Tag: RAW

1751. Tower Hill (1)

A colleague alerted me to this hoarding, which is within lunchtime walking distance from my work, so I felt obliged to go and take a look. Sometimes such tip-offs can be a bit of a disappointment, because not all ‘street art’ is worth the trip. This wonderful piece by Smak however was absolutely worth it.

Smak, Tower Hill, Bristol, August 2018
Smak, Tower Hill, Bristol, August 2018

I had kind of been aware of these hoardings but didn’t know that there was anything decent there. In fact there were three notable pieces of which this is the first. Smak is an interesting artist in that he has two personas. This is his ‘graff’ persona, but he also does high-end pieces and commissions under another name – he even painted a large wall at Upfest this year (to follow).

Smak, Tower Hill, Bristol, August 2018
Smak, Tower Hill, Bristol, August 2018

This wildstyle writing is really skilfully done and spells out SMAK. In the middle of the work he had woven in the head of a bird, and there are some feathers in there too. A classy piece.

1722. Ashton Road

As is so often the case with finding new work on the street, I was not looking for this piece. On the contrary I was trying to capture a few more Upfest pieces that I hadn’t yet seen in their completed state and drove past this hoarding. I had to act quickly to pull over into a free parking space and jump out of the car for a quick snap.

Smak, Ashton Road, Bristol, September 2018
Smak, Ashton Road, Bristol, September 2018

This sublime graffiti writing is by the superb Smak, and is outstanding in many ways. The colour palette is beautifully selected and the chrome/grey parts of the lettering in particular have a great 3D effect. The letters spell out SMAK but are quite nicely concealed in this piece. Really great work.

1621. Moon Street (51)

An old collaboration, the remnants of which can still be seen in Moon Street. The writing on the left obviously belongs to Ryder and the rather scary voodoo-like character is by the elusive 2Keen, both of RAW.

Ryder and 2Keen, Moon Street, Bristol, May 2016
Ryder and 2Keen, Moon Street, Bristol, May 2016

I have always been rather fond of this wall and can’t think why I haven’t posted it before. Ryder’s writing meets the high expectations one expects from his work, and the 2Keen piece is really rather special. His work is quite unlike anyone else’s and has a soft quality to it, almost blurry. A specialist in character teeth. Great at last to publish this one.

Ryder and 2Keen, Moon Street, Bristol, May 2016
Ryder and 2Keen, Moon Street, Bristol, May 2016

1565. Raleigh Road vector (24)

It has been a while since I last took a trip to Raleigh Road, and similarly I haven’t posted anything by Rusk for a while, so here is a piece by Rusk in Raleigh Road. The building work behind these hoardings is moving on at pace, so this spot is on borrowed time, but for the time being it still serves as a great gallery for Bristol artists.

Rusk, Raleigh Road, Bristol, June 2018
Rusk, Raleigh Road, Bristol, June 2018

I have always taken a liking to Rusk’s writing, largely because of his perfectionist approach and desire to turn out high quality work. This particular piece incorporates a horizontal colour gradation that he favours in much of his work, with a strong, bright white accent line running through the middle of the piece. The interlocking letters, decorations and colour palette work well together. Another fine piece from this gentle artist.

1440. Wilder Street (23)

I photographed this piece by 2Keen a long while back, before I knew anything about the artist. To me, the piece looks unfinished, and I know from having met him a few times while he was doing his Redland collaboration that he can take a while to complete a piece.

2Keen, Wilder Street, Bristol, September 2016
2Keen, Wilder Street, Bristol, September 2016

This wild smiling character is similar to others that I have seen, and he seems to create them with exaggerated features and a little bit of edge to them. One that I took in passing and have had archived for a long while. I should go back to see if it is still there.

2Keen, City Road, Bristol, May 2017
2Keen, City Road, Bristol, May 2017

1424. Moon Street (42)

Moon Street remains one of my favourite street art/graffiti hunting grounds, because it still has that ‘illegal’ wall feel about it. I find the ‘legal wall’ concept a difficult one to get my head round. This is a nice straight forward piece by Smak, certainly nothing fancy like he is capable of, but nonetheless it is clean and tidy.

Smak, Moon Street, Bristol, March 2018
Smak, Moon Street, Bristol, March 2018

When I spoke with him a little while back he told me that he likes to find different walls in new places. I’m not sure this qualifies in that category, but I am pleased he still chooses to return to walls he has sprayed before.

1421. M32 roundabout J3 (73)

You can see that I am having yet another trawl through my archives, bringing out some real gems that have been left behind. Part of the reason is that due to the Easter break and a bereavement, I haven’t been around to take many pictures and so don’t have too much contemporary Bristol street art to show you.

Jaksta, M32, Bristol, March 2016
Jaksta, M32, Bristol, March 2016

This is a wonderful piece by Jaksta, a member of the Read and Weep (RAW) crew (and several other crews too). I seem to remember this piece, at one of the tunnel entrances to the M32 roundabout was there for quite a while.

Jaksta, M32, Bristol, March 2016
Jaksta, M32, Bristol, March 2016

At the time I took the picture, I didn’t know who the artist was which is probably why it ended up in my archive in the first place. I think that this is a really masterful piece, splitting the character into two colours is a fairly radical treatment, but somehow when you look at the piece, you barely notice the colour seprartion and see the character as a whole. Beautifully sprayed…big respect to Jaksta.

1356. Horfield skate park (2)

I don’t go to this spot often, but just happened to be picking up my daughter and a friend from Horfield Sports Centre and had five minutes to kill. I took a short walk around the perimeter of the skate park, in the melting snow, and was pretty happy to find this writing from Rusk.

Rusk, Horfield skate park, Bristol, March 2018
Rusk, Horfield skate park, Bristol, March 2018

Most of the stuff here is pretty elementary and it is a bit of a practice wall, so it is always nice to see something a bit more polished from an established graffiti writer. The class of this piece stands out, and even on a wall that not many will see, Rusk has taken his time to produce something of quality. A nice March surprise.

1346. M32 cycle path (12)

Ryder’s work can be found all over Bristol, and increasingly I am enjoying his particular style of writing. In this piece he has gone for some really bright colours and a spotty fill to the deep shadow. His characteristic eyes and teeth filling some of the spaces in the lettering.

Ryder, M32 cycle path, Bristol, July 2017
Ryder, M32 cycle path, Bristol, July 2017

Whether it is with his RAW mates, T-Rex, Rusk or Smak, or on his own, Ryder consistently turns out great work.

 

1300. M32 roundabout J3 (64)

Sitting snugly next to an Elvs work is this great chrome piece by Rusk, set on a black background and decorated with pink and purple bubbles. A friend of mine, who is a designer, asked me what is this thing for drawing arrows on the end of graffiti letters all about. Is it simply a design feature? who first did it? does anyone know? I don’t know the answers, but they do feature in most wildstyle writing.

Rusk, M32 roundabout, Bristol, January 2018
Rusk, M32 roundabout, Bristol, January 2018

Rusk as always has smashed it with this piece, which is rather different from some of his work I have been posting recently. Maybe I’ll ask him about the arrows next time I see him.