I am always taken by this amazing and simple stencil on a railway bridge in Redland. The image of a baby’s face by an unknown artist is stencil work in its most raw form. One also has to admire the artist’s determination at spraying in such locations. Do they drop down from the railway, or climb up from a ladder?
I love this stripped-back simple graffiti.
7.5/10
Another tricky one today. This amazing piece is the left hand side of a larger piece entitled Lifestyles of the Poor and Dangerous.
I managed to track down the artists of this whole wall via DNT’s Instagram feed, and it would appear that it was a collaboration by Akarat, DNT, BS51, Klue and Hoax.
The two stencils here I would guess are by Hoax and Akarat. This piece I think was sprayed in mid-February 2016.
These stencils are exceptional. Get down to The Bearpit and check them out.
The stencil of the child with the gun also has recently (March 3 2016) appeared in Stokes Croft at number 37.
8/10
Room 212 is an art shop that promotes and sells the works of local artists, on the Gloucester Road about half way between Bishopston and Horfield. To my shame I have not yet visited the shop, but having looked at their website, I will make a visit soon, if only to buy a Stewy print.
Above the shop front is a fabulous stencil of Cary Grant sitting cross legged and waving to passers by.
Stewy specialises in artworks of iconic people and tends to spray them close to where they live/once lived. In this case, Cary Grant (Archibald Leach) lived very nearby, and went to the local primary school in Bishop Road before heading out to the USA. Locals are very proud of their world famous son.
This is a typically understated stencil by Stewy, and hits the mark perfectly.
8.5/10
My mother tipped me off about this one a couple of weeks ago when she saw it on a shopping trip in Chichester. I cannot express how pleased I was, firstly that my mum is quite cool and secondly that JPS has hit Chichester with one of my favourite stencils.
I wrote about this stencil (in Bristol) in my second street art blog, and it remains one of my favourite works of any street artist.
Chichester is one of those cities that has no culture of street art, but held a festival in 2013 (I think), so it is all a bit organised if you know what I mean. The JPS piece adds a little bit of spice as I’m not too sure it was a part of the festival.
Wonderful.
9/10
I was given a wonderful ‘Banksy’ wall calendar by my mother this Christmas. I noticed that this fabulous image of the Queen has been selected for the month of July. The manufacturers of the calendar are not the only people to have falsely attributed this stencil to Banksy. In July 2012, during the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee, all the newspapers heralded this artwork as a new ‘Banksy’.
The stencil was actually sprayed by IncWel, is called ‘Still Sane’ and is a direct reference to Bowie’s ‘Alladin Sane’ album cover of 1974. I have not been able to find anything else by IncWel, and there is little information on the Interweb about him.
For so many reasons I love this stencil.
9/10
Mistaken by many for a Banksy, this wonderful stencil is actually by JPS (Jamie Paul Scanlon) and was sprayed in 2013. Clearly it draws on Banksy’s style and subject matter, but that is no surprise as JPS credits his emergence and confidence as a street artist with a visit he made to a Banksy exhibition at Bristol Museum.
I have written several posts about the work of JPS, and he remains my favourite Bristol-based artist.
8/10
This wonderful stencil depicting how mobile technology is interfering with daily life, is tucked away on a heavily tagged wall and easy to miss. Just off Stokes Croft, it is well worth a visit. To me this is stencil work at its best. Social comment combined with excellent execution and location.
I’m not too sure what the dynamite is all about (on second inspection I think it is Christmas crackers). Unfortunately I have no idea who the artist is, but will try to find out, and when I do, I will update the post.
UPDATE: I understand the piece is by Goin, a French artist who I belive lives in Bristol.
This rather threatening Nick Walker stencil from 2013 caused the tiniest storm in a teacup when a Bristol resident complained to the Council about the work, complaining that it was an abuse of childhood. The way the law works is that the owner of the property can choose not to have the graffiti removed if that is what they wish, in in this instance the owner liked it and it has stayed.
The same stencil appeared as part of a commission of Nick Walker’s art in a hotel car park in Indianapolis. How good is that?
There is a final and rather sad end to this blog (updated in March 2016, whilst compressing images) which is that the door was stolen, and it now looks like the picture below. I think that the thief tried to flog it, but couldn’t so handed it into the authorities in the NW of England…or I might be making that bit up.
8/10
This building and its immediate neighbours are arguably the most painted walls in Bristol. Artwork is over-sprayed weekly or sometimes more frequently. You have to be quick if you want to photograph any of it, and some of it is really good.
I love this wonderful stencil. I am guessing it is a self-portrait of the artist, but I have no idea who that artist might be. I might have to do some digging around. From the comments below, it would appear to be a piece by Hoax. It is gone now (Jan 2016). Another addition, now in April 2016, I have just noticed a wonderful Face F1st next to the hoax stencil. I am a huge fan of Face F1st.
8/10
It is only right to mark my 50th street art post with my favourite stencil artist. JPS, an adopted son of Bristol is from nearby Weston-super-Mare, where several of his works adorn the holiday town streets.
This incredibly detailed stencil, ‘Spartacus’ is a tribute to the Welsh actor Andy Whitfield who played the star role in the Starz TV production of Spartacus. He died in 2011 aged 39 of non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma.
I was lucky enough to photograph this work a day or two after it was completed on 13 April 2015. It is the detail of the clothing and belt that I think marks out JPS as an incredible talent.
The ‘Spartacus’, on the wall of the Queen Shilling night club, is only yards away from another JPS I posted on 8 July 2015.
9/10
Natural adventures 