I spotted the glorious cat when driving my wife to the station this morning, and I guess it must have appeared sometime yesterday. It is fresh, striking, clean and catty. The artist is Dose? about whom I know absolutely nothing and am struggling to track him down on the Interweb. I have seen a couple of images on Instagram of the piece being painted, but there is no accompanying information about Dose.
Dose, Stokes Croft, Bristol, June 2016
There is something about cats and street art, like bananas and chocolate. This cat would be welcome in any alley. Glad to have photographed it in its full glory as I expect the taggers will be all over it by tomorrow. A wonderful wonderful piece. I expect to update this post as I find out more.
Dose and Tom Miller, Stokes Croft, Bristol, June 2016
On my return from a short break away from Bristol a week ago, I was welcomed home with this typically bizarre and busy piece by Tom Miller.
Tom Miller, Stokes Croft, Bristol, June 2016
His works often include details of facial features, and an eye and mouth are the prominent features here. His works are visceral and organic, and you see different details each time you look at them. He talks about his style using the created word ‘imaginite’ which describes what metaphysical imagination would look like in solid form.
Tom Miller detail, Stokes Croft, Bristol, June 2016
His works tend to be much more in the fine art category than ‘street’ but he has been masterful in transitioning between the two. There is something about his pieces that sets the pulse racing…an overload of colour and strangely warped familiarity. Dreamlike.
A few weeks back I took my car in for its MOT and had to wait an hour or two before it was ready. It was too far to walk home, so I decided to explore an area that I hadn’t been to before, as I was nearby.
Deamze detail, M32 cycle path, Bristol, May 2016
I suspected that I would find some graffiti and street art and was not disappointed. This area is an extension of the M32 roundabout, but a little more off the beaten track.
Deamze, M32 cycle path, Bristol, May 2016
This is another wonderful bit of wildstyle writing from Deamze in delicious green and black. It looks like an older piece, but I can’t be sure, I don’t think the turnover is quite as high as in other areas in Bristol. It is a good piece, and there is plenty more to report on from this area.
The High Line is one of the most fantastic urban regeneration projects I have had the pleasure of visiting anywhere in the world. It is a linear park built on a raised railway, that fell into disuse after it was no longer required, in the meat packing area of New York. It has been brought back to life under the direction of the ‘Friends of the High Line‘. If you are visiting, I cannot recommend it highly enough.
Pixel Pancho, 10th Av & 22nd W St, New York, 29 May 2016
On my recent family visit to New York, we started walking the High Line and after a little way decided to drop down to street level to find a bite to eat. This was indeed serendipitous, because as we emerged onto 10th Avenue, I could see a lift truck with a couple of artists on it painting a huge wall above a closed deli.
Pixel Pancho, 10th Av & 22nd W St, New York, 29 May 2016
I instantly recognised the artist as the fabulous Pixel Pancho, whose work is so incredibly distinctive. I felt privileged to watch him and his team at work, and rather lucky to have accidentally stumbled on this. I have tried to convince my wife that this was pure coincidence; I don’t think she bought it…but it was.
Pixel Pancho, 10th Av & 22nd W St, New York, 29 May 2016
Immediately I got snapping while my family checked out the Don Giovanni restaurant two doors away. I couldn’t stay long, and unfortunately I didn’t get to see the completed work, which looks rather good, don’t you think?
Pixel Pancho, 10th Av & 22nd W St, New York, 29 May 2016
This is a beautiful triptych photographed in the West tunnel of the Bearpit back in January 2016. At the time I didn’t know very much about Mr Draws, the artist, and the images disappeared in my ever expanding archive.
Mr Draws, The Bearpit, Bristol, January 2016
Mr Draws appears to be getting more active on the street art side of things and his work is popping up all over the place. The last of his works I featured was in Dean Lane skate park, and you can see his style pulsing through this creature.
Mr Draws, The Bearpit, Bristol, January 2016
This piece is absolutely wonderful, I like to think of it as a fox, but on closer inspection, I’m not too sure what animal it is. Top marks for this lovely work, sadly long since gone.
When I first arrived in Bristol, some 26 years ago, I was a young man with energy and an appetite for clubs and boozing. The Thekla was one of my favourite haunts and I regularly drank more than was good for me on this fine vessel. Many ships and boats on Bristol’s floating harbour have been converted into clubs, cafes and restaurants, and they add to the maritime tradition here.
Inkie, the Thekla, Bristol, May 2016
This beautiful Inkie piece is not the first to be sprayed on the side of the Thekla. Some years ago, Banksy sprayed the Grim Reaper in roughly the same place. This piece by Inkie is perfect for the location, and one of my favourite works in Bristol.
Inkie, the Thekla, Bristol, May 2016
There is a little bonus piece near the bowse of the Thekla of Homer Simpson. I am not sure who the artist is, but it brings with it additional colour to the flank of the ship. All a bit of fun.
Now I am back in the UK, after a wonderful trip across ‘the pond’, I can resume my posts on Bristol street art/graffiti (with maybe a couple of guest entries from New York).
This is a truly brilliant collaboration from a few weeks ago in Dean Lane between Zesk and Hemper. Zesk has appeared in these pages a couple of times, and his writing is becoming much more familiar, especially his choice of colours (purples and golds) combined with spheres. Hemper I haven’t come across before, which is a little surprising as he has been writing in Bristol since 2009. There is a lovely profile on Hemper here – from the great ‘Weapon of Choice‘ website.
Zesk and Hemper (detail), Dean Lane skate park, Bristol, May 2016
This collaboration was a bit of fun, and I think was sprayed at the same time as the recent Inkie piece. You will notice that a writer – Suger – has made an appearance. His improving burners are turning up all over the place in Bristol.
Zesk and Hemper, Dean Lane skate park, Bristol, May 2016
Now back to the streets, where I have already noticed a whole bunch of new stuff has gone up while I have been away.
Natural adventures 