While busily searching Bedminster for new Upfest walls, I took a turn down a street I don’t normally visit and at the end saw this lovely stencil from Stewy. The same piece used to be in North Street, but that disappeared some years ago. This brilliant piece portrays the musician Robert Wyatt, who’s version of ‘Ship building’ remains one of my favourite tracks of all time.
Stewy, Mount Pleasant Terrace, Bristol, May 2022
I am so pleased that I found this, because I was a little upset when the North Street one went. It is the joy of stencils, that they can be recreated more than once, extending the lifetime and footprint of a piece of art. Fabulous work by a fabulous artist of a fabulous artist.
You will know by now, that I consider John D’oh to be a fabulous stencil artist whose astute observations and commentaries record a snapshot of life in Britain, often observed through a political lens. While John D’oh speaks for many, particularly in Bristol, someone took exception to this piece and buffed all but Johnson’s face and scrawled ‘Support Boris Johnson’ next to it… there is still much work to do. If there are Johnson supporters in the poorer districts of Bristol, then there are still some messages that simply aren’t landing.
John D’oh, M32 Spot, Bristol, May 2022
I really am so sick and tired of the worst Prime Minister we have ever had. He depresses me, because I am embarrassed and ashamed to think that people from other countries might believe Johnson to be representative of the UK’s views and aspirations. He is not. He is like Trump, bolstered by the far right of the Conservative party, pushing only their views and dressing it up as ‘what people want is…’. I loathe him and everything he stands for.
John D’oh writes “Fuel poverty… I can assure the British people that having burned £50 notes in front of homeless people I can relate and understand their suffering and see the pain in their eyes – Boris”, referencing some historical despicable behaviours of this odious man.
Keep up the great work, John D’oh, our nation needs reminding just how low Johnson will stoop to retain power.
If only I were as quick to post John D’oh’s political commentary pieces as he is to prepare and spray his stencils… Natural Adventures would feel a bit more contemporary, but a trade-off has to happen, because there is so much high-quality street/graffiti art in Bristol, I invariably have a backlog. Within a day or two of the Rishi Sunak Spring Statement (which did little for the poorer communities facing a cost of living crisis) John D’oh had come up with this piece, although I think it was just before the furore of his wife’s non-dom status, it certainly continued to resonate.
John D’oh, St George skate park, Bristol, April 2022
I like it that John D’oh visits various skate parks around Bristol and beyond, because these are places where more people will get exposure to his art and his observations. It is a joy to capture and catalogue John D’oh’s work because in years to come we will be able to reflect on Tory Britain with some grounded and visceral reflections.
John D’oh delights us with his stencils. Sometimes they are highly political and a commentary on events and happenings of our time and at other times they are packed with fun and humour, and this Captain Caveman falls into the latter category.
John D’oh, Purdown, Bristol, March 2022
I am a little too old to have watched much Captain Caveman, but I was certainly aware of the cartoon series. In this piece, the mischievous character is looking thrilled to be let loose with a spray can. This is a fabulous small piece from John D’oh.
John D’oh definitely has a clever approach to his craft. He manages to present a blend of humour and politics in his work, using lots of different stencil techniques and influences to get his messages across. Sometimes he leans heavily on pathos, sometimes deep criticism and at other times wit, and in this stencil, he deals with a very serious issue with the latter approach.
John D’oh, Horfield skate park, Bristol, March 2022
I very much like the fact that he visits this skate park from time to time, partly because it is reasonably close to where I live, but also because it is an infrequently visited spot by artists and turnover there is very low.
This peace dove has had its work cut out over the last few years, and is once again called upon to intervene. We need all the peace we can muster at the moment. A beautifully crafted and sensitively pitched humorous stencil piece from John D’oh.
This is a poignant stencil piece from John D’oh up at Horfield skate park. As is so often the case, John D’oh perfectly captures the moment and presents it to us with a political slant. His work can often include strong, assertive and for some, uncomfortable messages, but they capture a mood in a contemporary way.
John D’oh, Horfield Skate Park, Bristol, March 2022
The blue and yellow give this piece away as being about the Russian invasion of Ukraine by the ruthless and deluded dictator Putin. A little girl crouches in front of an urban landscape with a red cross emblazoned on it and between them is a hand rising from the ground on which there is a discarded stethoscope. The caption is too awful; ‘war ends lives before they have begun’. This piece speaks to the horrors unfolding in cities like Mariupol, where innocent people, women and children, have been murdered while seeking refuge. I do hope that Putin and his generals and political supporters get lynched when this is all over.
The side wall of Bishopston Tiles has been a bit of a honeypot recently with several fabulous stencils by John D’oh, all with an environmental theme, something that the artist obviously cares about deeply. This sensational tiger stencil must have taken forever to cut and prepare. There are at least four layers that I can see, each using a greyscale tone from black to white.
John D’oh, Gloucester Road, Bristol, December 2021
I might be doing the piece a disservice because there was some text accompanying the wall as a whole reading ‘Extinction is forever – endangered doesn’t have to mean extinct’. So a message of hope and a stencil of high quality and extreme beauty from John D’oh. Still more to come from this magnificent spot.
In this Halloween stencil piece from John D’oh we see a depiction of the ghastly Priti Patel as a witch on a broomstick, and I can honestly say it is a depiction that I thoroughly approve of, although her ideology and persona are rather more frightening than a regular witch.
John D’oh, Horfield skate park, Bristol, November 2021
Accompanied with the words ‘Happy Halloween idlers’ and a little silhouette of a power station belching out CO2, the piece does nothing for Priti Patel’s reputation. Although she is highly unlikely ever to see this piece, is is yet another contemporary record made by John D’oh chronicling these dark days of conservative government that seem to be squeezing the life and joy out of our country. It really is time for a change and a breath of fresh air, but unfortunately the UK is essentially a conservative country, and little Britain will be very slow to change.
This old piece by John D’oh has been sitting in my ‘departure lounge’ for several years, and at last I have found the space to publish it. I am going to show my ignorance by not having any idea who the character portrayed in the piece is… a bit of popular culture that has passed me by, and maybe this is why I never posted it when I had prepared it way back.
John D’oh, North Street, Bristol, April 2016
Placed on a shopfront that I think has changed since April 2016 when the picture was taken, the text states ‘ life is sometimes just torture. As I said earlier I am not sure what the reference is, but I still like it, and the whole rather run-down scene nonetheless. As you might have spotted, I am going through a bit of a John D’oh purple patch and it has no signs of abating.
