Tag: Kleiner Shames

1783. Waterloo Place (2)

I was first alerted to this Kleiner Shames piece on Instagram, but from the pictures I saw I just couldn’t get the location. In the end I had to message one of my street art buddies to find out where it was…which looking at it now with hindsight is blooming obvious. There is a charity in Bristol called the SOFA Project (Shift Old Furniture Around) which has two locations one of which, the Old Market store, has a walled yard where this piece is sprayed. The charity sells on old furniture, donated locally, to those less able to afford new furniture. A worthy venture.

Kleiner Shames, Waterloo Place, Bristol, October 2018
Kleiner Shames, Waterloo Place, Bristol, October 2018

On to this stunning piece by my favourite ex-Bristol artist, Kleiner Shames. Most of his wall work is writing, with the odd exception, and he tends to spell out the letters FOIS which spells out ‘time’ in french. The lettering here is so easy on the eye and beautifully designed. Every time I see pieces like this I feel there must be an element of art deco architectural influence going onm, or at least that is what it looks like to me. This is a very fine piece indeed.

Kleiner Shames

A collection of street art by Kleiner Shames (formerly of Bristol and a frequent visitor)

All photographs taken by Scooj

Kleiner Shames, St Werburghs, Bristol, December 2019
Kleiner Shames, St Werburghs, Bristol, December 2019
Kleiner Shames, St Werburghs, Bristol, October 2019
Kleiner Shames, St Werburghs, Bristol, October 2019
Kleiner Shames, St Werburghs, Bristol, July 2019
Kleiner Shames, St Werburghs, Bristol, July 2019
Kleiner Shames, St Werburghs, Bristol, March 2019
Kleiner Shames, St Werburghs, Bristol, March 2019
Kleiner Shames, M32 roundabout, Bristol, January 2019
Kleiner Shames, M32 roundabout, Bristol, January 2019
Kleiner Shames, Waterloo Place, Bristol, October 2018
Kleiner Shames, Waterloo Place, Bristol, October 2018
Kleiner Shames and Epok, Dean Lane, Bristol, July 2018
Kleiner Shames and Epok, Dean Lane, Bristol, July 2018
Kleiner Shames, New Stadium Road, Bristol, February 2018
Kleiner Shames, New Stadium Road, Bristol, February 2018
Kleiner Shames, Cherry Lane, Bristol, February 2018
Kleiner Shames, Cherry Lane, Bristol, February 2018
Kleiner Shames, Upper York Street, Bristol
Kleiner Shames, Upper York Street, Bristol, January 2017
Kleiner Shames, Armada Place, Bristol, August 2016
Kleiner Shames, Armada Place, Bristol, August 2016
Kleiner Shames, Backfields Lane, Bristol, September 2016
Kleiner Shames, Backfields Lane, Bristol, September 2016
Kleiner Shames, Backfields Lane, Bristol, September 2016
Kleiner Shames, Backfields Lane, Bristol, September 2016
Kleiner Shames, Upfest, Bristol, July 2016
Kleiner Shames, Upfest, Bristol, July 2016
Kleiner Shames, Upper York Street, Bristol, May 2016
Kleiner Shames, Upper York Street, Bristol, May 2016
Kleiner Shames, Moon Street, Bristol, July 2016
Kleiner Shames, Moon Street, Bristol, July 2016
Fois, Nine Tree Hill, Bristol, January 2016
Kleiner Shames, Nine Tree Hill, Bristol, January 2016
Fois, Hill Street, Bristol, November 2015
Fois, Hill Street, Bristol, November 2015
Fois, Hill Street, Bristol, April 2015
Kleiner Shames, Hill Street, Bristol, April 2015

1631. Dean Lane skate park (149)

I always look forward to Kleiner Shames’ visits to Bristol, because every time he leaves behind something to marvel at. This is a miraculous collaboration with Epok, and demonstrates what can be achieved by two street artists at the top of their game.

Kleiner Shames and Epok, Dean Lane, Bristol, July 2018
Kleiner Shames and Epok, Dean Lane, Bristol, July 2018

The first thing to notice is the fabulous colour selection, which is very much influenced by Kleiner Shames, as I have seen him use these colours several times before. The genius of the piece is in the letters. Epok always writes EPOK and Kleiner Shames writes FOIS. In this piece I can read both…how do they do that?

Kleiner Shames and Epok, Dean Lane, Bristol, July 2018
Kleiner Shames and Epok, Dean Lane, Bristol, July 2018

The highly designed style of the piece works to both of their strengths, but the execution is what makes this piece so good. Clean lines, incredible shapes and some really interesting shadows. It reminds me of so many fine artists of the twentieth century. I love this piece and it is without doubt my favourite writing work so far this year. Bravo boys.

1380. Upper York Street (11)

I write my posts in batches, getting a few done in advance, when I have a moment to do them. This can be tricky while juggling a full-time job, two teenage children, a cat, a dog, a chameleon, an extremely hard-working wife, housework, an allotment, decorating and so on. Life is full, and it would be impossible to find the time to write two posts a day every day. Doing them in batches also carries economies of scale, where I can process a batch of photographs in one go and writing tends to come more freely once you are on a roll.

Why am I mentioning this? Well, by the time I publish this post on a fabulous piece by Kleiner Shames, I will be on a special short break trip in Barcelona with my daughter, and I wanted to say ‘hello from Barcelona’, but to say this I have had to think ahead and I am saying ‘hello from Barcelona’ from the comfort of my study which all feels a bit artificial really, but is helping me to get very excited about our trip.

Kleiner Shames, Upper York Street, Bristol, May 2016
Kleiner Shames, Upper York Street, Bristol, May 2016

This is a fine piece of writing from one of my favourite Bristol artists who now lives in London. I have posted many of his works on this blog, and each of them is a winner. Concealed in this splash of colour is the word ‘FOIS’…time in French. Most of his pieces have this word, and at first I thought his street art name was Fois.

Kleiner Shames, Upper York Street, Bristol, May 2016
Kleiner Shames, Upper York Street, Bristol, May 2016

This is another one that I have dug out of my archive, because it is simply just too good not to share.

Oh and ‘Hi from Barcelona’ I think I’m having a wonderful time.

1338. Cherry Lane (2)

Since Kleiner Shames moved to London I have really missed his extraordinary pieces. It would appear that he recently visited his hometown, and this is the second of his new pieces that I have found. I particularly like this one.

Kleiner Shames, Cherry Lane, Bristol, February 2018
Kleiner Shames, Cherry Lane, Bristol, February 2018

The writing as always spellls out FOIS, but it is the cowboy hat and eyes, giving character to the S that really grabs me. I have two of his pictures hangng in my home, which perhaps indicates how much I like his work.

738. Moon Street (28)

Another one from the archives, this time a collaborative pair of pieces from Kleiner Shames (now living in London) and Whysayit. I have a feeling that I may hove posted these pieces before, but if I did, I can’t find them.

Whysayit and Kleiner Shames, Moon Street, Bristol, July 2016
Whysayit and Kleiner Shames, Moon Street, Bristol, July 2016

There is something about the simple use of colours in these pieces that really makes them stand out…the red colouring in the Kleiner Shames piece is wonderfully worked.

 

Kleiner Shames, Moon Street, Bristol, July 2016
Kleiner Shames, Moon Street, Bristol, July 2016

Whysayit offers his usual curvy and distinctive lettering, spelling out YSAE. This was not the only time these two sprayed together and they obviously enjoyed working as a pair.

Whysayit, Moon Street, Bristol, July 2016
Whysayit, Moon Street, Bristol, July 2016

598. Upper York Street (5)

It has been a little while since Kleiner Shames packed his bags and set off for London to make his fortune. So it is with some cheer that he returned to Bristol at some point over the New Year period to remind us just how good his work is.

Kleiner Shames, Upper York Street, Bristol
Kleiner Shames, Upper York Street, Bristol

This piece is on the intersection with Upper York Street and Wilder Street and is in great company with other pieces by Deamze and Whysayit. The wildstyle writing spells out Fois (which for a long time I thought was the artist’s name – d’oh).

Kleiner Shames, Upper York Street, Bristol
Kleiner Shames, Upper York Street, Bristol

This two-tone work is actually quite simple in its construction, that is, there is no shading or over-the-top elaboration, but it disguises the writing really cleverly. I do like his work and hope this trip back to his home town is not just a one-off.

469. Backfields Lane (2)

This really is an astonishing wall by Kleiner Shames. It is outstanding not only in its sheer scale, but also in the colours and designs incorporated. The mural seems to be telling several stories.I love Kleiner Shames’ work, indeed I have some of it hanging on my walls at home. Rather than string out a laboured description of each photograph I will simply show them below as a series of pictures, taken from left to right of the mural. Simply superb work.

Kleiner Shames, Backfields Lane, Bristol, September 2016
Kleiner Shames, Backfields Lane, Bristol, September 2016
Kleiner Shames, Backfields Lane, Bristol, September 2016
Kleiner Shames, Backfields Lane, Bristol, September 2016
Kleiner Shames, Backfields Lane, Bristol, September 2016
Kleiner Shames, Backfields Lane, Bristol, September 2016
Kleiner Shames, Backfields Lane, Bristol, September 2016
Kleiner Shames, Backfields Lane, Bristol, September 2016
Kleiner Shames, Backfields Lane, Bristol, September 2016
Kleiner Shames, Backfields Lane, Bristol, September 2016

404. Upfest 2016 (37)

Well there’s a story to tell here. For such a long time I thought this Bristol-based street artist was called Fois, after all, most of his pieces contained the word, and many of the Bristol writers use their names, or corruptions of them and paint under those names…Deamze, Sled One, Epok, Soker, Inkie, and so on. Well not this artist.

Kleiner Shames, Upfest, Bristol, July 2016
Kleiner Shames, Upfest, Bristol, July 2016

The last time I featured him on this blog, I had established that he was actually called Kleiner Shames, Jimmy Kleiner Shames. Once again it was Instagram that came to my rescue. Then it gets a whole lot better. Kleiner Shames recently cleared out his studio because he is moving to London (booo!) and was offering some studio paintings for sale. I ended up buying two from him – he is an exceptional talent and I love his work. He is such a decent bloke, he even offered to deliver the pictures in person.

Kleiner Shames, Upfest, Bristol, July 2016
Kleiner Shames, Upfest, Bristol, July 2016

The piece he did for Upfest contains everything you would expect; architectural features, diagonal lines, hands, pastel colours and a wonderful retro feel. I wish him well with his move to London and hope he’ll be back in Bristol to brighten up our walls. We’ll miss him…Fois forever.

380. Armada Place (6)

The fencing in Armada Place is a hotspot that is slightly off the beaten track, and can easily be missed. I make a point of taking the short diversion away from Stokes Croft on my way to work, to be able to capture gems like this one by Fois (Kleiner Shames).

Kleiner Shames, Armada Place, Bristol, August 2016
Kleiner Shames, Armada Place, Bristol, August 2016

It feels like Fois has become a little more active recently, or maybe I am just finding more of his wildstyle pieces. I don’t know, but I always feel good when I come across one for the first time. I like the way that he disguises the name Fois just enough to make it hard for the ‘untrained’ eye to read. This is really a wonderful piece that he calls ‘a quick one’.

Kleiner Shames, Armada Place, Bristol, August 2016
Kleiner Shames, Armada Place, Bristol, August 2016

Only recently I found out that Fois is actually Kleiner Shames – a rather respectable looking designer. It irks me that by calling him Fois all this time I look like a bit of an idiot. I suppose it is all part of being on the outside looking in.