1326. Prince’s Place (3)

My absolute favourite piece of the year so far. This is an outstanding collaboration between two of the Bristol ASK masters, Sepr and 3Dom. As well as the composition, which is brilliant, the location is also cleverly chosen.

Sepr and 3Dom, Princes' Place, Bristol, February 2018
Sepr and 3Dom, Princes’ Place, Bristol, February 2018

This wall was home to a 3Dom piece of writing that had remained here for a long time, completely untouched. I do hope that this piece is offered the same level of respect. On the left is a snorkeler in blue, with gold trunks and a starfish on his head expertly sprayed by Sepr.

Sepr and 3Dom, Princes' Place, Bristol, February 2018
Sepr and 3Dom, Princes’ Place, Bristol, February 2018

If this isn’t weird enough, 3Dom has painted the most incredible jelly fish in rich and vibrant tones wearing a WW2 sea mine on its bell and with a chain trailing behind in its tentacles. A thing of quirkiness and real beauty.

Sepr and 3Dom, Princes' Place, Bristol, February 2018
Sepr and 3Dom, Princes’ Place, Bristol, February 2018

The whole thing comes together magnificently, the contrasting colour palettes of each artist marking their work but combining in the centre of the piece. So sharp and fresh, this is a really high quality piece. being in quite a narrow lane, it is quite difficult to capture in a phiotograph, but it is a real beauty.

3Dom, Princes Place, Bristol, February 2016
3Dom, Princes Place, Bristol, February 2016

1316. New Gatton Road (2)

The tree in front of this magnificent Sepr piece is always going to make photographing it difficult. A winter shot on a clear day is probably the best you are going to get, but ebven then a shadow of the tree is cast across the mural.

Sepr, New Gatton Street, Brisotl, November 2017
Sepr, New Gatton Street, Brisotl, November 2017

I took several pictures of this piece shortly after it had been started, but they were polluted by the light conditions. I am not entirely sure what this is all about other than it is yet another brilliant monkey in space suit piece. Not far from this spot there is a Zase and Dekor monkey in a space suit, and every Upfest seems to throw up one or two. It is an endearing theme, and one so excellently executed here by Sepr.

Sepr, New Gatton Street, Brisotl, November 2017
Sepr, New Gatton Street, Brisotl, November 2017

This is a deceptively large piece on a fairly irregular wall, and how well Sepr has used the space to tell a humerous story. The monkey is immediately adjacent to the beautiful turtle by Louis Masai, and there we have street art…two classics, one earnest and worthy, the other full of fun…both supreme.

 

1303. Upper York Street (9)

This has been a winter where some of the giants of Bristol street art have awoken and decorated our walls with some of the finest works for a while. Sepr is one such giant who seems to be painting most weekends and turning out some really high-quality work.

Sepr, Upper York Street, Bristol, February 2018
Sepr, Upper York Street, Bristol, February 2018

What a stunner this is – ‘knock it on the head – before it knocks you on your arse’. I’ve not heard the expression before, but am willing to adopt it on the back of this wonderful Sepr work.

Sepr, Upper York Street, Bristol, February 2018
Sepr, Upper York Street, Bristol, February 2018

The common thread running through much of Sepr’s work is music, and musicians and here he has painted a pianist stretched out and toppling off his stool. For me, his works have a very strong retro feel and remind me of 1950’s cartoons – the hairstyle and the trilby are not of this decade.

Sepr, Upper York Street, Bristol, February 2018
Sepr, Upper York Street, Bristol, February 2018

These cartoons, beautifully drawn are pulled out from the wall by some expert shardos that govo it a bit of a 3D feel. Definitely worth a look.

 

1222. Dighton Street (3)

There are two small spots at the end of Dighton Street which appear to get a new lick of paint roughly annually. Two years ago there were two musicians by Sepr and last year there were two pieces of wildstyle writing by Deamze. Now it seems the rotation continues between these two ASK members with the emergence of another two musicians by Sepr.

Sepr, Dighton Street, Bristol, December 2017
Sepr, Dighton Street, Bristol, December 2017

On the right there is a trumpeting gentleman. Sepr betrays his long love for music with these pieces and conveys not only the interesting stylised characters but a sense of the music too.

Sepr, Dighton Street, Bristol, December 2017
Sepr, Dighton Street, Bristol, December 2017

The piece on the left is a lady violinist (or is it a viola?). Unfortunately, even though these were only a few days old by the time I got to photograph them, the taggers had been at work. Kind of annoying really. I continue to love Sepr’s work.

1214. M32 roundabout J3 (59)

This is the right hand end piece to the ASK paint jam collaboration from November and is by Sepr. I have always been a huge admirer of his work and I am so pleased that he has been hitting the streets hard in recent months. His character style is so unique, and for me it has a really strong 1950s and 1960s feel to it – if you type ‘1950s cartoon characters’ into Google images, you’ll get a sense of what I mean.

Sepr, M32 roundabout, Bristol, November 2017
Sepr, M32 roundabout, Bristol, November 2017

This particular piece is all a bit strange and there is lots going on. Where to begin? At the top there is a bird playing a flute I think and its left wing makes a crown, although I think that is accidental. Common with many of Sepr’s pieces, the character is playing a musical instrument, a tambourine, and in his other hand he appears to be burning joss sticks, the smoke trail of which terminates with a snake’s head. He is sitting astride a dolphin. What on earth can it all mean?

Sepr, M32 roundabout, Bristol, November 2017
Sepr, M32 roundabout, Bristol, November 2017

Whatever it means, it is a fascinating and joyful piece to look at, and rounds off what is a truly exceptional wall. I think I only have one piece left to post from this ASK paint jam, and that is by 3Dom. All very good.

1186. Brunel Way bridge (3)

This is the third piece I have posted from the ASK halloween paint jam at Brunel Way bridge, the others were by Inkie and Feek. This is yet another masterful work from the resurgent Sepr – there seems to be no stopping him at the moment.

Sepr, Brunel Way, Bristol, November 2017
Sepr, Brunel Way, Bristol, November 2017

Sepr has created a fabulous depiction of Count Dracula drinking what appears to be a rather nice glass of wine, but take a closer look in the bottle and you will notice a heart. The humour extends to Dracula’s footwear, which if I am not mistaken, appear to be slippers.

Sepr, Brunel Way, Bristol, November 2017
Sepr, Brunel Way, Bristol, November 2017

The whole piece is beautifully sprayed right down to the shadows at the bottom of the piece…but then, I thought Count Dracula had no shadow…am I right?

1146. Wilder Street (19)

This wall in the famous Wilder Street is beautifully curated by Where the Wall and never seems to get tagged, this is probably down to the high quality of the collaborations that get permission to spray here. It is a little bit more like an outdoor gallery than graffiti wall.

Epok, Wilder Street, Bristol, November 2017
Epok, Wilder Street, Bristol, November 2017

Set on a nicely prepped red brick colour, this wonderful collaboration from three members of the ASK crew, Epok, Sepr and Deamze is a graffiti/street art feast. First up is a lovely clean angular piece of wildstyle writing, so typical of Epok. His work rarely fits the ‘rectangular’ boundaries that most writers work to, with his work often smaller at one end than the other.

Sepr, Wilder Street, Bristol, November 2017
Sepr, Wilder Street, Bristol, November 2017

Next up is the recently invigorated Sepr, who until recently has been relatively quiet on the streets, but of late has become quite busy, which is a great thing for all of us. Sepr has a great ability to tell stories through his cartoonesque work.

Sepr, Wilder Street, Bristol, November 2017
Sepr, Wilder Street, Bristol, November 2017

In this piece Sepr shows, by way of a thought bubble, that the karate protagonist is using his concentration to break a plank of wood – his mind is on a tree hugging his wife/partner – he is focusing his jealousy and rage into kinetic energy…or something like that.

Deamze, Wilder Street, Bristol, November 2017
Deamze, Wilder Street, Bristol, November 2017

The third part of this collaboration is yet another clean and tidy piece of wildstyle writing from Deamze, once again without a character. The balance of the three pieces is perfect, and the colour selections easy on the eye and complementary. A really great wall, well worth a gander.

1088. M32 Spot (11)

It’s ok to not be ok is the message at the bottom left hand side of this superb piece by Sepr. I don’t think it is his message, but I like it that he has left it there. I haven’t seen much about this piece on Instagram, but maybe I’m just not looking in the right places.

Sepr, M32 Spot, Bristol, September 2017
Sepr, M32 Spot, Bristol, September 2017

Sepr has injected a lot of humour into this fox and hound duo making music together on a guitar and banjo. The whole piece has a feel of southern states of America, out on the porch kind of thing. These guys seem to be enjoying themselves, and the bottle of spirits rounds off the piece beautifully.

Sepr, M32 Spot, Bristol, September 2017
Sepr, M32 Spot, Bristol, September 2017

Sepr’s technique is instantly recognisable, and I love his two-tone pieces set on a coloured background. Sepr is a bit of a polymath, his street art is complemented by his tattooing and his bands Olanza and Fuk for which he is the drummer. Music certainly crosses over with his art, and many of his pieces I have written about on this blog feature characters with musical instruments.

Sepr, M32 Spot, Bristol, September 2017
Sepr, M32 Spot, Bristol, September 2017

Sepr always leaves me wanting more.

756. Cowmead Walk (1)

This is a fabulous collaborative wall by Deamze (on the left) and Sepr (on the right). I found the wall quite by chance on my wanderings and it is always so rewarding when you come across something as impressive as this. There is also a moment of anguish and doubt that questions your knowledge of the street/graffiti art spots in your patch.

Deamze, Cowmead Walk, Bristol, December 2016
Deamze, Cowmead Walk, Bristol, December 2016

I don’t quite know why I haven’t posted it before. Probably because I have a backlog the size of a small planet and this one just got stuck there for a while.

Deamze, Cowmead Walk, Bristol, December 2016
Deamze, Cowmead Walk, Bristol, December 2016

On the December day that I took these pictures, there was a gentleman with several little dogs that kept running backwards and forwards in front of me. I hope they don’t distract too much. The Deamze wildstyle piece is of the high standard turned out by the artist, and the pink colour selection stands out really well against the green background.

Sepr, Cowmead Walk, Bristol, December 2016
Sepr, Cowmead Walk, Bristol, December 2016

The Sepr end of the piece is an entertaining scene, which looks to be of mice cleaning the component parts of a head. This is a theme I have seen before from Sepr, and he has mastered the stretching out and dissection of the head really well. The shadows add a perspective to the whole piece too.

Sepr, Cowmead Walk, Bristol, December 2016
Sepr, Cowmead Walk, Bristol, December 2016

Although the two halves of the piece do not tell the same story, they are coordinated and complement each other well. Great work from two of Bristol’s finest.

668. Horley Road (1)

This is a gargantuan collaboration by some of Bristol’s very best street artists, that I first saw back in October 2016, although I am not sure how long it had been there. It is in the St Werburghs/St Pauls area of Bristol, and is a street I rarely get to.

FLX, 3Dom, Epok, Soker, Sepr, Horley Road, Bristol, October 2016
FLX, 3Dom, Epok, Soker, Sepr, Horley Road, Bristol, October 2016

I can’t tell you too much about what the whole piece is about, but I can tell you it was by FLX, 3Dom, Epok, Soker and Sepr. Who did what is a bit of guesswork, but this is how I think it works… The robot on the right looks like Sepr’s work, the wildstyle writing by Soker and Epok, The character in the top left with the big hair by FLX? and the crystal dome thing in the bottom left by 3Dom?

FLX, 3Dom, Epok, Soker, Sepr, Horley Road, Bristol, October 2016
FLX, 3Dom, Epok, Soker, Sepr, Horley Road, Bristol, October 2016

I am not too fussed about who did what, simply because the whole is a truly wonderful collaborative piece . I’m not sure how often this lot get to collaborate, but I wouldn’t think it is too often, so this really is a bit of a one-off.

FLX, 3Dom, Epok, Soker, Sepr, Horley Road, Bristol, October 2016
FLX, 3Dom, Epok, Soker, Sepr, Horley Road, Bristol, October 2016