19When it comes to Deamze pieces, we have come to expect some complex and elaborate wildstyle work. It is not always the case though, and this is an example of a simpler style of piece that he produces from time to time.
More like a throw up (a rapidly produced and usually spontaneous work), this clean and simple piece demonstrates the full range of talent springing from the incredibly prolific Deamze. Bristol’s greatest writer?
I can keep this relatively short and sweet. The practice hoardings at the Stokes Croft end of Ashley Road tend to have one of the highest turnovers of graffiti art in Bristol. Because of this it is easy to miss new pieces before they are over-painted, but sometimes, if you get the timing right, you will see a beauty like this.
It is no secret that I am a big fan of Face F1st, and this is my favourite to date. I really love the the way that PWA (Pirate Wall Art) is incorporated into the hair decoration. The designs in the lettering are becoming more elaborate too.
It sounds patronising, and certainly isn’t meant to, but I find this piece really charming. Just beautiful.
It recently occurred to me that I am going to have to work through my backlog of Upfest 2015 pieces, because it will not be too long before they get replaced during the 2016 extravaganza and appear a little out of date. July 23-25 will see an influx of 300 artists showing off their talent, and I have to say I can’t wait. Among them will be Louis Masai, a London based artist who is renowned for his beautiful animal works.
Louis Masai gained an art degree from Falmouth in Cornwall, and has been living in London since 2010. More about him from his own website. This is a beautiful picture of two macaws (I seem to have posted a lot of these lately) and a clear and simple message that they belong in the wild and not in cages. I can go with that. His work is outstanding and his presence in Bristol this year will be a real bonus.
I believe The Krah is only an occasional visitor to Bristol, so I was surprised and rather pleased to find this small stencil on a door in Sydenham Lane. I was not looking for any street art, but simply taking a short cut…or different route down into Stokes Croft. This was my reward.
I wrote a short post about a lovely piece The Krah did in Leonard Lane, which was rather different in technique to this delightful stencil. Sometimes these small pieces can be the most pleasing, and they sit very neatly on the vast spectrum of all that Bristol street art has to offer. As with so many stencils, there is a sinister side to this girl – the grenade and machine gun remind us that we live in a violent and crazy world.
To find an Inkie work is always a pleasure. To find one that is still fresh, and you can almost smell the paint is even better. This piece was obviously a bit of fun, because the walls here at Dean Land skate park are over painted pretty much weekly.
I have a feeling that a few artists came together to spray these walls together last weekend, because in addition to Inkie, Zesk and Hemper and Mr Draws had all sprayed pieces at the same time. I am finding out that quite often groups of artists will congregate and have graffiti fun together.
I still stand out as an observer of street art, because that is what I am. Very slowly I am learning a little bit more about the culture, the relationships, the taboos and the protocols of the graffiti community, but I will always be an outsider looking in. It is not a regret, but more of an observation. It also means that my naivety in this landscape is sometimes crushingly obvious.
I do this though because it gives me great pleasure.
This is a collaboration, or at least two pieces that were completed simultaneously, between Kid Crayon and Subtle. I have posted a great deal of Kid Crayon’s works, and once again he appears to have dispensed with his trademark crayon in favour of a spray can.
I know little about Subtle, and can’t think that I have seen his stuff before, or if I have, I haven’t registered it. This is a decent wildstyle burner. Both pieces have been in place for a month, and thus far respected by taggers. This seems to happen a lot with Kid Crayon’s work, it is rarely defaced.
As a combination these work well. I am a big fan of Kid Crayon, so these get a big ‘high-five’ from me.
Time to introduce another Bristol based street artist whose work I have seen dotted all around Bristol. This is a very recent piece which I found while actually looking for something else, which seems to be de rigueur in hunting down street art.
The artist is called Mr Draws (Nathaniel Draws) and his various biographies state that he likes 1950’s pin ups, collage and everything old and vintage. He has one of those self-fulfilling names…he could only ever have become an artist. I work in the environmental sector, and have worked with a Wren, a Raven, a Fish, a Waters…the list goes on…I often wonder how much their name shaped a bias for wildlife/the environment. I am straying from the point. I will post more about Mr Draw’s works, which are refreshingly different.
With one month to go before the referendum to decide on whether Great Britain should stay in the European Union, things are hotting up. This is an extraordinary commission from a group who are encouraging voters to remain in the EU. The wall is where the Bruno Smoky ‘burning house‘ piece was.
I was lucky enough to see the artist working on this piece on my way to work yesterday morning. I stopped and chatted with him, while he painted. He is Felix (FLX) Braun, one of the original Bristol street artists and author of ‘children of the can‘ a seminal book cataloging the birth and growth of Bristol street art. Felix is one half of the Paintsmiths who created this tribute to Mibsy.
We had a great discussion about the tagging that seems to be everywhere in Bristol at the moment, and he views it very much as part of the development of the whole graffiti art scene. He does a lot of work with youth groups, often from difficult backgrounds, and teaches them to spray and develop their skills. I believe he also works with art students at the University of the West of England in Bristol.
The piece itself is a deliberately provocative and grotesque image of Donald Trump and Boris Johnson kissing…so much crazy hair! The intention is for the image, and others like it, to go viral, thus reaching and encouraging young voters to register and vote on the day of the referendum. It is known that younger people are much more pro EU than people over 60, but are less likely to vote.
I will be playing my part by using the limited means I have on digital media to reach as many people as possible with this message.
Technically this is a great piece by a great artist, and although a commission, has all the hallmarks of the ‘Bristol thing’ about it. I love it.
This is a spot favoured by Eraze and his friends. As I have mentioned before the turnover of work at Dean Lane skate park is quite phenomenal. I photographed this piece at the beginning of April, and within a couple of weeks it was completely overpainted.
I think that there are quite a few similarities between the work of Eraze and Laic217, something to do with the bright colours and rough edges, combined with lettering and characters.
This is an amusing piece. I think the word spells ‘dope’… more drug references.
I caught sight of this caravan across the M32 while out for a walk last week. It had all the hallmarks of a work by Aspire, but it wasn’t until I downloaded the pictures onto my PC that I was able to see the signature.
When I see a piece like this, which I might add is another beauty, I am left with so many questions. Who lives in the caravan? How does Aspire know them? Was it a commission? and so on. This is an unusual and distinctive piece.
Natural adventures 