Tag: Graffiti

231. Dean Lane skate park (3)

The turnover of work at Dean Lane skate park is, I am discovering, very rapid indeed. I try to walk to the area once a week, and always there are new works to look at. This is by Eraze, an artist I have not yet featured in my posts, although I have seen several recently.

Eraze, Dean Lane skate park, Bristol, May 2016
Eraze, Dean Lane skate park, Bristol, May 2016

This is typical of his work, and similar in form to Laic217, in that his name is usually written out in a colourful and easily legible style, with a feature element as a focal point. In this instance a dope-smoking turtle/tortoise. I have since found out that the character is by Indy Skyzone.

Indy Skyzone, Dean Lane skate park, Bristol, May 2016
Indy Skyzone, Dean Lane skate park, Bristol, May 2016

Eraze describes himself as a ‘graffiti loving Bristolian’ – so I guess that in my book that makes him pretty special. I look forward to seeing his work develop.

230. Warden Road

One of the true pleasures of photographing street art is finding some of subtle hidden pieces that are out there, but are often overlooked. 23 Magpies specialises in wildlife wheatpastes, often stuck in such ordinary places that if you blink you miss them.

23 Magpies, Warden Road, Bristol, May 2016
23 Magpies, Warden Road, Bristol, May 2016

This lovely work of a crow on sheet music is pasted onto a utility box, much as the chameleon was not far up the road on Dean Lane. I don’t know how long this has been here, but I only noticed it last week.

23 Magpies, Warden Road, Bristol, May 2016
23 Magpies, Warden Road, Bristol, May 2016

I am very fond of these pasteups, they feel like my own little treasures. If you look carefully you can see one of Andy Council’s pieces in the background.

229. Stokes Croft, the Carriageworks (11)

This is the second part of my marvelous Monday discovery. This is a piece by Bruno Smoky who is the husband of Shalak Attack and member of the Clandestinos Crew. I understand from his Instagram feed that Inkie was their host/guide over the weekend in Bristol, and who better to show them the best walls. I love the way the graffiti world hangs together.

Bruno Smoky, Stokes Croft, Bristol, 9 May 2016
Bruno Smoky, Stokes Croft, Bristol, 9 May 2016

This house on fire is a really breathtaking piece, and with the Shalak Attack work in the adjacent archway, the pair have really set the bar very high for the Carriageworks space. I hope the taggers stay clear and respect our visitors’ work. I like his nod to Buzz in the top left corner – respecting a little of our local thing.

Bruno Smoky, Stokes Croft, Bristol, 9 May 2016
Bruno Smoky, Stokes Croft, Bristol, 9 May 2016

Bruno Smoky grew up in Brasilandia, a neighbourhood in Sao Paolo, Brazil. He is now internationally recognised and has created works all over the world. I love this quote, lifted from his website:

“I do not neglect my roots, my greatest pleasure is to paint in communities, bringing art and culture to otherwise forgotten and precarious neighborhoods. I use Graffiti in the context of creating a space to exhibit my art to society, my themes are full of colors and forms of protest … ”

Bruno Smoky, Stokes Croft, Bristol, 9 May 2016
Bruno Smoky, Stokes Croft, Bristol, 9 May 2016

I feel genuinely privileged that they visited and painted in Bristol outside of any kind of art festival, such as Upfest.

Bruno Smoky, Stokes Croft, Bristol, 9 May 2016
Bruno Smoky, Stokes Croft, Bristol, 9 May 2016

228. Devon Road (3)

I’m still excited by Devon Road. This is an exceptional piece by the brilliant Sepr. Typical of his pieces, it is in shades of gray and features a musician, in this case a guitarist.

Sepr, Devon Road, Bristol, May 2016
Sepr, Devon Road, Bristol, May 2016

The mustachioed character has a continental look about him and there is something rather peaceful about the work. I can almost hear the music.

Sepr, Devon Road, Bristol, May 2016
Sepr, Devon Road, Bristol, May 2016

I think it is fairly obvious, but I am a big fan of Sepr’s work and to find this near-perfect mural in Devon Road made me very happy indeed. Imagine my surprise when I came upon another one just around the corner. More on that one soon.

Sepr, Devon Road, Bristol, May 2016
Sepr, detail, Devon Road, Bristol, May 2016

227. The Bearpit (15)

Back in April, there was a massive explosion of new pieces appearing in the tunnels of The Bearpit. This beautiful piece by Beastie, I believe, only happened because he was hanging out with some other artists and decided at the last minute to join in.

Beastie, The Bearpit, Bristol, April 2016
Beastie, The Bearpit, Bristol, April 2016

As is often the case at the moment, you have to be very quick to get ‘clean’ photographs of anything in the Bristol hotspots. By the time I got to this one, it was already quite heavily tagged. It is a really lovely work, Beastie is a very talented artist. Sadly, his cat in Hillgrove street has recently been defaced, which is a real shame, it is one of my favourite pieces in Bristol.

226. Stokes Croft, the Carriageworks (10)

Every now and then, life throws wonderful surprises at you. On such days it is hard to contain one’s joy and enthusiasm. I am having one of those ‘red letter days’ that my grandmother used to talk about.

Shalak Attack, Clandestinos Collective, Stokes Croft, Bristol, 9 May 2016
Shalak Attack, Clandestinos Collective, Stokes Croft, Bristol, 9 May 2016

My walk to work on a Monday via Stokes Croft always gives me a bit of a thrill, because the graffiti artists tend to spray over the weekend, especially when the weather is nice, and many walls in the area get a facelift. This morning I was greeted with a double surprise on the archways of the Carriageworks. Two spanking new, clean pieces by internationally famous artists.

Shalak Attack, Clandestinos Collective, Stokes Croft, Bristol, 9 May 2016
Shalak Attack, Clandestinos Collective, Stokes Croft, Bristol, 9 May 2016

This husband and wife team come under the combined name of the ‘Clandestinos Collective’ and are ‘Shalak Attack’ and ‘Bruno Smoky’. This stunning colourful portrait is by Shalak Attack and is one of the most beautiful pieces I have seen in Stokes Croft.

Shalak Attack, Clandestinos Collective, Stokes Croft, Bristol, 9 May 2016
Shalak Attack, Clandestinos Collective, Stokes Croft, Bristol, 9 May 2016

Shalak Attack is a Canadian-Chilean artist who has been spraying urban murals across the world for over a decade. She and her husband are currently in the UK (London) with an exhibition ‘In the Raw’ of their work. What I love about this piece is that of all the places in the UK that they might have gone for the weekend, they chose Bristol and Stokes Croft…getting in some recreational spraying. How cool is that? I will post the second half of this happy event very soon.

225. Stokes Croft, Snug Bar (1)

I am often left wondering how street artists manage to do pieces which can only be accessed from a roof. Do they have permission? Do they jump up a ladder? Do they find some other way to get up? I guess it depends. Anyhow, this appeared a month of two back (I think) above a bar in Stokes Croft.

Akarat and Hoax, Stokes Croft, Bristol, March 2016
Akarat and Hoax, Stokes Croft, Bristol, March 2016

The piece is by Akarat and Hoax. I think that the birds on the left are by Akarat and the stencil is by Hoax. This is a tribute piece to Buzz, and you will see all the little Buzz words all around the piece.

Akarat and Hoax, Stokes Croft, Bristol, March 2016
Akarat and Hoax, Stokes Croft, Bristol, March 2016

I think I can also see a bit of a Mr Klue mural to the left. This is strange as it can’t really be seen from the road, but I suppose a wall is a wall. As we have come to expect from Akarat and Hoax, this piece is full of symbolism, but what it means…?

224. Dean Lane skate park (2)

Dean Lane skate park is situated between Dean Lane and the Eastern end of North Street, and is a major draw for street and graffiti artists. The skaters quite like it too. Just on the way out of the park I noticed this poster, which I kind of walked past without really registering it, and then went back to it, thinking it was rather unusual. It is in fact a pasteup piece by Copyright an artist who has graced the streets of Bristol previously, notably during Upfest. His website is here.

Copyright, Dean Lane skate park, Bristol, April 2016
Copyright, Dean Lane skate park, Bristol, April 2016

Since taking this picture at the end of April, I have since found another poster in North Bristol, equally striking.

This is beautiful. A simple stencil and a lovely portrait. His style is very recognisable…I say that now that I know who he is and have done some searches on his work. I really like this work and rather wish I could peel it off the wall and take it home. I think his works for sale are a little outside my price bracket.

223. Devon Road (2)

I’m just so excited about Devon Road and the wealth of street art that it offers, that I am having to contain myself and even out my posts a bit. This is a lovely piece by Deamze of Ren and Stimpy – a cartoon show I rarely watched. Somehow it works really well on this alley wall, and even the door in the middle of the piece fails to disrupt it.

Deamze, Devon Road, Bristol, May 2016
Deamze, Devon Road, Bristol, May 2016

I am more used to seeing the wildstyle writing that I associate with Deamze, but occasionally he does these character pieces, and has an extraordinary talent for them.

Deamze, Devon Road, Bristol, May 2016
Deamze, Devon Road, Bristol, May 2016

I wish I lived on a street with lots of walls.

222. Armada Place (3)

One of Sled One’s incredible wildstyle pieces. He sprays these unimaginably quickly, and I consider him to be very talented. One of the best writers in Bristol who is both energetic and prolific. This can be found in Armada Place, parallel with Stokes Croft, and just around the corner from the Fois piece on Nine Tree Hill.

Sled One, Armada Place, Bristol, April 2016
Sled One, Armada Place, Bristol, April 2016

When you get your eye in with these wildstyle pieces, you can start to make out the letters and words. I saw some today however that were unfathomable.