John D’oh presents us with another fun stencil from underneath the M32 motorway. This one dates itself, being an Easter piece. Here we see as presentation of the Easter Bunny that we may never have seen before.
The artist has an eye for seeing things in a slightly different way and is often trying to find humour in the benign or ordinary. I’m not sure that I’ll ever look at Easter eggs in the same way after seeing this.
Another piece from John D’oh’s awesome outdoor gallery underneath the M32, this time adopting cartoon characters to describe a fairly laid-back Bristol lifestyle.
What better characters to adopt than a combination of Shaggy and Scooby Doo alongside a Bristol crocodile, all smoking weed and looking contented. I guess that Bristol is no different from any other western world city, but somehow this weed-smoking culture appears to have become inextricably linked to the place. A knowing stencil poking fun at at the city’s culture.
I don’t think that John D’oh seems to have any intention of slowing down on his magnificent outdoor gallery underneath the M32. He appears to be adding new pieces on a regular basis, and I have to say that I am thoroughly enjoying this rich vein of form from the stencil artist.
There is a lot of symbolism in this piece, although I can’t quite figure out the narrative. A strong woman in ancient classical clothing is standing confidently with a raised clenched fist. Behind her is a broken chain and an olive branch. The chain suggests human bondage, and the olive branch, peace. I am guessing that this is a piece of resistance during war, but that is my take on it. So much more still to come from this outdoor gallery.
Another column piece from the John D’oh gallery of stencils underneath the M32. The artist has certainly made himself at home here, and I note from his Instagram account that he has been busy down there again recently.
This simple piece features a rather stereotyped curvaceous woman holding a book and tilting her glasses. The caption says ‘love is like street art, sometimes it doesn’t last long’, which I guess can be true, there is also an additional view that might take the position ‘love is like street art, sometimes it lasts forever’. Yet more to come from this rich seam of John D’oh gold.
This is another wonderful stencil piece by John D’oh, underneath the M32 in what he has made into a bit of a personal gallery. This simple, playful piece is packed with humour and wordplay.
A gorilla is featured alongside a banana which has a bit of tape over it, to give the illusion that a real banana is attached to the column.The words ‘guerilla street art is better than a grey wall’ mess with the homonym ‘guerilla and gorilla’. Fun stuff nicely executed.
This is an absolute beauty from John D’oh in amongst the treasure trove of column stencils under the M32. There is no overt political commentary as far as I can see, although meanings can be read into almost anything if you put your mind to it.
A cloaked woman is holding out a lamp, which is attracting some moths over her gently extended hand. This is actually a three-colour stencil, with a very subtle yellow white colour used in the lamp, and blended onto the woman’s arm and cloak. This is really nice work from John D’oh and rather touching. It demonstrates that sometimes overcomplicating things isn’t needed to create something beautiful and meaningful.
I’m not too sure how it happened, but somehow this piece by the fabulous John D’oh got caught up in my production line, and was supposed to have been posted quite a while ago. Perhaps it feels appropriate that I should post it today, coming so soon after President Biden has said that he will not stand for the presidency in the forthcoming election.
This simple ‘spot the difference’ stencil, highlights Joe Biden’s apparently inconsistent approach to the bombing of Gaza by Israel and the bombing of Ukraine by Russia. Turning a blind eye (sponsoring) one and condemning overtly the other. Heaven only knows what might happen if Donald Trump gets a second term. What a mess. Nice commentary piece once again from the talented Mt John D’oh.
It is rather pleasing to be posting another stencil piece, there have been a rash of them lately, and especially one from John D’oh, who has been a little quiet over the last six months or so. This is one of a couple of pieces by the artist currently in Leonard Lane.
This philosophy, I am not sure if it is a quote (Update: it is a quote from the brilliant Chrisopher Walken) or a wisdom from John D’oh himself, is perhaps a message of our times and our collective obsession with consumption, upgrade and appearance. It reads:
“If you knew how quickly people forget the dead, you would stop living to impress people”.
I think that this is aimed at people with outer-directed values, a segment of our society that has ballooned since Thatcher came to power. The statement is accompanied by a skeleton character holding a spray can. Great work from John D’oh.
For many years, and more acutely this year, there has been a massive focus on the issue of compensation overflows in the UK. These overflows are essentially permitted activities of pumping raw sewage from water treatment plants, when heavy rainfall makes the processing of large quantities of sewage almost impossible. Some (and I include myself in this) point the finger at underinvestment in the infrastructure of water treatment plants, rather favouring healthy annual handouts to investors and shareholders.
The problem existed before the privatisation of water companies, but has been exacerbated by privatisation and a growing population and demand on the existing infrastructure, that simply isn’t up to scratch. Much easier to lean on a polluting permitted activity than to spend money fixing the problem.
Privatisation of water has, in my view, been a disaster, making a few investors, chief executives and foreign companies very wealthy indeed, but leaving the necessary investment and impact on the environment way behind. The public have had enough and are demanding that something is done about the situation. National commentary and pieces of art, like this one from John D’oh reflect this public mood.
In its minimalist way, this stencil by John D’oh distils the issue and makes it simple. ‘Shit doesn’t just happen (we have known about this problem for decades and done nothing about it), clean our rivers’. I have worked in the water/environmental sector my entire life, and John D’oh has nailed it. Clever placement too with the River Avon in the background. This is an understated and poignant protest piece. Bravo John D’oh.
John D’oh has been a little quiet in Bristol lately, so it was great to find this new piece in one of his favourite spots underneath the M32 motorway. One thing that John D’oh is never short on is humour, and this Judy Garland Wizard of Oz stencil reinforces that point.
The writing says (from the scarecrow) “Dorothy I can smell weed, urine and spray paint. I think we must be in Bristol”. Of course that made me smile, but for any potential visitors out there, this is a rather tongue-in-cheek, myopic view of our fabulous city. I rather hope to see more from John D’oh, as his artwork adds variety to the everyday fare of street art and graffiti in Bristol.
Natural adventures 