Mr Draws is not being quite as busy on the streets these days, so it was a welcome surprise to come across this recent piece in The Bearpit on my way in to work, especially as Bristol City Council are making it very difficult for anyone to do anything beautiful in The Bearpit at the moment.
This piece just screams out ‘doughnuts’ to me…I’m not sure if it is meant to, but it does. It is alwats great to see these happy pieces by Mr Draws, whose colourful works definitely brighten up the place.
In Bristol we have a sizeable community of Polish street artists that between them manage to brighten up the city no end. Two of these, Hire and Nevergiveup have a thing for painting bunnies, and here is a reasonably recent one from Hire at Dean Lane. Recently Nevergiveup has opened an Instagram account called @followmyrabbits, and upped his game – I wonder if Hire is responding as this was one of three or four new ones by Hire.
These rabbits by Hire are always a little bit edgy or menacing and there is definitely a dark side to their characters. Nonetheless, I love coming across them, and they are a brilliant foil to his fabulous graffiti writing.
Deamze comes up trumps again with this spectacular piece of wildstyle writing that was sprayed next to the piece by Kleiner Shames I posted a little while back on the wall at the back of the Sofa Project. This wall is just magnificent and both artists have used the same colour schemes but presented their personal styles, so strictly speaking this was working at the same time together, but not necessarily a collaboration.
Unusually, this is a piece without a cartoon character and has a little more gravitas for it. It almost feels more like a study…a serious piece of graffiti writing turned out impeccably with crisp lines and clean edges, strong solid fills and complex design. Even if not a fan of writing, one can marvel at the technical ability of the artist. I love this and its partner piece. Brilliant.
Most people in Bristol will know that the brilliant museum in Millennium Square, formerly known as @Bristol, changed its name to ‘We the Curious’ about a year ago, in a deliberate move to engage with people and inquisitive young minds. The museum and surrounding environment have always lent themselves to creative arts and the area is a showcase for science meets arts. Recently ‘We the Curious’ teamed up with the Cabot Institute to commission this beautiful work by Bristol illustrator and artist Anna Higgie.
This is a climate change mural (which immediately ticks my boxes) that on the face of it is a stylish portrait, but look a little closer and the picture comes alive with little stories about a changing climate and some of the causes. It is an unusual piece and one we should be proud of, if together with strong climate narratives it begins to engage people with the urgent need to do things differently in order to slow down CO2 emissions. I only know of one other work by the artist in Bristol and will have to post it soon.
One of the joys of the street art scene in Bristol is that it encompasses a spectrum of art from the safest commissions through to illegal graffiti writing and everything in between. Long live artistic expression and public access to art.
A collection of fabulous street art by Bristol artist Object…
All photographs taken by Scooj
The master of pink, slightly grotesque body parts strikes again, this time in Dean Lane. Yes, its Stupid Stupid Meathole, the artist with the best name and some of the most unusual creations on the streets of Bristol.
This appears to be an assemblage of faces with rather phallic noses and some stitches thrown in for good measure. I think SSM has an extraordinarily creative mind, I mean these things are slightly odd aren’t they? I really love finding his work, which can be difficult because he doesn’t paint all that often and tends to spread his work about the place a bit. All good in my book though.
Another fabulous Halloween treat, this time from Kin Dose just a stone’s throw away from Dean Lane skate park, where I left Rusk who had tipped me off about this fresh piece.
I have seen better pictures of this wall from people who were lucky enough to be here when the sun wasn’t casting shadows all over the place. I seem to be making lots of excuses about poor quality pictures at the moment, but I have to take the shots when I can as I never know when I am going to be back, and tagging and turnover are the enemies of archivists.
Kin Dose is an extraordinarily talented artist whose work is always of the highest standard. He doesn’t do an awful lot of street work, but whenever he does it is always beautifully executed. Comfortable with stencils as well as free hand work he really sets a very high bar.
This piece faithfully reproduces characters from Tim Burton’s ‘A Nightmare Before Christmas’. It is so crisp and clean and although in partial shade I felt lucky to see it in its first full day of being on this wall. A real beauty.
I got really lucky just before Halloween when I took my lunchtime constitutional down to Dean Lane. I always expect to see something new and occasionally expect to see an artist at work, but when that artist is Rusk it is a real treat and make no mistake.
Halloween I have observed is a time when street artists seem to enjoy hitting the streets and stretching their repertoire with a seasonal theme, which is always fun for people like me. This witty piece conflates Rusk with Count Duckula, the vegetarian duck vampire…who ever dreamed up that cartoon series?
Rusk always has time for a chat, and as he does so he makes fine adjustments to his work, always seeking perfection. Much of what I have learned about the Bristol street art scene and culture I have gathered from our conversations. I love the way he works so hard to get his pieces just right. It is a privilege to see him painting.
Unfortunately light conditions were a bit tricky – that autumnal sunshine is a real bugger, but at least I got some shots of the piece before it got tagged the following day. The day carried on being amazing with the arrival of Jee See just as Rusk was finishing off. My lunch break took a little longer than expected!
This is the third piece that I have found in The Bearpit by ‘out-of-towner’ Tommy Fiendish. It is quite different from the other work of his that I have seen, both of which are quite edgy and slightly odd, and is a rather curious domestic living room scene.
I love the perspective and the old TV, the Nike shoe box and the plants. I can’t quite make out what is going on with the walls…is it a tagged wall exposed or is is something that has been stuck to the wall? There is probably a story here, although I’m not too sure what. Maybe there are some memories the artist has from his childhood. An interesting and unusual piece.
There are so many shutters in Barcelona. Shutters on shops and shutters on the entrances to apartment parking lots. There is also a huge graffiti/street art culture. Put the two things together and you get an awful lot of sprayed shutters…some much better-looking than others. This is one I took a bit of a shine to.
It is by Joel Aroyo, who I think sprays rather a lot of shutters and I would guess many of them commissions. The Beetle car is iconic and this piece reflects that status. Overall a nice shutter.
Natural adventures 