Tag: Graffiti

196. Hillgrove Street (6)

What a lovely surprise I had on Thursday this week…a new artist has hit the streets of Bristol. When I say new, I mean new to me. Tian is a French artist, born in le Mans in 1964, which makes him pretty cool in my book, we are the same age. In 1982 formed a punk-reggae band called Nuclear Device…remember them?…nor me. He started pasting in 2007 and has been going from strength to strength since then.

Tian, Hillgrove Street, Bristol, April 2016
Tian, Hillgrove Street, Bristol, April 2016

He is currently ‘on tour’ in the UK (see his itinerary on his Facebook page here) and was in Bristol from the 18-20 April. So far I have found three of his paste-ups but I will be out looking for more…you can do a lot of pasting in three days. Because this is the first of his works that I saw I am dedicating a single post to it. I will probably post collections by area if I find a lot of his work. I really like this style, the tints and subject material, but of course I am always a big fan of wheatpastes. This piece made me really happy.

Is that Sphia Loren?

More from Tian’s own excellent website.

195. The Bearpit (13)

Walking home yesterday, I came across an artist painting a new work on the PRSC Open Air Gallery. The previous piece by Cheba had been badly defaced with Buzz tags (which are becoming a bit of a menace) so a new work was going up. I spoke with the artist, ObjectØØØ, another incredibly nice person, and we swapped Instagram addresses. I said I hadn’t seen any of his work yet and he told me he put something up in The Bearpit over the weekend. The penny dropped – I had photographed his work on Sunday and here it is:

Object000, The Bearpit, Bristol, April 2016
Object000, The Bearpit, Bristol, April 2016

This is a wild creation and a strong message too, like Narnia meets Billy Bragg. I like the ‘other worldliness’ of it. I am now looking forward to the completion of his mural on the Open Air Gallery, which also has a strong message.

Object000, The Bearpit, Bristol, April 2016
Object000, The Bearpit, Bristol, April 2016

194. Gloucester Road, Metropolis

This stylised owl seems to have occupied this little corner for ever – I can’t remember it not being here, but having said that my skills of ‘street art awareness’ have only been in full operation for about a year now, so it might not be all that old.

45RPM, Gloucester Road, Bristol, February 2016
45RPM, Gloucester Road, Bristol, February 2016

It is a work by 45RPM, the very same who created the corporate commission for the Body Shop in Hotwell Road. This owl is special, and you will note, completely unmarked by taggers. A lovely work that could do with a bit of a wash.

45RPM, Gloucester Road, Bristol, February 2016
45RPM, Gloucester Road, Bristol, February 2016

193. M32 Roundabout Junction 3 (6)

The concrete surrounding structure of the M32 roundabout between St Pauls and Easton lends itself very well to wildstyle work. There is not a great deal of height, but plenty of width, and therefore it is a bit of a magnet for wildstyle specialists. Soker is at the top of his game and producing some wonderful work. This is a recent example which I photographed in March.

Soker, M32 Roundabout, Bristol, March 2106
Soker, M32 Roundabout, Bristol, March 2106

I’m not sure why his work spells out Sokem and not Soker – maybe someday somebody will tell me. It seems to be a thing though with many wildstyle writers.

Soker, M32 Roundabout, Bristol, March 2106
Soker, M32 Roundabout, Bristol, March 2106

The colours and shapes on this work really well, and there were many accompanying pieces adjacent to this one…for later posts.

192. The Bearpit (12)

Another fabulous stencil, this time by Dice 67, an artist from Cheltenham, and one that I blogged about in August 2015. His work then was sprayed as part of Ufest 2015. This piece is quite different, lurking in one of the tunnels of The Bearpit.

Dice 67, The Bearpit, Bristol, April 2016
Dice 67, The Bearpit, Bristol, April 2016

An Instagram conversation with Dice 67 revealed that he only sprayed this on Saturday (four days ago) and by Sunday, when I photographed it, it had already been tagged by DBK. I do wonder if DBK are pushing the boundaries of graffiti etiquette at the moment. Anyhow, at least I got a reasonably clean snap of this really technical piece of work.

Dice 67, The Bearpit, Bristol, April 2016
Dice 67, The Bearpit, Bristol, April 2016

I love this work, in particular the signature on the spray cans.

191. The Bearpit (11)

Turnover in The Bearpit has reached staggering proportions lately and I am really struggling to keep up. This wonderful stencil by the fabulous John D’oh, is one of several highly political statements directed at current Government Ministers.

In this instance it is the turn of George Osborne, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whose recent budget was perceived as being one of the most unfair in decades.

John D'oh, The Bearpit, Bristol, April 2016
John D’oh, The Bearpit, Bristol, April 2016

John D’oh is another Bristolian artist, whose works are becoming more and more frequent on our streets. His website is worth a quick gander. I love this political stuff, it is edgy and full of vitriol whilst managing to present humorously. As you can see below though, it is not to everyone’s taste. The piece appeared less than a week ago and is already defaced.

John D’oh, The Bearpit, Bristol, April 2016
John D’oh, defaced, The Bearpit, Bristol, April 2016

190. Moon Street (10)

Laic217 is certainly providing me with loads of material at the moment.This is his latest work in a very busy Moon Street. In my view, this is the best that I have seen of his work so far. Weird, trippy and well executed – perfect for the wall it has been sprayed on.

Laic217, Moon Street, Bristol, April 2016
Laic217, Moon Street, Bristol, April 2016

I like the melting face and acid house theme. More of his work can be viewed on his profile page of streetpins.com a site for graffiti artists to show their work.

Laic217, Moon Street, Bristol, April 2016
Laic217, Moon Street, Bristol, April 2016

This piece was, I think completed over the weekend of 16/17 April.

189. Cheltenham Road, Boston Tea Party

The Boston Tea Party cafe marks out the northern border of the Stokes Croft area for street art. It is also a great place to start a tour of all the wonders in the area. This is a lovely commission by Alex Lucas adorning the front right hand side of the building. I presume it is a March hare, given its boxing gloves.

Alex Lucas, Cheltenham Road, Bristol, September 2015
Alex Lucas, Cheltenham Road, Bristol, September 2015

Unfortunately the piece and many others nearby have been obscured by red spray, really calling into question the whole debate about art, street art, commissions, illegal, graffiti, tagging, vandalism and so on. It will be very difficult to clear this piece up – maybe she’ll get a commission to replace it (please).

Alex Lucas, Cheltenham Road, Bristol, September 2015
Alex Lucas, Cheltenham Road, Bristol, September 2015

188. Brunswick Square hoardings (1)

A couple of weeks ago I discovered, quite by accident, a goldmine of new pieces in Brunswick Square, St Pauls. There is a large new development along the south side of the square with hoardings all around it. It would appear that the developers have encouraged Bristol’s finest to decorate the hoardings, and they have done an amazing job.

Inkie, Brunswick Square, Bristol, March 2016
Inkie, Brunswick Square, Bristol, March 2016

This piece is by one of Bristol’s most well known street artists, Inkie, and is a bright and colourful wildstyle burner in his very distinct style. A lovely piece.

I will, of course, feature other works from this magnificent site soon.

187. Stokes Croft, the Carriageworks (6)

Over the last weekend the fabulous pairing of SPZero76 and Mr Wigz got busy on one of the middle arches of the Carriageworks. Their combinations work very well and have a vibrancy and humour about them.

SPZero76 and Mr Wigz, Stokes Croft, Bristol, 17 April 2016
SPZero76 and Mr Wigz, Stokes Croft, Bristol, 17 April 2016

SPZero76 works on the characters, which often feature a raccoon, which is odd because despite them appearing in the live version of Disney’s 101 Dalmations, set in the UK, we don’t have them in this country. While Mr Wigz provides the wildstyle burner beneath.

SPZero76 and Mr Wigz, Stokes Croft, Bristol, 17 April 2016
SPZero76 and Mr Wigz, Stokes Croft, Bristol, 17 April 2016

Their last piece I know about appeared back in February, further North on the A38…here is a reminder.

SPZero76 and Mr Wigz, Stokes Croft, Bristol, 17 April 2016
SPZero76 and Mr Wigz, Stokes Croft, Bristol, 17 April 2016

I like their work, and it is great to get an untagged picture. Any new pieces at the Carriageworks never last long in their pristine condition.