It seems that Decay is not the only graffiti artist in Bristol who is enjoying his writing at the moment. This piece by Stupid Stupid Meathole is one of several bright pink burners from this Bristol artist who specialises in mildly grotesque characters.
Even in his writing (which spells out Meathole), there is an organic, fleshy feel to it all with the circles in the A and the O resembling belly buttons (is that just me?). More like this to come.
Another first, but certainly not the last from an artist who does something a little different from the usual fare we see on the streets. This framed slogan or saying is by #DFTE, who is a Bristol-based artist who places these little gems to carefully thought out places in the City.
If you look up at the north end of the St Werburghs tunnel, you will see this installation clinging to the bricks on the arched roof. It says ‘This is for you’, which is very nice… I guess it is a message to those who look around them and live in the now. It must have been quite a challenge getting it up there and sticking it to the ceiling, but it was utterly worth it and certainly brightened my day when I first saw it. More to come.
Another fine combo from Laic217 and Cort in St Werburghs tunnel. I feel like I haven’t seen too much from Laic217 in recent months, although actually he is still reasonably productive and I see maybe a couple of new pieces each month.
The Character piece has several themes that we have seen from Laic217 before. A skull, a brick wall, this time in the form of glasses and a brilliantly crafted hoodie jacket complete with zip.
More than other pieces that Laic217 has produced, this one feels surreal, probably because the brick wall obscures the eyes, or more correctly the eye sockets, so the character is dissociated from its surroundings… warning, beginning to sound a little pretentious.
It would seem that Cort recently has been rather fond of extending the length of his name, and in this case to CORTONE. I wonder if by lengthening it he gives himself more scope to play around. I like what he has done here, and I particularly like the random white surround with trios of black dots in it. All in all a nice collaboration from these two friends.
There was a time, and it wasn’t too long ago, when I thought that Soap only ever produced his mushroom-shaped mouths, in a variety of different styles and colours. However, over the last year or so, he has really branched out a whole lot and is doing a lot of writing – it seems many bristol artists are currently doing the same (Decay, Kid Crayon and Tasha Bee has just started too)
In this piece Soap has incorporated his mouths into a rather clever and intricate word SOAP. I love the two triangles that kind of hold the whole thing together and add interest. It reminds me a little of a mint choc-chip…it’s a colour thing.
Well it appears that Kleiner Shames has been back in town, and left us with a most beautiful FOIS at the farm end of St Werburghs tunnel. His distinctive style and colour palette seems to draw heavily on the Art Deco style combined with a kind of 1970s/80s freedom.
His metallic spray paint used for the central lettering is a nightmare to photograph in the tunnel – if it is in shade it is one colour, if it is in the light another and pictured from the front it goes from dark to light. Irrespective of the trickiness of trying to get a nice picture, it is always, always great when Kleiner Shames comes ‘home’.
I have said it ad nauseam that Mr Klue is being incredibly productive these days and I guess I will continue to say it for as long as he keeps painting these wonderful pieces. This slightly smaller than usual one contains a character who appears reasonably regularly on Mr Klue’s work.
There is the suggestion of a man in a shirt and tie wearing what looks like the Mad Hatter’s hat complete with 10/6 label. I like the smokey, wispy abstract style that Mr Klue uses and the fact theat he is constantly playing with etherial ideas. All good.
Last night I missed meeting Subtle by a whisker. I was at the opening night of the Cannon Fodder art show at the Loose Cannon cocktail bar just off Millennium Square in Bristol organised by Jimmer Wilmott and Paul Monsters. I saw Kid Crayon and during a break in conversation went to have a chat with him. He was just saying goodbye to an artist that was leaving. I asked him who it was and he told me it was Subtle… well at least I now know what he looks like.
The art show launch was really well attended and the venue is a good one for this kind of show. There were pieces by several Bristol (and beyond) artists including: Kid Crayon, Decay, Chiba, Silent Hobo, Jimmer, Nol, Guts and Paul Monsters. The artwork was a little beyond my price bracket but actually great value. If you are in the area it is well worth popping in although I’m not too sure how long it runs for.
Anyhow, this fine piece by Subtle is a reasonably recent one from St Werburghs tunnel and although quite simple carries all the hallmarks of his fine work. The first picture is a little blurred, thanks to my dog pulling his lead at just the wrong time… it was the only front-on picture I have of this piece.
I’m sure I will bump into Subtle before too long.
I cannot think of a period in the four or so years that I have been writing about Bristol street art where there have been so many ‘new’ entrants into the painting scene. One such artist is Diced Mango who once on my radar only a few months ago is now producing pieces on a regular basis in several spots around the city.
This recent piece in St Werburghs tunnel combines a character with writing, a format common amongst graffiti writers. The portrait is naively drawn with Diced Mango’s trademark coloured ‘string’ hair.
The writing in gold is in a rather nice organic form. I think there is a lot more to come from this artist and I am looking forward to seeing how his work develops over the coming months and years.
Well what a lovely surprise from a few days ago. I took a quick trip to St Werburghs tunnel and right next to one of the Fiva (Fiver) pieces was this fabulous Robot face by Snub23.
I have only known Snub23 to come to Bristol for Upfest, so it was extra special to find a piece here at this time of year. Snub23 adopts two instantly recognisable styles… this one of cartoon-style robots and sci-fi scenes and his geometric patterning which is similar to the work of Bristol’s Paul Monsters. Sometimes he combines both styles in a single piece. Brilliant to find this nice piece.
OK, so Mr Klue is on a roll and there seems to be no stopping him recently. No sooner do you discover a new piece, when it appears that he has already been out and done another one. Of course, this is a good thing, because I find his particular brand of abstract art most attractive.
This one in St Werburghs tunnel is typical of his current preferred colour palette of blues, light greens and whites on a black background. Always great to see his work.
Natural adventures 