Tag: Skeleton

2971. M32 Cycle path (60)

I feel just the slightest tinge of normality returning with this epic new piece from Laic217. Usually I would have posted several pieces by Laic217 during the spring, but because of the lock down restrictions he simply hasn’t been out painting, just like most of the other Bristol artists. It felt like a Christmas treat coming across this piece a week or two back.

Laic217, M32 cycle path, Bristol, May 2020
Laic217, M32 cycle path, Bristol, May 2020

We are treated not to just one or two skeletons, but nine, which must be something of a record for Laic217 in a single piece. I’m not to sre what the story here relates to, whether it is Covid-19 related or something else. I suspect the latter, because the black cross denotes ‘harmful’ and the flame denotes flammable. I suppose this could be described as an incendiary piece… sorry.

Laic217, M32 cycle path, Bristol, May 2020
Laic217, M32 cycle path, Bristol, May 2020

I can see how a bunch of skeletons skulking around might not be to everyone’s taste, but to me this is a remarkable piece and so utterly stands out from the crowd. The clothes and headwear and consistently well sprayed, difficult to do when using so few grey tones. So it might be quite a dark piece, Laic217 tends to stray on the dark side, but it is technically an assured and confident work.

Laic217, M32 cycle path, Bristol, May 2020
Laic217, M32 cycle path, Bristol, May 2020

I particularly like the white labels of LAIC, PAD asnd a Nike tick. The shout out to Pad (aka Cort) his painting partner is rather sweet. This is the first of several new ones from Laic217. Watch this space.

 

 

2369. M32 roundabout J3 (157)

Laic217 has only gone and smashed it again, with this exquisitely summery scene. I can’t make up my mind whether the tree shade on the piece actually adds to the ambience, I don’t think it particularly detracts from it, which is not usually the case with shadows and street art.

Laic217, M32 roundabout, Bristol, July 2019
Laic217, M32 roundabout, Bristol, July 2019

This is a masterful piece by Laic217 with many of the features we are accustomed to seeing in his work… the bucket hat and smiley and a skeleton spraying, although the sspray paint seems to have been replaced with sun cream or something more gloopy. The crowning glory of the piece though is the shirt.

Laic217, M32 roundabout, Bristol, July 2019
Laic217, M32 roundabout, Bristol, July 2019

Laic217 works so hard on his fabrics and this Hawaiian shirt with tiger motifs has pretty much blown everything I have seen previously out of the water. I just don’t know how he has got the tiger print to look so good using a spray can – quite extraordinary. This is an artist whose work just goes from strength to strength and I just can’t get enough of it.

2239. Upfest 2018 (141)

So it has been a while, and since there isn’t an Upfest festival this year, I am going to have to post another series of pictures from Upfest 2018 (there are still so many more waiting) starting with this utterly awesome piece by Insane51.

Insane51, Upfest, Bristol, July 2018
Insane51, Upfest, Bristol, July 2018

This extraordinary artist from Greece specialises in 3D street art and has created dozens of huge pieces which look fuzzy because they are double images, but when viewed through the red and blue specs stand out from the wall in good old-fashioned 3D.

Insane51, Upfest, Bristol, July 2018
Insane51, Upfest, Bristol, July 2018

This particular piece went up over about three or four days and was impressive enough in its halfway stage when the female portrait was complete. Insane51 then added the blue skeleton layer to the piece. The magic really happens when you view the whole thing through 3D specs one eye at a time. Rather helpfully, Insane51 did the job for us on his Instagram feed.

Insane51, Upfest, Bristol, July 2018
Insane51, Upfest, Bristol, July 2018

Definitely one of the finest walls at last year’s festival and a real crowd-pleaser. I got rather lucky and managed to grab a few words with him and during the course of our conversation he gave me a little goody bag of some stickers and the essential cardboard specs. It would be great to see him return again and wow us with his extraordinary talents.

 

 

2223. Wilder Street (32)

I got very lucky last weekend when I took the dog out for a ‘street art walk’ to Wilder Street and found Laic217 and Nightwayss painting together. The dog accompanies me quite a lot these days, poor thing, but is most patient when I stop to talk to the artists.

Nightwayss and Laic217, Wilder Street, Bristol, May 2019
Nightwayss and Laic217, Wilder Street, Bristol, May 2019

This is an absolutely fabulous piece by Laic217 who, in five years of writing about Bristol street art, I have only met once before. I stopped to ask him for a few tips about controlling the spray pressure coming from a can and other control techniques, and he was very kind with showing me a trick or two.

Laic217, Wilder Street, Bristol, May 2019
Laic217, Wilder Street, Bristol, May 2019

The completed piece is an upbeat summer special, complete with a beautiful pink shirt emblazoned with smiley faces. Unmistakably a Laic217 work with many of his trademark themes. So good, and so good to watch him at work.

2111. Upfest 2018 (138)

I have always had a soft spot for Loch Ness’ work, but even more so since he gave me my first spray painting lesson last May. This rather trippy piece the pub garden of the Steam Crane is bright, colourful and slightly peculiar.

Loch Ness, Upfest, Bristol, July 2018
Loch Ness, Upfest, Bristol, July 2018

I must have taken the picture after Upfest itself as during the festival this garden is absolutely heaving and taking clean shots of this wall is near impossible. The piece features a kind of skeleton on its side, although I actually think that the wall is on its side, because the drips go from left to right. In order to see the piece as it really is, I have turned the photograph 90 degrees and hey presto! you can see it much more clearly.

Loch Ness, Upfest, Bristol, July 2018
Loch Ness, Upfest, Bristol, July 2018

Always great to see work from Loch Ness.

2066. Shoreditch, London (25)

When I took my little trip to Shoreditch last year, I think I got very lucky indeed. It seemed that around every corner there was a fresh new piece waiting for me of which this was one. I have not come across Klaas Van der Linden before, but on this trip I was fortunate enough to find two of his pieces.

Klaas Van der Linden, Shoreditch, London, November 2018
Klaas Van der Linden, Shoreditch, London, November 2018

This skeleton would appear to be visiting London to make his fortune in the style of Dick Whittington, or maybe that is coincidental. I love the care that KVdL has taken with this piece, completely prepping the wall with chrome, even far over to the left before completing his silhouette piece. Somehow skeletons always look brilliant in silhouette. A tidy and fun piece.

1900. Dean Lane skate park (180)

I think I suffer slightly from Laic217 withdrawal, which is only ever cured by seeing another of his pieces. Of all the amazing artists in Bristol, I probably get most satisfaction when I find a piece by Laic217. In no way does that diminish the other artists at all, it is just that I get a special buzz seeing his work. I suppose it is a bit like getting a special card in a set of ‘Match Attax’ cards – they’re all good, but you cherish the special one.

Laic217, Dean Lane, Bristol, November 2018
Laic217, Dean Lane, Bristol, November 2018

This is a fairly regular piece by Laic217, a skeleton character spraying and a nicely composed LAIC lettering. The piece was sprayed together with Cort, to the left and Ugar to the right. These three seem to enjoy spraying together, which is great for me as I like all of their work. I hope it is not too long before I get my next Laic217 fix.

1879. Upfest 2018 (98)

This gateway is a particular favourite of mine and has played host to some lovely pieces by 3rdeye and Aspire in previous Upfests. This year it was the turn of Dr Love, an artist from Tbilisi in Georgia.

Dr. Love, Upfest, Bristol, July 2018
Dr. Love, Upfest, Bristol, July 2018

The piece is a large stencil, and you can see just how tricky it is to put together a stencil of this size from the picture above. Looking at this stencil, I can’t quite work out the layering, but that is why I write about these things rather than try to do them myself.

Dr. Love, Upfest, Bristol, July 2018
Dr. Love, Upfest, Bristol, July 2018

Dr Love likes to spread love with his work and I think with this piece you can sense the tenderness of a skeleton holding a butterfly on his finger and the message is conveyed loud and clear with the large word LOVE across the middle of the piece. Sadly the work only lasted a few months before it was tagged, and I believe that a Muckrock piece is there now, but I’ve not managed to get down to see it yet.

1654. St Werburghs tunnel (35)

Gloopy dayglow acid house skeleton courtesy of Laic217. Is there any more to say about this wonderful piece in St Werburghs tunnel? Well as it happens there probably is…for example I rather like the way he has made his name stand out as if raised from the wall by the skilful application of light and dark shading on the edges of the letters – great technique.

Laic 217, St Werburghs, Bristol, August 2018
Laic 217, St Werburghs, Bristol, August 2018

I feel like I haven’t seen much of his work lately and I know I have missed several pieces, but it is always nice to catch one when in the right place at the right time. Where will I find the spray can skeleton next?

Laic 217, St Werburghs, Bristol, August 2018
Laic 217, St Werburghs, Bristol, August 2018

1528. M32 roundabout J3 (86)

Hurrah, another Laic217 piece containing all the things I love about the artist, but this time there is a significant shift in the style and application of the spray paint.

Laic217, M32, Bristol, May 2018
Laic217, M32, Bristol, May 2018

The whole feel of the piece is much lighter touch from his usual deeply coloured and thickly layerd pieces. I can’t quite put my finger on it, but it has a watercoloury kind of effect, which I think works really well.

Laic217, M32, Bristol, May 2018
Laic217, M32, Bristol, May 2018

As this artist develops, we are witnessing an amazing versatility emerge, and the more I see, the closer I am to thinking about creating a new category for the blog, along the lines of a gallery featuring all the work of a specific artist on one post. I’ll give it some more thought.

Laic217, M32, Bristol, May 2018
Laic217, M32, Bristol, May 2018

Inb the meantime just feast your eyes on this talented artist’s letters and skeletons.