Laic217 is certainly providing me with loads of material at the moment.This is his latest work in a very busy Moon Street. In my view, this is the best that I have seen of his work so far. Weird, trippy and well executed – perfect for the wall it has been sprayed on.
I like the melting face and acid house theme. More of his work can be viewed on his profile page of streetpins.com a site for graffiti artists to show their work.
This piece was, I think completed over the weekend of 16/17 April.
The Boston Tea Party cafe marks out the northern border of the Stokes Croft area for street art. It is also a great place to start a tour of all the wonders in the area. This is a lovely commission by Alex Lucas adorning the front right hand side of the building. I presume it is a March hare, given its boxing gloves.
Unfortunately the piece and many others nearby have been obscured by red spray, really calling into question the whole debate about art, street art, commissions, illegal, graffiti, tagging, vandalism and so on. It will be very difficult to clear this piece up – maybe she’ll get a commission to replace it (please).
A couple of weeks ago I discovered, quite by accident, a goldmine of new pieces in Brunswick Square, St Pauls. There is a large new development along the south side of the square with hoardings all around it. It would appear that the developers have encouraged Bristol’s finest to decorate the hoardings, and they have done an amazing job.
This piece is by one of Bristol’s most well known street artists, Inkie, and is a bright and colourful wildstyle burner in his very distinct style. A lovely piece.
I will, of course, feature other works from this magnificent site soon.
Over the last weekend the fabulous pairing of SPZero76 and Mr Wigz got busy on one of the middle arches of the Carriageworks. Their combinations work very well and have a vibrancy and humour about them.
SPZero76 works on the characters, which often feature a raccoon, which is odd because despite them appearing in the live version of Disney’s 101 Dalmations, set in the UK, we don’t have them in this country. While Mr Wigz provides the wildstyle burner beneath.
Their last piece I know about appeared back in February, further North on the A38…here is a reminder.
I like their work, and it is great to get an untagged picture. Any new pieces at the Carriageworks never last long in their pristine condition.
It would appear that Friday late afternoon is the right time to be passing the street art hot spots. Last week I managed to catch up with Decay and Alex Lucas, today I met and watched Sled One working this practice hoarding in Stokes Croft.
I had just dropped down from Armada Place, where I had seen and photographed another of his recent works, so it was a real pleasure to meet him. What a nice guy, and an extremely talented artist. It was his work that I featured (the woody woodpecker one) a little while ago that I honestly believe to be one of the finest works I have seen in Bristol. I told him as much (he was chuffed) and he said that it was freestyled…which basically means he sprayed it off the top of his head – no plan. Below are some pictures of Sled One at work.
You can make out the writing, it says Sled in silver and ASK in yellow (ASK is After School Klub – a group of Bristol street artists). A good afternoon’s work I would say.
It’s a bit like waiting for a bus…nothing for ages and then three turn up all at once. Well it is a bit like that with this third piece in as many weeks from Laic217.
The consistent themes for Laic217’s work seem to be his name decorated, but easily legible, bright carefully selected colour schemes and a character embellishing one of the letters. It is a formula I like, and one that is very distinct.
I look forward to stumbling on more of his works, now that I know where to look for them.
Tucked away from the main drag in Bristol is this masterpiece by Nick Walker. This amazing stencil which dates back to at least May 2010 blends in so well with the architrave surround and brick wall.
The piece can be found just beyond the rear entrance, turning right out of the exit, of Colston’s Hall. It is another of those Walker pieces that have simply become a ‘part of the furniture’ that we in Bristol take for granted. I think that most, if not all of his work remains intact, which is very unusual here.
Taking a closer look at the butterflies reveals that they are more sinister than you might originally think. Great work.
It has been a little while since I featured a work by one of Bristol’s finest and most famous street artists, Nick Walker. It took me a little while to find this, despite it being in the road where I work. It is a shutter piece, and the shutters are invariably up when I am at work, and down when I am not. I took this photograph on a Sunday.
The piece is unmistakably by Walker, with its pinstriped character and trademark ‘vandal’ moniker. It is indeed a treat to have so many of his artworks so close to where I spend most of my days.
It is a little neglectful of me not to have found this piece sooner, but better late than never.
Brilliant, brilliant, brilliant. I have been keeping my powder dry with this one, although I don’t quite know why. When I see a great piece of street art, I really ought to share it straight away.
3Dom is one of the most creative and imaginative of the Bristol street/graffiti artists. His works nearly all have a surreal feel to them and contain unique blends of shapes and colours that are rarely seen elsewhere. His imagination runs riot with this piece and he introduces different textures and shadings in this character. I love the green body and arm, that resemble a close-up of a spider’s leg.
The piece can be dated as having been sprayed post-Bowie’s death, as there is a mention of him and Buzz. What is pleasing about this is it is so clean, and as yet untagged. One of my absolute favourite pieces this year (so far).
It was an accident of fate that took me to this encounter yesterday. I spent my lunch break walking to the Post Office in the Galleries, and then nipped into M&S for sandwiches…a treat I don’t usually afford myself. I intended to return to work, but thought I was so close to The Bearpit, I would just see if there was anything new.
Better than that…a graffiti artist was spraying in one of the tunnels. The colours of paint on his trousers pretty much gave him away – red, grey, white and black – I approached him and asked “excuse me, but are you Decay“. Not a phrase I use often. It was, and we struck up a conversation.
Decay has only recently moved to Bristol, but it would explain the proliferation of his work around the place. I asked if he would be at Upfest 2016, and indeed he will. I will look him out. Finally I asked if he would mind if I took some pictures, and he said it was fine, but not the face. The whole experience was a bit ‘Exit through the Gift Shop’, a Banksy film I thoroughly recommend.
My first real contact with an artist in action. A good day, which only got better, as on my way home I spotted Alex Lucas working on a commission, and chatted with her too…more on that in a future post.
Happy.
Natural adventures 