Tag: RAW

2156. Upper York Street (14)

I love it when it happens, when an unannounced collaboration appears as if by magic. This sensational work from Smak and Hazard is one of those special pieces, and I think they have absolutely smashed it.

Smak, Upper York Street, Bristol, April 2019
Smak, Upper York Street, Bristol, April 2019

Smak has again gone for one of his double burners, where he has cleverly crafted two versions of his name into one piece. If you look carefully, there is one in blue and one in mostly orange. Such an accomplished thing to do from an artist who seems to be at the top of his game at the moment.

Hazard, Upper York Street, Bristol, April 2019
Hazard, Upper York Street, Bristol, April 2019

Then to Hazard’s fabulous frog, which I have to say has come as a huge surprise because I am more used to seeing her portrait pieces. I am a naturalist by training, and I have always had a bit of a soft spot for amphibians, especially frogs, so this piece really chimes with me.

Hazard, Upper York Street, Bristol, April 2019
Hazard, Upper York Street, Bristol, April 2019

Everything about this frog is good, the colours and the shading and the light reflecting off the body and the eye. Such an unusual piece to find on the streets of Bristol, but a wholly welcome one. More of this kind of thing please! A great collaboration on Upper York Street, so utterly well worth a look.

2154. Moon Street (65)

I recently posted a collaboration piece by ‘Ware’ and Jaksta from Upfest 2016, and I stated then that I wasn’t very familiar with ‘Ware’s work. Well nothing has changed there except that I now know his Instagram moniker is @mickeyraw and I able to see when he has painted new work. I found this one down in Moon Street recently, and it is a fine piece of wildstyle writing by this RAW artist.

Ware, Moon Street, Bristol, April 2019
Ware, Moon Street, Bristol, April 2019

The colours work really well together and the execution of the piece is truly first class. I am looking forward to seeing more from ‘Ware’ or do I call him Mickeyraw? I started with Ware, so will continue until I know better.

2151. M32 roundabout J3 (138)

There was a recent paint jam down at the M32 with fur artists participating. The only one that I recognised was Smak, so I guess the others were visitors to Bristol, or don’t paint all that often. This piece by Smak was the pick of the bunch, although the others were pretty good too, and I’ll post them in due course.

Smak, M32 roundabout, Bristol, April 2019
Smak, M32 roundabout, Bristol, April 2019

The colours of this piece stand out so brilliantly against the white background and I consider this to be a truly masterful piece of writing. I am pretty hacked off that I cut off the ends of the piece in both photographs but the pavement here is pretty narrow and it is difficult to get the full span of a piece in shot. I am even more annoyed that I went back there last night and forgot to retake the pictures. Sensational work though.

2121. M32 roundabout J3 (134)

It is always great fun to see how street artists can play with each other’s work. For example, this piece is not a collaboration, it is an add-on. The original work was a RAW collaboration the centrepiece of which was this fabulous character by Jaksta.

Jaksta, M32 roundabout, Bristol, February 2019
Jaksta, M32 roundabout, Bristol, February 2019

Turnover on this wall has been unusually high this spring and when ‘the monday club’ a group of artists including Nevergiveup, Tasha Bee, Soap, Run Z and Zake set about painting here, Nevergiveup worked around Jaksta’s piece almost like a respect thing, his bunnies leaning in towards the character, together with a carefully, thoughtfully resprayed background.

Jaksta, M32 roundabout, Bristol, February 2019
Jaksta, M32 roundabout, Bristol, February 2019

Often Jaksta’s characters are well known film stars or personalities, but I’m not sure I know who this is. What we have here is two pieces for the price of one… and some more bunnies for the collection.

Jaksta and Nevergiveup, M32 roundabout, Bristol, February 2019
Jaksta and Nevergiveup, M32 roundabout, Bristol, February 2019

2091. M32 roundabout J3 (132)

There is no getting away from the fact that Smak is a brilliant graffiti artist and character street artist. He is also going through what I would call a productive and creative phase. This lovely piece of graff writing is on one of the walls at the M32 roundabout which seems to have quite a high turnover at the moment.

Smak, M32 roundabout, Bristol, March 2019
Smak, M32 roundabout, Bristol, March 2019

The colour selection set on a black background is superb, and the little yellow flashes make the piece stand out just that little bit more. It’s amazing what these guys can do with a spray can.

2082. Nelson Street (8)

My oh my! A couple of weeks ago this utterly remarkable collaboration by Smak and Sled One appeared on the hoardings in Nelson Street which have in recent times been a bit of an ASK playground. It is quite one of the best collaborations I have seen for a long while, and I don’t think that Bristolians, in the main, realise just how privileged we are to have art this good decorating our streets.

Smak, Nelson Street, Bristol, March 2019
Smak, Nelson Street, Bristol, March 2019

On the left of the wall is a magnifcent oriental style leopard in rampant attitude rather menacingly advancing towards a poor unsuspecting child.

Smak, Nelson Street, Bristol, March 2019
Smak, Nelson Street, Bristol, March 2019

This is one of the finest character pieces I have seen by Smak, and it seems that he is planing on doing more, which is great news.

Smak and Sled One, Nelson Street, Bristol, March 2019
Smak and Sled One, Nelson Street, Bristol, March 2019

The whole collaboration is set on a grey background and shares a general colour palette of greys, reds and yellows.

Sled One, Nelson Street, Bristol, March 2019
Sled One, Nelson Street, Bristol, March 2019

To the right of the wall we are spoiled by a magnificent story from Sled One, where a crane is delivering a little baby suspended in a cloth from its beak. It looks like the baby is prepared to take on the leopard as it is armed with a samurai sword and is wearing a mask. Even the red decorations on the grey patches of the piece ooze class.

Sled One, Nelson Street, Bristol, March 2019
Sled One, Nelson Street, Bristol, March 2019

This is not the first time that Sled One has incorporated a samurai into his work and is would appear to be a theme he enjoys. This is a world-class collaboration that we in Bristol are lucky to have and I thoroughly recommend that anyone living in Bristol makes a detour to Nelson Street to see it if planning a shopping trip to the centre.

2077. M32 roundabout J3 (131)

I’m not sure that I’ve posted anything from Ryder for a little while, but that ends here with this recent piece on the M32 roundabout which appears to have been sprayed during something of a paint jam at the end of February.

Ryder, M32 roundabout, Bristol, February 2019
Ryder, M32 roundabout, Bristol, February 2019

High quality letters as always which I’ll have to leave you to feast your eyes on because I have to get togged up for skiing… sorry about that.

2060. Dean Lane skate park (197)

When these two get together, it is always a recipe for something interesting, rarely missing the mark. Sled One and Smak have collaborated on this wall before at least once and possibly many times, but this is an absolute peach.

Sled One, Dean Lane, Bristol, February 2019
Sled One, Dean Lane, Bristol, February 2019

The two have used a McDonald’s theme for this collaboration, using the corporate colours of the food giant. I confess that I find it a slightly curious brand to celebrate, but that is my snobby bias coming into play, which I am not particularly proud of. Sled One has incorporated some fries and bubbling cheese into his writing which is utterly sharp and brilliant.

Smak, Dean Lane, Bristol, February 2019
Smak, Dean Lane, Bristol, February 2019

Smak takes the fun a little further with a little slogan ‘the big Smak and cheese’… very droll. Again, this is a supreme piece of writing, so sharp and clean. A great coming together of ASK and RAW. I rather like the bicycle, which I had to keep moving out of the way, but it kind of goes well with the yellow of the piece. So good.

2050. Upfest 2016 (168)

Now here is something of a rarity, a piece of street art by Smak, rather than the graffiti writing we normally associate him with. Smak is an accomplished artist as well as writer as this piece from Upfest 2016 amply demonstrates.

Smak, Upfest, Bristol, July 2016
Smak, Upfest, Bristol, July 2016

I think this piece is depicting the Gorgon Medusa with her snake locks and stare that turns all who gaze upon her to stone. I think that if the piece had not been signed I would have really struggled to recognise it as a Smak piece. Really great to see something different from this Bristol-based artist.

2045. Upfest 2016 (163)

When I saw this back in 2016 I was still at the early stages of learning about the street art scene in Bristol (in fact I am still learning every day) and I knew little about the RAW crew and the artists constituting it. While it is obvious that the character on the right is by Jaksta (the medallion gives this away) the writing is less obvious.

Jaksta and Ware?, Upfest, Bristol, July 2016
Jaksta and Ware?, Upfest, Bristol, July 2016

It looks like the letters say WARE to me, but here I am showing my ignorance because I don’t know the artist at all. The writing is beautifully executed and I love the musical notes sitting on the midway line on the blue letters. A really nice piece of street art for the festival.