Tag: Rowing boat

3477. Felix Road (1)

It is all too easy to get trapped into visiting the places that you are familiar with and I have been guilty of not exploring too much around Bristol for about a year, for fairly obvious reasons. Every now and again though I have ventured into new territories, often on the back of seeing something on Instagram and setting off to find it. This wonderful piece by Dabuten Tronko is an artefact of one such mission, an added bonus, if you like.

Dabuten Tronko, Felix Road, Bristol, February 2021
Dabuten Tronko, Felix Road, Bristol, February 2021

Although this piece was painted in 2019 it takes me back to the first pieces of his that I saw back in 2017, when his work had a strong theme of wooden rowing boats. Don’t ask me why, I mean who’d ever have thought they would be the subject of street art, but in the more than capable hands of Dabuten Tronko they have an intrinsic beauty and interest. He seems to favour the deconstruction of these little boats as much as intact versions.

This is an expertly painted piece, with amazing colours and superb definition between the subject and background. So happy to have discovered it, albeit rather late in the day.

Row

 

Thirteen years ago

those halcyon days we had

calm before the storm.

 

by Scooj

  • From Wikipedia:

From Latin Alcyone, daughter of Aeolus and wife of Ceyx. When her husband died in a shipwreck, Alcyone threw herself into the sea whereupon the gods transformed them both into halcyon birds (kingfishers). When Alcyone made her nest on the beach, waves threatened to destroy it. Aeolus restrained his winds and kept them calm during seven days in each year, so she could lay her eggs. These became known as the “halcyon days,” when storms do not occur. Today, the term is used to denote a past period that is being remembered for being happy and/or successful.

1624. High Street

The first time I saw anything by Dabuten Tronko was round about the time of Upfest 2017 and I immediately liked his deconstructed rowing boats. At Upfest, artists tend to come and then go and if you get lucky they come the following year. Well I’m not sure if he planned on being at Upfest 2018, but he did come to Bristol in June and left two fine pieces of which this is the first.

Dabuten Tronko, High Street, Bristol, July 2018
Dabuten Tronko, High Street, Bristol, July 2018

There is something rather compelling about the theme he often chooses for his wall work, with a focus on small wooden rowing boats in a state of disassembly. I wonder if this is symbolic of anything in particular or an unconscious outpouring, but I expect there is quite a lot that lies beneath the surface of this work.

Note the Whysayit YSAE tag at the top of the piece.