Tag: Street art

3209. Dean Lane skate park (355)

I last met Jee See during a mini paint jam under Brunel Way back on a sunny summer’s day, and he had already completed his column piece and was just chilling and chewing the fat with friends. I haven’t seen any of his work since then until a week or two ago.

Jee See, Dean Lane, Bristol, August 2020
Jee See, Dean Lane, Bristol, August 2020

Jee See presents us with one of his ‘seismic’ pieces which has a political strand to it with the accompanying message of ‘Underclass rising’. It is nicely sprayed and planted over the top of an existing graffiti piece which makes the whole thing quite busy.

Unfortunately the piece has been dogged, probably by a kid with an almost empty discarded spraycan (it happens a lot). It is a pity, but it goes with the territory. My message – artists…take your empty cans home and dispose of them properly.

3208. William Street (1)

It always, always pays to switch things up a little bit and alter the routes taken to reach regular spots. I decided to drive down the City Road a week or two back, something I rarely do, but was most excited to catch sight of this bright red vision to my left. I parked up and went to investigate.

Face 1st and Soap, William Street, Bristol, September 2020
Face 1st and Soap, William Street, Bristol, September 2020

Deep joy. The red flash was this magnificent collaboration from Face 1st and Soap and by the look of it was rather recent – certainly I hadn’t had any tip offs on social media. Sometimes you just get lucky.

Face 1st, William Street, Bristol, September 2020
Face 1st, William Street, Bristol, September 2020

The left hand side is by Face 1st and depicts two happy girls mucking about with spray paints and their combined big hair spelling out FACE. This is a joyful and fun piece, which this artist is so good at creating, spreading a little happiness.

Soap, William Street, Bristol, September 2020
Soap, William Street, Bristol, September 2020

To the righ is the Soap half of the collaboration where he uses the same righ red colours to spell out SOAP with the most elaborate fills and highlights, so full of detail. Of course there is his trademark mouth, although it looks a little different in style to his usual one. A lovely collaboration surprise.

3207. John Street (2)

A welcome return to John Street and the second of the special pieces in the ten archways on the side of a building undergoing redevelopment. This archway has been beautifully painted by 3Dom and is a direct reference to the Covid-19 pandemic.

3Dom, John Street, Bristol, September 2020
3Dom, John Street, Bristol, September 2020

As social commentators, many street artists have found the coronavirus pandemic to be a rich source of inspiration and 3Dom has created this powerful piece. This clever work feels rather threatening with CCTV cameras and a whole host of intimidating shapes and references in red surrounding the blue light of humanity – I suppose the blue light is a symbol of hope. It will passs. A nice shout out to Hazard too.

3206. Dean Lane skate park (354)

Well, what can I say about this really classy piece of graffiti writing from Hire? It is out of the top drawer that is for sure and it demonstrates clearly the benefit of prepping a wall properly to create a big impact.

Hire, Dean Lane, Bristol, September 2020
Hire, Dean Lane, Bristol, September 2020

The last piece I saw by the artist was a real departure from what we are used to and I have to say that I am comforted by this triumphant return. The midnight blues and blacks work well together and the sharp letters spell out the artist’s name. This is simple (although not really) and beautiful and I think might be my favourite piece by him ever. Bravo!

3205. Frogmore Street (12)

Mutatee has been rather quiet with her street art installations this year, but she seems to have started up again recently and this lovely and rather curious figurine is at the bottom of the wall that is famous for Banksy’s well hung lover.

Mutatee, Frogmore Street, Bristol, September 2020
Mutatee, Frogmore Street, Bristol, September 2020

There is another of these figurines in Leonard Lane, which I posted last October. There would seem to be a small floor in the casting of this piece because in both of them there is a small crack on the ladie’s arm. Nonetheless this is a creative and imaginative addition to the wonderful spectrum of free publc art in Bristol.

Mutatee, Leonard Lane, Bristol, September 2019
Mutatee, Leonard Lane, Bristol, September 2019

3204. M32 Spot (82)

Painted alongside friends Inkie, Smak and Sled One, this is a first class piece of graffiti writing from Soker, who since lock down restrictions were eased has been very busy on the streets, which is a great thing for people like me.

Soker, M32 Spot, Bristol, September 2020
Soker, M32 Spot, Bristol, September 2020

The writing is superbly clean with a black shadow and white boundary that gives the whole thing a sharp crispness. There is a lovely blend of greens and blues in the letter fills and the red bubbles complement the piece beautifully. The work of a graffiti master.

3203. John Street (1)

This is the first of ten very special pieces from John Street, tucked away in the old quarter of Bristol just behind Nelson Street. A developer is working on a building that has ten archways and they have run a competition for invited street artists to paint each of the archways with a small cash prize for the best one chosen by a panel of judges. That is the most that I know at the moment, gathered from a chance meeting with John Nation (the godfather of street art in Bristol). I will add more details once I have researched them properly.

Sled One, John Street, Bristol, September 2020
Sled One, John Street, Bristol, September 2020

This is the first archway working from left to right and is by the amazing Sled One who is telling us another amazing story in  the way he does so well. The main character is a rabbit chilling out at home (a sign of the times maybe) clutching a phone and a beer with a smoking cigarette in an ashtray. It looks like the rather forlorn rabbit is texting friends to keep in touch. He is weating a giant comedy shoe while a black cat watches on. So many details and so much to look at in this remarkable piece by Sled One and a great way to open up this series of posts from John Street. Hats off to the developers.

3203. M32 Spot (81)

3Dom is probably best known for his character pieces and scenes, which are utterly outstanding, but he is also a very accomplished writer and every now and again we are treated to a little bit of his graffiti writing like this piece at the M32 Spot.

3Dom, M32 Spot, Bristol, September 2020
3Dom, M32 Spot, Bristol, September 2020

This is a splash of colour with what looks like translucent letters over the top spelling out 3DOM. It is full of joy and hope and the colours of summer, something we need to hold on to as we accelerate towards winter. Always classy.

3201. Turbo Island

With so much amazing work being produced in Cheltenham and around Bristol at the moment, it can be easy to overlook the constant churn of what I would call typical Bristol pieces being added to our walls day in, day out. One of the most prolific of these Bristol artists is Face 1st and this is a superb piece from him down at Turbo Island.

Face 1st, Turbo Island, Bristol, September 2020
Face 1st, Turbo Island, Bristol, September 2020

This piece has been on the ‘Island’ for quite a while now and is a cheery delight for anyone driving along the Cheltenham Road into the centre of Bristol. Unfortunately my photography skills are not quite so cheery and this shot is a bit blurred. I am having a few problems with my camera at the moment which I really need to sort out. Anyhow, don’t let the poor quality of photograph detract from the uplifting piece from Face 1st.

3200. M32 Spot (80)

Most of Sled One’s pieces tend to tell a story. Sometimes the stories are quite linear and easy to fathom out. Other times the stories are just too surreal and no amount of creative thinking will help with working it out. This is one such crazy surreal piece.

Sled One, M32 Spot, Bristol, September 2020
Sled One, M32 Spot, Bristol, September 2020

Painted alongside some of his ASK friends this intricate and detailed piece in great pinks and turquoises appears to show a sheep standing on the shoulders of a cow which is holding a pitchfork. The sheep is milking the poor unfortunate cow whose milk is spilling onton the Soker piece to its right.

Sled One, M32 Spot, Bristol, September 2020
Sled One, M32 Spot, Bristol, September 2020

Sled One is just getting better and better at these crazy cartoons, but it isn’t just the quality of his painting that amazes, but the creativity of his compositions that makes these pieces so good. Weird and wonderful.