Tag: Graffiti

264. The Bearpit (20)

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, 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
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.

263. The Thekla

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
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
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.

262. Dean Lane skate park (8)

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, Dean Lane skate park, Bristol, May 2016
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
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.

Railroad

 

Abundant green growth

shares the trackside with discards

and bold graffiti.

 

by Scooj

261. The Bearpit (19)

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.

Deamze, The Bearpit, Bristol, April 2016
Deamze, The Bearpit, Bristol, April 2016

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?

Deamze, The Bearpit, Bristol, April 2016
Deamze, The Bearpit, Bristol, April 2016

260. Ashley Road (7)

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.

Face F1st, Ashley Road, Bristol, May 2016
Face F1st, Ashley Road, Bristol, May 2016

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.

Face F1st, Ashley Road, Bristol, May 2016
Face F1st, Ashley Road, Bristol, May 2016

It sounds patronising, and certainly isn’t meant to, but I find this piece really charming. Just beautiful.

259. North Street, Workout (2)

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, North Street, Bristol, January 2016
Louis Masai, North Street, Bristol, January 2016

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.

 

258. Sydenham Lane

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.

The Krah, Sydenham Lane, Bristol, May 2016
The Krah, Sydenham Lane, Bristol, May 2016

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.

257. Dean Lane skate park (7)

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.

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

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.

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

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.

256. Moon Street (13)

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.

Kid Crayon and Subtle, Moon Street, Bristol, April 2016
Kid Crayon and Subtle, Moon Street, Bristol, April 2016

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.

Subtle, Moon Street, Bristol, April 2016
Subtle, Moon Street, Bristol, April 2016

As a combination these work well. I am a big fan of Kid Crayon, so these get a big ‘high-five’ from me.

Kid Crayon, Moon Street, Bristol, April 2016
Kid Crayon, Moon Street, Bristol, April 2016