Tag: Mural

606. Unity Street (3)

This is a piece going back to June 2016 by the excellent Epok. I thought I had already posted it, but it turns out that I am both forgetful and wrong…very human and real traits for a gent of my age.

Epok, Unity Street, Bristol, June 2016
Epok, Unity Street, Bristol, June 2016

As always Epok stamps his singular style on any wall he sprays – great colour selection and crisp clear geometric lines and shapes creating a whole that is very pleasing. Always spelling out the letters EPOK which once you get your eye in can clearly be seen. It is always good to see work from this ASK member and there is more to come here soon.

605. The Bearpit (36)

A few days back, there was something of a graffiti art fest in The Bearpit, and many of the vacant tagged spots were given a makeover, several artists spraying more than one piece during the event.

Mr Klue, The Bearpit, Bristol, January 2017
Mr Klue, The Bearpit, Bristol, January 2017

This great abstract piece is by the extremely busy Mr Klue and draws the viewer into the mind of the artist – where are those steps leading? A nice quick one from a fine Bristol artist.

603. The Bearpit (35)

I am very excited about this piece. It is a crocodile by the fantastic Rowdy – one of Bristol’s original street artists. I am excited because since I have been blogging about street art, I haven’t come across any new works by him. One feels closer to the artist if you can still smell the paint on the wall.

Rowdy, The Bearpit, Bristol, January 2017
Rowdy, The Bearpit, Bristol, January 2017

This croc is sprayed on the side of one of the staircases into The Bearpit and looks very much at home. It is the kind of piece that should become a bit of a landmark. I would be amazed and disappointed if it gets tagged, like so much of the work in The Bearpit.

Rowdy, The Bearpit, Bristol, January 2017
Rowdy, The Bearpit, Bristol, January 2017

A big thank you from me to Rowdy. This is Bristol through and through.

599. Old Bread Street (10)

This guy just gets better and better. It has been really interesting watching how Laic217’s work has developed over the last eighteen months or so, and being able to pick up on some of his motifs and styles.

Laic217, Old Bread Street, Bristol, January 2017
Laic217, Old Bread Street, Bristol, January 2017

In my view, this is his best piece of wildstyle writing to date, and the purple cat sets it off brilliantly. I love the fish bone logo on his jacket. The inclusion of the brick wall adds texture, and has been used in some of his previous works.

Laic217, Old Bread Street, Bristol, January 2017
Laic217, Old Bread Street, Bristol, January 2017

It looks like Laic217 spent a bit more time on this piece, and the clean finish indicates that it was time well spent. It has been a very busy period for the artist, and I have a couple more recent pieces to post soon. Really great stuff from a rising star.

592. Upfest 2016 (86)

I absolutely love this beautiful work by N4T4, and was lucky enough to visit it several times during its creation at Upfest 2016. It is an outstanding piece by an artist who left his mark so memorably at the previous year’s event.

 

N4T4, Upfest, Bristol, July 2016
N4T4, Upfest, Bristol, July 2016

It is always a privilege to see a street artist at work, at least that’s how I feel, and of course, when so many are in one place over two days that privilege is filled to the brim, and some. The eyes in the picture above show the evolution of the work…drafted out on the left and near complete on the right.

N4T4, Upfest, Bristol, July 2016
N4T4, Upfest, Bristol, July 2016

The finished work has something  about it that I really like. It might be as simple as it is really beautiful and easy to look at, it might be the style, with so much going on within the piece itself, I’m not sure, but I know I love it.

N4T4, Upfest, Bristol, July 2016
N4T4, Upfest, Bristol, July 2016

I haven’t seen any of N4T4s work other than the two pieces at Upfest, so it would be great to see him return next year to lighten up the place.

N4T4, Upfest, Bristol, July 2016
N4T4, Upfest, Bristol, July 2016

 

591. Upfest 2016 (85)

One of the first pieces I saw at Upfest 2016 was in the back garden area of The Steam Crane pub at the eastern end of North Street. These remarkable pigs are by brothers who paint under the name Id-Iom.

Id-iom, Upfest, Bristol, July2016
Id-iom, Upfest, Bristol, July2016

Their entry in the Upfest programme reads: “In a nutshell? Determined never again to suffer under the yoke of an oppressive employer, this is the ongoing tale of two brothers who are going to take the world by storm or die trying!”. Well you have to admire their ambition.

Id-iom, Upfest, Bristol, July2016
Id-iom, Upfest, Bristol, July2016

Id-Iom have a great WordPress site, and unlike many artists, they keep it very up to date and post their artworks regularly. Well worth a look. I can work out that they might originally be from the Isla of Man, but now operate out of London.

Id-iom, Upfest, Bristol, July2016
Id-iom, Upfest, Bristol, July2016

The pigs in this piece remind me of Animal Farm, but that is probably because it is a book that is very front of mind for me at the moment. It is a brilliantly stencilled wall and a piece that really set the standard for Upfest.

Id-iom, Upfest, Bristol, July2016
Id-iom, Upfest, Bristol, July2016

590. Upfest 2016 (84)

One of the largest pieces of Upfest 2016 is this magnificent mural by Odeith. It is located on the same wall where this Thierry Noir  pair was painted for Upfest 2015 and it shows vividly how different art pieces can change utterly the character of a wall.

Odeith, Upfest, Bristol, July 2016
Odeith, Upfest, Bristol, July 2016

Odeith was one of the festival’s lead artists and one I haven’t written about before, although I think I have seen his work on the Interweb. He is from Damaia in Portugal and has been spraying since the 1980s. Odeith has worked a lot with perspective and shading to create some amazing 3D effect pieces, a style which he called ‘sombre 3D’. This piece, however is something else altogether.

Odeith, Upfest, Bristol, July 2016
Odeith, Upfest, Bristol, July 2016

It is brilliant for so many reasons. Firstly it is an extraordinarily lifelike painting of Benny Hill (anyone not know who he is?) and it is technically excellent. Secondly it is hugely topical and relevant, being a commentary on the Brexit vote in the UK. It openly mocks the vote, implying that UK (Plc) is a clown and viewed as such by the rest of Europe, and probably much of the world. I love this wall and all that it says. It is a constant reminder of our national stupidity. As an aside I ought to say that I always rather liked Benny Hill – especially in the Italian Job and Chitty Chitty Bang Bang.

586. John Street (1)

Some pieces in Bristol are really hard to photograph and this is one of them. It is a large work by 3Dom sprayed on the side of a business unit in a residential area of St Werburghs. There are always cars and vans parked outside the unit, so the pictures are from rather awkward angles and distances to avoid bonnets, wing mirrors interfering with the shot.

3Dom, John Street, Bristol, May 2016
3Dom, John Street, Bristol, May 2016

I spotted this some time ago and have tried, unsuccessfully, to get a single clean shot of the whole piece. It is a 3Dom classic. Dreamlike and fantastical. I am not entirely sure what exactly is going on in the picture, but looking at the detail of the piece brings out more than first meets the eye.

3Dom, John Street, Bristol, May 2016
3Dom, John Street, Bristol, May 2016

For example, the leg is like an X-ray exposing the bones, and the shoes are literally rooted to the ground. The head is like a light attracting moths and insects and the whole figure appears to be paying homage to a little toadstool.

3Dom, John Street, Bristol, May 2016
3Dom, John Street, Bristol, May 2016

Creative and fun, but utterly unintelligible. I love 3Dom’s work.

582. M32 Spot (1)

Tucked under the M32 is a well known Bristol wet-weather skate spot which has developed through great DIY work to create ramps, rails, steps etc. A busy place in the Winter. The area lends itself really well to graffiti artists as there is rather a lot of concrete in the form of walls and pillars. This is the first of many posts I will be writing about art in this area.

Silent Hobo, M32 Spot, Bristol, January 2017
Silent Hobo, M32 Spot, Bristol, January 2017
This is a lovely new piece by Silent Hobo. The proportions of the pillars work well for individual characters and this is a great example. I really love this, although Silent Hobo’s style is not to everyone’s liking. It is good news that he is out painting the streets again, as he appeared to have slowed down a little last year.

Silent Hobo, M32 Spot, Bristol, January 2017
Silent Hobo, M32 Spot, Bristol, January 2017
I don’t know where the ‘we are golden’ slogan comes from, but I like it. Positive stuff from one of Bristol’s established street artists.

 

 

578. North Street Green (5)

Gemma Compton’s work is rather special, usually incorporating wildlife and in particular insects and birds. In this beautiful example she has created a series of hawk moths (death’s head?) laid out in a pattern, with her customary blue and white background.

Gemma Compton, North Street, Bristol, November 2016
Gemma Compton, North Street, Bristol, November 2016

The piece almost feels like a study or looks like something from a scientific collection. The moths are inanimate and objects to be admired, rather than thriving living insects. Another facet of her work is her great drips in this case as a sort of back wash.

Gemma Compton, North Street, Bristol, November 2016
Gemma Compton, North Street, Bristol, November 2016

The piece I posted at Wapping Wharf recently also has one of these moths and copious drips. I think both were created at around the same time. What is not to like about her magnificent work?