3439. Cumberland Basin

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, 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.

3438. St Werburghs tunnel (219)

There are a bunch of writers in Bristol who have one thing in common, they write the same letters in roughly the same letter style, but add creativity in the colour selections and fill styles that they choose. Phour is one such artist, and this is a recent piece of his from St Werburghs tunnel.

Phour, St Werburghs, Bristol, January 2021
Phour, St Werburghs, Bristol, January 2021

The tunnel is a great place for rainy day painting and there is a rich seam of, in the main, great graffiti and street art. In fact the only problem with the tunnel is the light conditions, which mean that photographs from there never do the artwork justice, with a lot of orange and yellow polluting the images. With a little adjustment, I managed to get as close as possible to the true colours of this Phour piece. Nice letters, nice 3D work and a very good background. Good to see.

3437. L Dub (21)

It would appear that lockdown impacts on different artists in different ways. Some will hunker-down, and they disappear from the scene for a while, others are liberated and seem to go crazy, hitting walls with refreshed vigour. Falling into the latter category is Slim Pickings (TES) who has been out and about a lot over the last month or so.

Slim Pickings, L Dub, Bristol, January 2021
Slim Pickings, L Dub, Bristol, January 2021

We know what to expect from Slim Pickings’ pieces – sharp crisp lines, reliably solid fills and unbounded 3D shading. It is all here with the addition of a couple of little white highlights. Great stuff. Looks like he might have had a small issue with his yellow paint, especially just to the right of the ‘S’. Good to see his work at L Dub.

Thursday doors – 21 January 2021

Doors 135 – back to the archive for some street/graffiti art doors

Things are very busy at work and the streets are wet. This means that my opportunities to get out and find some new doors are significantly depleted. So it is back to the archive. These photographs first appeared on Natural Adventures in April and May 2020 (even though some of them were taken long before that). Enjoy.

Tian, The Bearpit, Bristol, May 2019
Tian, The Bearpit, Bristol, May 2019
Stik, Shoreditch, London, November 2018
Stik, Shoreditch, London, November 2018
Mr Cenz, Shoreditch, London, November 2018
Mr Cenz, Shoreditch, London, November 2018
Zabou, Shoreditch, London, August 2016
Zabou, Shoreditch, London, August 2016
Artistic/badly painted door, Montpelier, Bristol, March 2020
Artistic/badly painted door, Montpelier, Bristol, March 2020
Object... Jamaica Street, Bristol, May 2020
Object… Jamaica Street, Bristol, May 2020
Daz Cat, M32 cycle path, Bristol, May 2020
Daz Cat, M32 cycle path, Bristol, May 2020
Nevergiveup, Dean Lane, Bristol, May 2020
Nevergiveup, Dean Lane, Bristol, May 2020
Kid Crayon and DNT?, Stokes Croft, Bristol, May 2017
Kid Crayon and DNT?, Stokes Croft, Bristol, May 2017
The Krah, Montpelier, Bristol, September 2018
The Krah, Montpelier, Bristol, September 2018
Feek, Ashley Hill, Bristol, July 2019
Feek, Ashley Hill, Bristol, July 2019
Nevergiveup, Leonard Lane, Bristol, July 2019
Nevergiveup, Leonard Lane, Bristol, July 2019

So that’s your lot for the week, a week in which the world seems a safer and more reliable place.

If you have made it this far, you probably like doors, and you really ought to take a look at the No Facilities blog by Dan Anton who has taken over the hosting of Thursday Doors from Norm 2.0 blog. Links to more doorscursions can be found in the comments section of Dan Anton’s Thursday Doors post.

by Scooj

3435. Dean Lane skate park (382)

Another artist having a bit of a spree at the moment is Dott Rotten, whose work is in the top division. Take a look at this piece of graffiti writing from a week or two back and tell me that it isn’t out of the top drawer. This is an artist who is at the top of his game and seems to be enjoying it.

Dott Rotten, Dean Lane, Bristol, January 2021
Dott Rotten, Dean Lane, Bristol, January 2021

The writing with his familiar SPOILT letters is nicely worked with two shades of blue, perfect orange outlines and some superb trademark bubbles. The whole piece is lifted up with a deep red 3D shading. This is great graffiti writing.

3434. L Dub (20)

This is an interesting piece from Laic217 because the writing behind the character is most un-Laic217 if you know what I mean. Also the character, although obviously by the Laic217 is not quite his typical style and could conceivably be by another artist.

Laic217, L Dub, Bristol, January 2021
Laic217, L Dub, Bristol, January 2021

It is nice to see artists switch it up a bit from time to time and this is a great example of that. I can’t remember when I last saw filled writing like this from Laic217, an element usually provided by his painting compatriot Cort. Overall this is an unexpected and intriguing piece and demonstrates the range that Laic217 has.

3433. M32 roundabout J3 (275)

When all else in the crazy world we live in is kicking off and our landmarks and routines are blown apart, there is a beating heart, metronome-like, tick-tocking in the background and that is the quiet, modest, ever-present production line of graffiti writing from Corupt. It is rather comforting when you think about it.

Corupt, M32 roundabout, Bristol, January 2021
Corupt, M32 roundabout, Bristol, January 2021

In this outstanding piece Corupt has written STICK, which is one of the two common letter combinations he uses. His humour shines through with this “Happy New Tier” story to welcome all of us into 2021 in a lockdown situation. The letters are beautiful, the fills are beautiful and the colour combinations are beautiful. A beautiful cheery piece.

3432. M32 Cycle path (102)

I love this recent piece from 3F Fino. It is bright and arresting and cries out to be looked out. I particularly like the way that the bottom of the character and signature spills out onto the pathway. This is a piece that can’t be ignored.

3F Fino, M32 cycle path, Bristol, January 2021
3F Fino, M32 cycle path, Bristol, January 2021

I have been following the work of 3F Fino closely since I first found a piece of his in the Cumberland Basin, and have to say I am enjoying the journey. The character face is done nicely with some interesting contrasting colours and cool little shadings/highlights in blue. A nice neon orange ‘fino’ to boot.

3431. Upper York Street (23)

I wrote about the passing of MF DOOM in a post a few days ago referencing a piece by Mr Klue in St Werburghs Tunnel, and this is another tribute piece to the rapper, this time from Smak and Sled One.

Smak, Upper York Street, Bristol, January 2021
Smak, Upper York Street, Bristol, January 2021

It is clear that MF DOOM was very much loved by the graffiti art community, and I have seen dozens of tribute pieces on Instagram over the past few weeks. This collaboration though is really out of the top drawer. On the left is an outstanding portrait of the masked artist from Smak, and an example of his sophisticated skills can be seen in the colours and how they are used on the mask – an extraordinary metallic effect reminiscent of Fanakapan.

Sled One, Upper York Street, Bristol, January 2021
Sled One, Upper York Street, Bristol, January 2021

On the right-hand side of the collaboration is Sled One’s contribution, and here his wacky and creative imagination goes into overdrive, with an MF DOOM/Thomas the Tank Engine fusion piece… crazy. Only Sled One could come up with a concept like this and execute it with such aplomb. Brilliant!

Smak and Sled One, Upper York Street, Bristol, January 2021
Smak and Sled One, Upper York Street, Bristol, January 2021

All in all this is a truly outstanding collaborative tribute and the best I have seen so far.

3430. St Luke’s Road (3)

This is the third stunning mural I have recently posted by Gage Graphics on the rear wall of house on St Luke’s Road overlooking Victoria Park. I had seen images of this piece before on the Internet, but it wasn’t until I went looking for the new Banksy piece in Totterdown that I stumbled across it.

Gage Graphics, St Luke's Road, Bristol, December 2020
Gage Graphics, St Luke’s Road, Bristol, December 2020

It is a great thing when neighbours collaborate and decide to commission pieces like this, and this iconic row of houses has about six or seven noteworthy murals that do so much to brighten up the area. In this piece, Gage Graphics has included a couple of iconic Bristol characters from Aardman Studios, Gromit (peering out of the tree trunk) and Shaun the Sheep in the centre of the moral. Other Bristol references are  the SS Great Britain designed and built by I. K. Brunel and in the sky a Balloon gently drrifts by. On the right of the mural a surfer is catching an enormous wave. This is a fun and creative piece and a fine addition to the others in the road.

Gage Graphics, St Luke's Road, Bristol, December 2020
Gage Graphics, St Luke’s Road, Bristol, December 2020