Tag: Shutter

783 North Street Savana (1)

A little while ago Frankie Beane posted a piece by Telmo Miel which was absolutely stunning. We had a short exchange of comments, and I looked into whether or not Telmo Miel had been to Bristol for Upfest. It turns out they have been a couple of times before, the last of which was in 2015. It also just so happens that I photographed their shutter piece not knowing who they were, and only now am I able to share it.

Talmo and Miel, North Street, Bristol, June 2016
Talmo and Miel, North Street, Bristol, June 2016

Telmo Miel is/are two artists who paint as one. This was the Dutch duo’s biography from the Upfest website:

‘Telmo Pieper and Miel Krutzmann are the names behind Telmo Miel artistic machinery. Telmo Pieper was born in Rotterdam, Netherlands where he graduated from the Willem de Kooning Academy. He is a creator, image maker and a contemporary graffiti artist. Miel Krutzmann also received his degree from the Academy in Rotterdam, and he is a mural painter and illustrator, who started drawing as a child and never stopped. Together, they share a fascination for (sur)realistic imagery and are currently making life-sized wall paintings using spray-paint all over the globe.’

I hope they return soon as their work is actually rather good.

 

 

700. North Street, loft conversions

Sometimes collaborations really work well, and this beauty between Decay and John D’oh is quite a beauty. Half way along North Street, I first saw it during Upfest (it was a weekend and the shutters were down) although I don’t think it was sprayed for the festival.

Decay and John D'oh, North Street, Bristol, July 2016
Decay and John D’oh, North Street, Bristol, July 2016

It is a striking shutter piece and John D’oh’s stencil is rather special. I am not sure who it is of, but it works so well with the colours favoured by Decay. For me this is a special Bristol piece to be treasured.

674. Upfest 2016 (101)

There was an underlying theme to Upfest 2016 and that was the emergence of ‘Mr Graff’. This was a playful idea where Cheo was asked to create Mr Graff in the style of Roger Hargreaves ‘Mr Men’. Other artists were encouraged to play with the idea, and several did exactly that.

Loch Ness, Upfest, Bristol, July 2016
Loch Ness, Upfest, Bristol, July 2016

This piece ‘Mr Impossible’, is by the colourful and talented Loch Ness who specialises in psychedelic and surreal imagery. His pieces often have a host of playful characters sprayed in a multitude of great colours. Loch Ness also sprayed another piece at the school during the festival, but I don’t have a picture of the completed work, which was still behind scaffolding when I caught up with him for a chat. His work brightens up the dullness around us.

673. North Street, In Recovery

I took this picture during Upfest 2016, and was going to enter it as one of the pieces from the event. What a mistake that would have been. The piece is a collaboration between Copyright and Gemma Compton and was sprayed some years ago.

Copyright and Gemma Compton, North Street, Bristol, July 2016
Copyright and Gemma Compton, North Street, Bristol, July 2016

Of course I never usually get to see shutter pieces, because they tend to be up during the times I am out on the streets taking pictures. The work of these two artists works so well in combination; they both like bold colours, reds and blues, and both usually include female subjects. Gemma in particular likes to incorporate natural motifs setting the pieces off nicely.

Copyright and Gemma Compton, North Street, Bristol, July 2016
Copyright and Gemma Compton, North Street, Bristol, July 2016

This is a striking and enduring collaboration from this couple.

 

 

508. Wolseley Road

I have held back from writing about this piece for quite a while because I am not too sure who the artist is. I have a feeling it might be DNT, but it is not signed, and I am not getting a whole lot of insight from the Interweb.

DNT? Wolseley Road, Bristol, February 2016
DNT? Wolseley Road, Bristol, February 2016

It is a rather fun shutter piece on the Wolseley Road garage, and not something you’d necessarily expect to see this far up the Gloucester Road. Street and graffiti art in this part are pretty much on the extreme edge of the more frequented areas. Good to see though.

DNT? Wolseley Road, Bristol, February 2016
DNT? Wolseley Road, Bristol, February 2016

This is what I would consider to be classic shutter street art – a commission with some edge and relevance to the business. Unfortunately one sees quite a lot of dismal shutter art that is created by fine artists, who just don’t quite have the outdoor urban touch. This however is good.

If the artist is not DNT, I would love to know who it is.

410. Backfields Lane (1)

It has been quite some time since I last featured a piece by Decay, but I came upon this one quite by accident recently whilst seeking out a large mural by Kleiner Shames.

Decay, Backfields Lane, Bristol, September 2016
Decay, Backfields Lane, Bristol, September 2016

I love the radiating geometry and colours that Decay uses in his work and love it that nearly always the pieces are uplifting and fun. Sometimes edgy and political, but always good to look at.

Decay, Backfields Lane, Bristol, September 2016
Decay, Backfields Lane, Bristol, September 2016

Since moving to Bristol about a year ago, Decay has really made his mark on the graffiti art scene. He is now part of the furniture here, and that is a good thing.

302. North Street, Hennesseys

I have talked before about how street art appears and disappears…it is the ephemeral nature of it that drives me to capture and record it so that it should not be entirely lost forever. There is another aspect to the appearance and disappearance of street art that manifests itself in the shape of shutter art.

One can stroll up and down a street countless times and never see half of the art on offer, unless you do it on a Sunday, late in the evening or when shops are closed for some other reason.

Copyright, North Street, Bristol, May 2016
Copyright, North Street, Bristol, May 2016

This beautiful Copyright piece is a case in point. I cannot think how many times I have walked up and down North Street, but only once have I seen this piece. Of course I photographed it immediately. Street art in most of its forms, is not just about the art itself, but also about place and time, which I guess is part of the fascination.

Copyright, North Street, Bristol, May 2016
Copyright, North Street, Bristol, May 2016

There are similarities between this piece and the collaboration recently featured between Copyright and E. Lee.

185. Stokes Croft, Pop up Shop

This playful commission was painstakingly crafted between the 5th to the 11th of April 2016. It is unmistakably the work of the brilliant Alex Lucas, and adds to the overall wealth of her pieces in the Area. It is great that so many small local businesses commission her work. Her stamp is fast becoming part of the Bristol USP.

Alex Lucas, Stokes Croft, Bristol, April 2016
Alex Lucas, Stokes Croft, Bristol, April 2016

These hares, painted and marked onto shutters, will I’m sure, become a local reference point. Looking carefully, you might also catch a glimpse of Mrs Scooj walking past the triptych with an umbrella.

Alex Lucas, Stokes Croft, Bristol, April 2016
Alex Lucas, Stokes Croft, Bristol, April 2016

I managed to have a quick chat with Alex a couple of times while she was working on this piece, and was struck by how approachable and incredibly nice she was…it must get very tiresome having people interrupt your work and ask inane questions, but at no time did she make me feel unwelcome, in fact completely the opposite.

Alex Lucas, Stokes Croft, Bristol, April 2016
Alex Lucas, Stokes Croft, Bristol, April 2016

Alex did disclose that shutter work is a bit of a pain and rather difficult, but she has done a great job with this. I really look forward to her next commission.

Alex Lucas, Stokes Croft, Bristol, April 2016
Alex Lucas, Stokes Croft, Bristol, April 2016
Alex Lucas, Stokes Croft, Bristol, April 2016
Alex Lucas, Stokes Croft, Bristol, April 2016
Alex Lucas, Stokes Croft, Bristol, April 2016
Alex Lucas, Stokes Croft, Bristol, April 2016

177. Deanery Road

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.

Nick Walker, Deanery Road, Bristol, March 2016
Nick Walker, Deanery Road, Bristol, March 2016

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.

Nick Walker, Deanery Road, Bristol, March 2016
Nick Walker, Deanery Road, Bristol, March 2016

It is a little neglectful of me not to have found this piece sooner, but better late than never.

132. Cheltenham Road, Loans 2 go

Another Stokes Croft piece by Sepr on a shop shutter. This has been around for some while and is beginning to fade a little. It is rather difficult to photograph, because there are normally a couple of cars parked in front of the shop.

Sepr, Cheltenham Road, Bristol, January 2016
Sepr, Cheltenham Road, Bristol, January 2016

I like his signature in the number plate, and his “Yo Deams” comment in the top right (Deam is another local street artist). This piece reminds me a lot of the one Sepr did in St Pauls, probably around the same time.

Sepr remains one of my favourite Bristol street artists, but this work is not his best.

Plenty more Sepr pieces to come…

6.5/10