Tag: John d’Oh

3095. Purdown HAA Battery (5)

Playful as ever, John D’oh gives us this topical and relevant political piece featuring none other than our dismal ‘leader’ pushing the ‘back to work’ messaging with a little reference to Dick Turpin and his fellow outlaws. Such is the speed of current coronavirus events, and the ineptitude of our administration, that this recent piece is almost out of date as Boris seems to be preparing the nation for a second lock down.

John D'oh, Purdown Battery, Bristol, July 2020
John D’oh, Purdown Battery, Bristol, July 2020

I am always amazed at how quickly John D’oh manages to conceive, create and spray his pieces. He is a modern chronicler of political events and his vehicle is street art. I like this piece, and there is more to come from JD’s visit to Purdown Battery soon.

3001. St George skate park (11)

We live in strange and sometimes farcical times. This rather nice stencil from John D’oh at St George skate park satirises one of the more surreal moments of Trump’s utterly catastrophic presidency. How do Johnson and Trump keep their jobs in the light of such gross incompetence and stupidity? It is a mystery. If I behaved in the way they do, I would have been fired a long time ago.

John D'oh, St George, Bristol, June 2020

So Americans, injecting disinfectant might be worth a try, you know it makes sense huh? And now we see Jair Bolsenaro, another populist leader, equally driven by self-interest and fame entering the competition to see who can manage the coronavirus epidemic the worst. These leaders love being at the top of international league tables that it matters not what the rankings are about. How did it come to this? Thank you John D’oh for reminding us with your running narrative about the desperate state of world leadership.

2990. St George skate park (10)

Another artist who has been really busy lately is John D’oh whose running commentary on all aspects of the coronavirus epidemic has given us a record of events through the medium of street art. This way of capturing contemporary events has been a major aspect of art through the ages, and although much of the art is ephemeral some remains and helps to tell future generations what happened in the past and where they came from. John D’oh’s stories are important ones to tell.

John D'oh, St George, Bristol, June 2020
John D’oh, St George, Bristol, June 2020

This lovely stencil on the side of a ramp at St George skate park, celebrates the fabulous and unrelenting hard work of NHS workers through the pandemic with more than a little nod to Wolverine of X-Men fame. Slightly sinister, slightly edgy but with a great heart. A nice piece from John D’oh.

2972. Horfield skate park (6)

Political commentary is never far away when John D’oh is around, and this recent stencil at the Horfield skate park nicely sums up the disgusting hypocisy demonstrated by Boris and Cummings. Just jaw-dropping, mind-blowing, irresponsible, selfish and self-centered behaviour. Although the headlines may have receded, the anger hasn’t. Boris has shown himself to be a deceitful and manipulative Prime Minister, and I find it extraordinary that anyone would still line up to defend him (although the reliable toadies seem to fight over this space). His odious disregard for other people is beyond staggering and the sooner he gets ousted the better.

John D'oh, Horfield skate park, Bristol, May 2020
John D’oh, Horfield skate park, Bristol, May 2020

I suspect that Boris, being Boris would probably look at this stencil and feel rather flattered, I mean it is a picture of him as a Moses figure, how could he not be excited by that. Well done John D’oh once again for reminding us what a terrible person Boris Johnson really is. I will not move on.

2964. M32 Spot (71)

I love this for lots of reasons. Firstly because it is by John D’oh and secondly because it is a stencil, but mainly because it is overtly critical of the Wetherspoon owner Tim Martin, one of the most odious characters to have emerged from the Brexit debate. This man ranks as one of the supreme self-interested businessmen who puts making money for his business and for himself above the interests of the country. This attitude was exposed in the early days of lock down when Martin was calling for leniency for pubs and to allow them to remain open. Sod the virus eh?

John D'oh, M32 Spot, Bristol, May 2020
John D’oh, M32 Spot, Bristol, May 2020

Neatly placed on one of the columns under the M32, this piece is a beacon of hope, in that in poking fun at Wetherspoon it reinforces the responsible approach to protecting ourselves from coronavirus. I applaud this political commentary piece.

2956. M32 Spot (70)

What I love about John D’os work is that it lays down a historical (usually political) narrative of our time. This is the second version of this stencil in the area, I posted the other one a while back, and it records with an element of humour the madness of the run on loo paper at the start of lock down. As an additional note, you can’t move in supermarkets for bog roll at the moment, so what was the panic all about?

John D'oh, M32 Spot, Bristol, May 2020
John D’oh, M32 Spot, Bristol, May 2020

I like the retro look of the piece and of course the setting in amongst an array of contemporary tagging. More to come from John D’oh who was a little busier than some other artists during full lock down, taking his allotted hour of exercise on the streets and walls we know so well.

2898. Leonard Lane (25)

This wonderful stencil piece in Leonard lane is by John D’oh and was one of several that were painted during a bit of a spree I think. The caption ‘People think I’m Banksy’  is a reference to Massive Attack star Robert del Naja (on the right), who has been suspected of being Banksy and who some still think might be him.

John D'oh, Leonard Lane, Bristol, November 2017
John D’oh, Leonard Lane, Bristol, November 2017

It is a classic piece of John D’oh single-layer stencil work, and is emblematic of the whole Bristol street art scene and sub-culture. I have more to publish from this John D’oh session in 2017 and will get round to more of them if the lock down persists.

2876. Upfest 2016 (171)

The Coronavirus pandemic and subsequent UK lock down has unsurprisingly seen a dramatic decrease in new street work. This, while disappointing especially given the spell of gorgeous weather we have been having, is not all bad news, as it is giving me the opportunity to unearth some not-seen-before on Natural Adventures pieces from the archives. Starting with this spray can bin stencil from John D’oh at Upfest 2016.

John D'oh, Upfest 2016, Bristol, July 2016
John D’oh, Upfest 2016, Bristol, July 2016

The organisers of Upfest had provided these drums for artists to dispose of their spray cans in an orderly fashion, and in true Upfest style, selected a few artists to decorate the bins, This one by John D’oh. I have to say I am not entirely sure who the people on the bin are, but I love the stencils in any case. In Bristolian he has written ‘John D’oh’s bin yer’, which tickled me. More Upfest 2016 work to come.

2852. M32 cycle path (55)

A contemporary stencil from John D’oh on the M32 cycle path was completed shortly before the lock down and mocks the insane and irrational panic buying for toilet roll that obsessed the nation. In my lifetime I’ve not seeen anything like it. In one shop I went to in the early period of this madness I saw a woman send her young son to run into the shop as it opened and grab a couple of large multi-packs – I shouldn’t think they’ve even got through a quarter of it yet. There’s nowt as queer as folk as they would say in Yorkshire.

John D'oh, M32 cycle path, Bristol, March 2020
John D’oh, M32 cycle path, Bristol, March 2020

I haven’t seen much from John D’oh since the Cheltenham Paint festival so this was a rather pleasant surprise in a spot that I woudn’t ordinarily associate with him. In this commentary piece he brings together his slightly caustic wit and stencil skills to present us with a retro family, fully masked, clutching their trophies as if this were quite a normal situation. This piece reminds me of the satirical cartoonist Glen Baxter, which is a compliment indeed.

2483. Cheltenham 2019 (7)

It seems pretty timely to be posting this stencil by John D’oh at this year’s Cheltenham Paint Festival, because it is impossible to keep Boris out of the headlines. I realise that views on this blustering champion of capitalism are mixed, and that he is immensely popular with little Britain Tories, I however remain firmly in the other corner, and as it would seem so does John D’oh.

John D'oh, Paint festival 2019, Cheltenham, September 2019
John D’oh, Paint festival 2019, Cheltenham, September 2019

This single layer stencil takes a pop at Boris Johnson making the case that there is no excuse for stupidity with the words:

Ignorance can be educated, crazy can be medicated, but there is no cure for stupidity.

I am pretty certain that Boris’ prime ministership will very shortly be coming to an end, but I think we can be fairly sure he’ll be making headlines for some time to come. This can only be good news for the fertile creative mind of John D’oh and the rest of us who enjoy his slightly subversive work.