Tag: LRS

3694. New Stadium Road (33)

Eman is an artist who has been knocking it out of the park recently, and this piece in the little underpass underneath the M32 is a bright, cheerful and exceptional writing/character combination from the artist.

Eman, New Stadium Road, Bristol, May 2021
Eman, New Stadium Road, Bristol, May 2021

The character part is one that he has been working on recently and has a strong impact thanks to the clean design and great use of colours. The shadows underneath the eyebrows is a really nice touch too.

Eman, New Stadium Road, Bristol, May 2021
Eman, New Stadium Road, Bristol, May 2021

The writing spells out EMAN and is presented in bright uplifting colours, perfect for this gloomy spot. The cracked letters are filled with various shades of blue in a random pattern, but it is the orange 3D shadow and green decoration dots that add som inch to the overall outcome. A very nice piece indeed.

3686. Cumberland Basin

I am very much enjoying the high level of activity coming from Eman at the moment, and he really seems to be extending himself with a range of character pieces, including this very impressive skull from a few weeks ago.

Eman, Cumberland Basin, Bristol, May 2021
Eman, Cumberland Basin, Bristol, May 2021

I’m not sure how long Eman has been doing these kinds of pieces, but he seems to have a natural flair for them, and his soft blending as well as good proportions make this a piece that is easy on the eye. Adding to the impact of the skull is the neutral background with hints of colour that just give the whole thing a bit more oomph. Very nice work.

3675. Cumberland Basin

As I said in a post yesterday, I seem to keep bumping in to Eman, and this happened again at the weekend. I had made an excursion specifically to photograph this and another piece by him from a few days earlier, and guess what… he was in the same spot painting a new piece opposite this one. I think Eman rather likes this spot, which is nicely out of the way from the main drag.

Eman, Cumberland Basin, Bristol, May 2021
Eman, Cumberland Basin, Bristol, May 2021

The character piece is something that Eman has been working on and I believe he has created a sticker of it too. The character has a lot of charisma and is clean and simple on the black background. It is great to see a writer building on character skills. More to come from Eman.

3407. M32 cycle path (99)

The second half of 2020 was not a productive one for Decay, in terms of street work, so it was great to see some new pieces during the Christmas holiday break. This is a very neat and tidy Christmas piece on the M32 cycle path.

Decay, M32 cycle path, Bristol, December 2020
Decay, M32 cycle path, Bristol, December 2020

I think that this is the first piece I have seen in Bristol since August, although he did make an appearance at the Cheltenham Paint Festival in September that I haven’t posted yet (note to self – post a few more from the festival soon). In this nicely styled piece spelling out DECAY, his little character, Chuck, is greeting us with a Christmas Ho ho ho! It will be interesting to see what happens with the new hard national lockdown imposed yesterday. I expect some artists will make time to get out and about and others may go to ground. We shall see.

3210. M32 Cycle path (78)

This piece was painted a little while back by Decay, but I decided to dig it out because it marks further experimentation from an artist, who, when I first met him only painted in black, white, red and grey colours. His artistic journey has blossomed over the last three or so years and his pieces are becoming more and more interesting as a result.

Decay, M32 Cycle path, Bristol, August 2020
Decay, M32 Cycle path, Bristol, August 2020

Most unusually, Decay has gone for orange and purple colours with green highlights and arrows. More unusually he hasn’t used black outlines for his letters, although his little Chuck character does have an outline. Spelling out DECAY, I see this piece as pivotal in the artist really pushing himself to try new ideas. I love the orange splashes above the A. Looking forward to more developments.

3140. M32 Cycle path (73)

This might look like a solo piece by Decay, but it is actually a collaboration between Decay and Sludge. Now I don’t know much (or indeed anything) about the latter artist, but it appears the pair teamed up at least twice recently, and this is one of those combined efforts.

Decay and Sludge, M32 cycle path, Bristol, August 2020
Decay and Sludge, M32 cycle path, Bristol, August 2020

The work has all the hallmarks of a fabulous Decay burner painted with some bright colours and the customary red Chuck character, but it is the geometric form in the centre in green and purple and some of the surrounding decorations that have been provided by Sludge. As a whole, the piece is bursting with colour and energy – a confection almost. I love it.

3104. M32 Cycle path (68)

This was a quiet one from Decay that snuck out without fanfare. It is great to see Decay experimenting with some new paint textures and ideas, such as spraying large clouds of paint on the wall as a kind of backdrop to his writing.

Decay, M32 cycle path, Bristol, July 2020
Decay, M32 cycle path, Bristol, July 2020

The white shading in the letters has a kind of distressed effect, something interior decorators were particularly fond of in the 1980s. The whole thing is high-class and exactly what you’d expect from Decay. There are two crew names on the piece that are HTM – Hold the Mustard, and LRS – Last Radical Souls, they are a loosely based crew operating all over the world since 2001.

3083. M32 roundabout J3 (239)

When people say to me ‘I didn’t recognise you at first with your beard’ I know that I haven’t seen that person for at least five months, and that was the opening of my conversation with Decay recently at a paint jam at the M32 roundabout recently.

Decay, M32 roundabout, Bristol, July 2020
Decay, M32 roundabout, Bristol, July 2020

Not only was it good to catch up, but it was also amazing watching him bring this piece together. One of the first parts that he added was the large splatters of grey paint, using a rather interesting contraption attached to the cap.

Decay, M32 roundabout, Bristol, July 2020
Decay, M32 roundabout, Bristol, July 2020

Decay works so effortlessly and with such mastery of his lettering that witnessing this piece coming together was like watching something magical unfold. I believe it to be one of his finest pieces to date and that is a very high bar indeed.

Decay, M32 roundabout, Bristol, July 2020
Decay, M32 roundabout, Bristol, July 2020

There is a lot going on in this piece, but somehow it looks very simple. Perhaps the lack of black outlines for the letters adds to the simple feel, but the complexity lies in the shades of grey and shadows and the injections of colour and shapes. I love this piece, top notch.

3016. St Werburghs tunnel (173)

At the south entrance to St Werburghs tunnel is this wonderful piece from Decay that just kind of appeared under the radar in a modest and quiet way. I love it when that happens, no fanfare, just an appearance… as if by magic.

Decay, St Werburghs, Bristtol, June 2020
Decay, St Werburghs, Bristtol, June 2020

Decay has managed to introduce a gentle and light summery feel to this piece, and a really clever touch is the light grey shadings at the lower half of the letters that give the piece body and lift it out from the wall a little. The more observant of you might notice that this is a BLM piece and the ‘Chuck’ character makes a second appearance on the left hand side wall with BLM speech bubble.

2747. M32 roundabout J3 (196)

This piece by Decay on the M32 roundabout is from a short while ago, but my first atempt at photographing it was foiled by the sun casting the shadow of a tree across the whole wall and utterly confusing my camera. I had to wait for a dull day!

Decay, M32 roundabout, Bristol, February 2020
Decay, M32 roundabout, Bristol, February 2020

In keeping with Decay’s ‘new look’ for 2020 he has painted his customary moniker over another word in a full caps, the other word in this instance being DECAY, so we have here a double Decay. I am liking this new concept a lot and am looking forward to where it takes us for the rest of the year.