It is weird how easy it can be to completely miss things, I think the expression is something like ‘you can’t see for the looking’. I must have walked past this qWeRT piece dozens of times, but only noticed it recently.
qWeRT, Jamaica Street, Bristol, June 2020
The placement of the googly-eyed pasteup is absolutely perfect, blending in with a larger mural on the wall from Cheba. It all works so well together. I have always said that half the skill of wheatpasters is their ability to find just the right spot. Get that wrong and the impact can be diluted, get it right and it is amplified. Love this one.
I haven’t been to L Dub (Lawrence Weston) very often, and the turnover there doesn’t require frequent visits, but I was very pleased to find this magnificent Laic217 piece there on my last visit a week or so ago. It is the first piece I have seen in this spot from Laic217.
Laic217, L Dub, Bristol, June 2020
I know he paints a lot of skulls/skeletons these days, but somehow this one feels extra special somehow. Full of all the trademarks we would expect to see from the artist, it is the perspective of the piece that I particularly like. I also like the grey tones used. This was a particularly pleasurable find.
This is one of those few occasions where a photograph actually does do justice to the artwork. I was in St Werburghs tunnel yesterday and revisited this piece (it is still there), but was struck by how the colours were dulled by the lack of good lighting. Somehow the photographs I took have auto-compensated for the poor light conditions and the piece looks amazing. It is of course by Elvs.
Elvs, St Werburghs, Bristol, June 2020
The letter shapes and style are familiar, as are the exquisitely masterful graded fills, but what I really like about this piece is something rarely seen. Elvs has added a 3D shadow that fades from purple on the lower edges to pink on the upper ones. Another highly accomplished piece.
Since lock down measures were eased At the end of May, 3Dom and Sepr have collaborated on several occasions and are absolutely smashing it with each new wall they paint. This wall opposite the Star and Garter marks the Black Lives Matter campaign in two very different ways.
3Dom, Star and Garter, Bristol, June 2020
3Dom has opted for a big bold statement “Unity is Power” set on a red and orange background which gives the whole thing a kind of explosive impact. The large letters have shading that has a central vanishing point so the whole thing looks like it is heading straight for us. Nicely done, and unusual writing from 3Dom.
Contrast that with Sepr’s birds. His piece tells us a complete story in the simplest way possible. The three birds are identical in every way except their colouring and they are proudly marching hand in hand. This is an exceptional piece which deserves as much exposure as it can get. Poignant and relevant and not preachy.
There have been an awful lot of artists making their debuts on Natural Adventures over the past few weeks, which speaks volumes about just how many street/graffiti artists there are out there at the moment. This is a lovely piece of graffiti writing from Dit Oner, and was painted as part of the Poland v Spain paint jam at the end of May.
Dit Oner, M32 roundabout, Bristol, June 2020
The piece was painted next to Spanish compatriot Wiflywin and adopted a similar colour scheme. I think, but cannot be certain that the writing says Dit On, but this is a real problem with reading graffiti writing, if you have something i your head, you can nearly always find it in the writing even it it isn’t there. Does that make sense? I think it is called suggestion. The piece is accomplished and very nicely done and I look forward to more from the artist.
I love this recent collaboration from DFC1848 and DJ Perks for many reasons, but mainly because these guys are more often on the other side of the camera lens, and have made the step into spraying a lot for themselves and both have made huge improvements in the last year.
DFC1848, L Dub, Bristol, June 2020
The left hand side is a wonderful bright red character from DFC1848, which retains many of the characteristics of some of his earlier characters but contains additional detail. It just goes to show what improvements can be made with loads of practice – DFC1848 had a board in his garden and practiced during lock down.
DJ Perks, L Dub, Bristol, June 2020
On the right is a very tidy bit of graffiti writing from DJ Perks, whose work has also seen a great improvement over the last 18 months. the letter shapes are great and the depth of shading works really well. I’m not too sure about the drips though. A lovely collaboration which fills me with hope for my own efforts.
Nothing seems to last for long on any wall at the moment, but if you are going to get painted over, then it might as well be by an epic Nightwayss piece like this one. This large coronavirus piece is a tribute to NHS staff and another fine piece cataloging the crazy times we are living in.
Nightwayss, M32 roundabout, Bristol, June 2020
Nightwayss has used the double wall space well to accommodate the figure lying on its back. Starting with the background which rather nicely ‘hosts’ the whole body, Nightwayss has used a lilac wash with a whole bunch of purple viruses dotted about.
Nightwayss, M32 roundabout, Bristol, June 2020
In the body itself, little scenes are played out , for example a patient and two medical staff on the far left and some microbiologists at work in the torso. This is quite an unusual piece by the artist, especially as I can’t find a monkey which normally make an appearance in his work. A special piece marking a particular moment in our history. (Note to self, run a gallery of coronavirus pieces in about a year).
We live in strange and sometimes farcical times. This rather nice stencil from John D’oh at St George skate park satirises one of the more surreal moments of Trump’s utterly catastrophic presidency. How do Johnson and Trump keep their jobs in the light of such gross incompetence and stupidity? It is a mystery. If I behaved in the way they do, I would have been fired a long time ago.
So Americans, injecting disinfectant might be worth a try, you know it makes sense huh? And now we see Jair Bolsenaro, another populist leader, equally driven by self-interest and fame entering the competition to see who can manage the coronavirus epidemic the worst. These leaders love being at the top of international league tables that it matters not what the rankings are about. How did it come to this? Thank you John D’oh for reminding us with your running narrative about the desperate state of world leadership.
I am told that Rezwonk doesn’t like this piece so much so that he didn’t share it on his Instagram account. Well the great thing about writing about other people’s artwork is that I am not in a position to be self-critical, instead I critique what I see and how it makes me feel. I think this is a fabulous piece of writing and the colour selection alone is worthy of praise.
Rezwonk, St Werburghs, Bristol, June 2020
Whether he was short of space or whether he was simply switching things up I don’t know, but the usual REZER has been replaced with REZR. The orange/copper tones bordered by beautifully worked alternate black and white fringes leave us with a tight piece that the artist is turning out with almost alarming regularity. Great to find this one.
A second post of wheatpastes by Jarvis only this time there are three individual paste ups for the price of one. I posted a piece by this artist about a week ago, knowing nothing about him, but a rapid comment from theartblogger54 confirmed the artist’s name and even shared his Instagram account.
Jarvis, M32 roundabout, Bristol, May 2020
As far as I can make out, Jarvis appears to live in Bristol and I think probably in Easton, which would explain the location of these paste ups. On the left hand side of the triptych is a bare chested male figure with an interesting six-pack on display and an all-seeing third eye.
Jarvis, M32 roundabout, Bristol, May 2020
In the middle is a blue face with some kind of atomic structure in the neck area. It is a decent coloured sketch amplified by being one of three posted on the M32 roundabout notice board.
Jarvis, M32 roundabout, Bristol, May 2020
On the right is the third figure with a very long neck and a flower in his/her hair, and if I had to choose I would say that this drawing was the pick of the bunch. It would be great to see more of these sketches appearing about the place. This is what street art is all about, a spectrum of different styles, abilities and techniques which gives it such broad appeal and accessibility.
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