Slakarts is not only a talented street artist, but he is also a really decent bloke. I was walking through the tunnel a couple of weeks back, and he cycled past me, and then stopped to say hello. After a very brief chat, he said he had to dash, but I was rather touched that he had bothered to stop at all.
Slakarts, Frome side, Bristol, June 2021
This piece next to the M32 Spot is a rather interesting take on his faces, and with the tooth missing has the appearance of a punk granny. It certainly made me smile when I saw it, although I have seen another like it elsewhere. Slakarts keeps churning out his very distinct style of portraits, and Bristol is all the better for them.
Sometimes I am a goofy idiot, I don’t think properly in the excitement of the moment, and only upon reflection do I notice my stupidity. I took these pictures thinking that it was a collaboration between Maesyhook and Slakarts, when it was in fact a collaboration but between Stivs (to the left, off picture) and Maesyhook. No matter. This not a collaboration, but rather two pieces that are adjacent to one another.
Maesyhook, St Werburghs Tunnel, Bristol, June 2021
On the left (and associated with a Stivs piece further left) is another delightful piece from newcomer to Bristol walls Maesyhook. Her kawaii pieces are becoming a familiar site in the popular spots around the city, and here she has painted a rather cute sheep wearing a T-shirt with ‘I ❤️ Bru’ on the front. I’m not sure what or who Bru is, but it looks nice.
Slakarts, St Werburghs Tunnel, Bristol, June 2021
To the right of the sheep in this non-collaboration is a mega tag piece from Slakarts who seems to be playing with very feint blue outlines at the moment. Is he out of black? Or is this a new thing? I can’t say I like it too much, as it doesn’t provide enough definition and looks a bit washed out. Get back to the stronger colours is my advice. It is still always nice to see his work though.
Wow, another epic piece from four of Bristol’s brightest young artists, Nugmoose, Sage, Slakarts and Mudra. I’m not too sure that this lot have a crew name sorted out, but it is definitely time they got their act together.
Nugmoose, Dean Lane, Bristol, May 2021
First up is another bold and unusual alien piece from Nugmoose in which there is something mysterious going on with the roots of a plant entering the character’s ear via a jar with alien writing on it. Imaginative and creative.
Sage and Slakarts, Dean Lane, Bristol, May 2021
In the middle of the collaboration is some lovely writing from Sage adjacent to something rather different from Slakarts. The cartoon-style character resembles a farmer Giles type with a piece of grass dangling from his mouth – more creative stuff.
Mudra, Dean Lane, Bristol, May 2021
Finally, the collaboration is rounded off with a delicious blend of writing with a character incorporated into it from Mudra. The eclectic shapes and sizes of letters spell out MUDRA encompassing a Freddie Mercuryesque character complete with moustache and specs. He signs off with his customary @ symbol.
This is a truly creative collaboration from a really decent group of lads, and I can’t wait to see more from them as the year unfolds.
A gallery of outstanding faces from Bristol artist Slakarts.
All photographs by Scooj
Slakarts, St Werburghs, Bristol, March 2021Slakarts, Purdown, Bristol, March 2021Slakarts, Dean Lane, Bristol, February 2021Slakarts, Lawrence Hill, Bristol, February 2021Slakarts, Cumberland Basin, Bristol, December 2020Slakarts, M32 roundabout, Bristol, December 2020Slakarts, St Werburghs, Bristol, December 2020Slakarts, St Werburghs, Bristol, October 2020Slakarts, M32 Cycle path, Bristol, October 2020Slakarts, Cumberland Basin, Bristtol, October 2020Slakarts, St Werburghs, Bristol, September 2020Slakarts, Purdown HAA Battery, Bristol, January 2020Slakarts, Hepburn Road, Bristol, January 2020Slakarts, River Avon, Bristol, January 2020Slakarts, M32 cycle path, Bristol, December 2019Rezwonk and Slakarts, Albert Park Place, Bristol, November 2019Rezwonk and Slakarts, Albert Park Place, Bristol, November 2019Slakarts, St Werburghs, Bristol, December 2019Slakarts, M32 Spot, Bristol, January 2019Slakarts, M32 cycle path, Bristol, November 2019Slakarts, Dean Lane, Bristol, January 2018Slakarts, St George, Bristol, September 2019Slakarts, M32 Spot, Bristol, August 2019
Slakarts has been ever so busy in recent months and I have enjoyed meeting him a couple of times lately. I think it says so much about my age that street artists, like doctors and teachers, seem to be so very young. In my mind’s eye I expect them to be so much older and am always surprised when I meet them. DFC1848 is a rare exception to this perception.
Slakarts, St Werburghs, Bristol, March 2021
In this piece in the tunnel, Slakarts has reverted to his front face projection rather than three-quarter profile that he has been painting a lot lately. This character has crazy hair, maybe he is waiting for the barber’s to reopen, and rather dodgy teeth. Not the most attractive, but nicely done.
Although Purdown is a beautiful part of Bristol and has some stunning views over the city, the old HAA battery has a rather strange feel to it. It is a historical ruin that has been allowed to decay and in recent times has become a very popular spot for graffiti. Walking around the place though is moving and one’s mind drifts back to the ghosts of the past defending the city against the blitz. Some of the bunkers, like this one with this fine Slakarts piece, feel a bit dingy and creepy and to be honest I don’t like going down there much.
Slakarts, Purdown, Bristol, March 2021
Obviously such matters don’t appear to phase Slakarts too much and this is another fine addition to his series of monochrome pieces that he has been enjoying painting over the last year or so. The simplicity of the parallel lines on the glasses is so effective and a tick he likes to use a fair bit. It is always great pleasure finding pieces by this gentleman.
It was while he was completing this piece that I met Slakarts for the first time, and then the following week in the same place I met him again, both while he was painting collaborations with Nugmoose and Mudra. There three appear to have formed a tight group, and I look forward to many more collaborative walls from them.
Slakarts, Dean Lane, Bristol, February 2021
Slakarts is developing and evolving this character all the time with each iteration bringing together themes he has been working on, such as the doubling of some features and the addition of glasses with reflective stripes on them. Thoroughly fun to observe and Slakarts seems to derive a lot of happiness from his work. All good.
On my most recent visit to Lawrence Hill roundabout there wasn’t too much to write home about, there are a lot of throw ups and tagging in the tunnels and not so much ‘classy’ stuff that you get to see in other spots about the city. This character from Slakarts is a definite highlight.
Slakarts, Lawrence Hill, Bristol, February 2021
I met Slakarts for the first time as he was finishing off a collaborative effort with Mudra and Nugmoose at Dean Lane and I would just like to say what a lovely bloke he is. We stopped and chatted for quite a while and it was a genuine pleasure. As is always the case he was a lot younger than I had expected. He is enjoying painting this character at the moment, but said he’d really like to go big, so that is something to look forward to.
As gentrification in the city picks up pace, traditional graffiti hot spots are becoming fewer and fewer – there is often a stay of execution while hoardings go up around a development, but eventually these come down revealing pristine new student accommodations or other unaffordable housing, inappropriate for the communities that live near these developments. One of the knock-on effects is that the turnover of street art/graffiti on the remaining walls has increased considerably. This wall in the Cumberland Basin is a great example of a wall that is changing more and more frequently.
Slakarts, Cumberland Basin, Bristol, December 2020
Slakarts gives us a double-vision version of his smiling three-quarter profile mega-tag in this happy piece alongside Rezwonk, just to the right. Slakarts has been turning these out on a reasonably regular basis over the last six months or so but they all face the same direction – it would be interesting to see if he could replicate them looking the other way. There is something quite seductive about this piece – it is unusual and set in a vibrant context. Expect more like this before too long.
Over the last three or four months, Slakarts has been rather busy with his three-quarter profile throw-up character, and probably produced more of these than his regular and rather more complex faces. This one is on one of the tunnel entrances of the M32 roundabout. There is an interesting artefact of photography, light and paint in this piece… in the feature photograph you can see the ghosts of old graffiti underneath the white parts, but in the content photograph below, the white fill is simply white. Curious.
Slakarts, M32 roundabout, Bristol, December 2020
I rather like this one from Slakarts because it is a little bit more finessed than some of the others in this series. The black lines are clean and the blue outlines work very well indeed. More of these in the archive!
