4734. Sparke Evans Park (57)

Mest, Sparke Evans Park, Bristol, September 2022
Mest, Sparke Evans Park, Bristol, September 2022

I like Mest’s writing a lot. His letters are clear bold and the word have no links to anything, so there is no inherited preconception… what I mean by that, for example, is that if his name was HAND, or LION, you would expect to see a hand or a lion in the work. Actually, come to think of it, I can’t think of any writers who are called what they paint, other than the letters – except perhaps Face 1st, who always includes a face. Enough tittle-tattle.

Mest, Sparke Evans Park, Bristol, September 2022
Mest, Sparke Evans Park, Bristol, September 2022

This is a fabulous piece of graffiti writing, and possibly Mest’s best to date. The letters, looking like pieces of ironwork with cracks through them and the colour transitions at the edges are beautifully done, and the wisps of smoke complete the overall work. One of my favourites.

Thursday doors

Door 51

Bamba Bazaar, Gloucester Road, Bristol.

This is an unlikely piece of door art next door to what I guess is my local pub, The Prince of Wales, which incidentally was painted by one of my favourite Bristol artists Andrew Burns Colwill…but that is another story.

Door, Bamba Bazaar, Gloucester Road, Bristol
Door, Bamba Bazaar, Gloucester Road, Bristol

I wasn’t looking for this door, which I think has been there for some time, but kind of noticed it while I was waiting at the pedestrian lights to cross the road earlier this summer. Actually it is more of a gate than a door, but it is utterly magnificent.

Door, Bamba Bazaar, Gloucester Road, Bristol
Door, Bamba Bazaar, Gloucester Road, Bristol

The gate actually guards the entrance to two further doors (so you get three for the price of one). I would think it was commissioned by Bamba Bazaar, a shop that specialises in beads (I bought some beads there once) and was constructed by Scroller Metal Work.

Scroller Metalwork, Bamba Bazaar, Gloucester Road, Bristol
Scroller Metalwork, Bamba Bazaar, Gloucester Road, Bristol

It would be nice if more businesses put in the effort to commission something beautiful and practical like this, but it is really rather un-British. I would expect to see something like this in Barcelona or Paris and perhaps take it for granted, but here in Bristol it is a hidden gem. It pays to look around.

by Scooj

More amazing doors at: Thursday Doors – Norm 2.0