I don’t often post pieces that have been badly dogged but I make an exception with this piece by Stupid Stupid Meathole because I don’t see much of his work about the place and get rather excited when I do see one.
I certainly wasn’t looking for this little gem when I found it walking the dog around Montpelier. I think it was painted at the same time as the Tasha Bee piece directly to the right of it. There is always room in my blog for his rather grotesque organic pieces.
Occasionally I manage to come across Fiva’s work – he is not as prolific as many of the Bristol artists, but the quality of his pieces is unquestionable and his style recognisable and attractive. He usually spells out his word in large letters and sometimes, as in this case, fills them with scenes. Often he accompanies the letters with some kind of character – this is a standard format used by many of the graffiti writers here.
The lighting in St Werburghs tunnel tends to leave pictures looking a bit orange and the contrast rather poor, so this lovely work by Fiva really doesn’t look as good here as it did in the tunnel. The incorporation of a scene in his letters gives a sense of depth and mystery to the piece. fine work from Fiva.
Every now and again I like to treat myself to a nice sandwich or sausage roll at Pinkmans on Park Street for my lunch and it is a real treat, because the prices are what you’d expect from such a highly rated bakery (Sunday Times top 25 bakery in the UK). To get there I can either go up Park Street itself or up the much quieter parallel Hill Street.
Halfway up Hill street, which provides the back entrances for all the retail shops and eateries, is a small car park which is a rather special little street art spot that few people know about. Turnover here is very low indeed and tagging rare. There was a wonderful Kleiner Shames mural here but it has finally given way to this extraordinarily brilliant piece from Deamze. I really like it that Deamze has done a little nod of recognition to the artistry of Kleiner Shames with the inclusion of the word Fois (KS’s wildstyle word).
In this piece Deamze has surrounded his wildstyle writing with a cartoon space scene from Marvin the Martian, and I have to confess to having to look this up because he is not a cartoon character I am familiar with. As one would expect from Deamze, this is a beautifully conceived and executed piece that is most welcome on this special wall. Now onwards to Pinkmans.
This is just brilliant. It is one of three recent column pieces to go up under the M32 painted by Silent Hobo and I love love love it a lot. There is so much soul in the character and she’s looking at you with those large blue eyes. Many of his characters have their eyes looking down or closed, which is what makes this one stand out.
These column pieces are always quite difficult to photograph, because of the large contrast in light levels and these pictures in no way do the piece justice. For any die-hard hunters, this one is one that must be seen in the flesh.
Silent Hobo has a strongly empathetic view on modern youth and is a fantastic champion for all that keeps out city vibrant. Bravo Hobo – I am in love with this girl..
Park street seems to be in a continual state of refurbishment. Businesses appear and disappear with alarming regularity, something that has been particularly noticeable since the banking crisis began. I suspect shop rents are high and returns subject to the prevailing economic conditions. The upshot is that hoardings can be found covering up shopfronts…and these hoardings need decorating.
Step up Bristol Business Improvement District who commissioned this work by Lemak and another by Inkie and Cheba further up Park Street. This is an exceptional stencil by an exceptional artist and one which he used for his Upfest 2018 piece.
Take a good look at the multiple layers on the face and helmet of the astronaut – this is an incredible work. It is great to see these boards in a street with so much footfall – better to have great work like this on display than tags. I’ll post his Upfest version soon.
The conscience of our city is given a voice or at least a ‘visual voice’ via the prolific and passionate work of activist Object… . Without doubt, Object…’s work is moving, angry and political in equal measure and his ‘tortured’ figures represent pain and suffering of others.
In this piece the figures are in conversation with one or both saying ‘or you could handle it with some compassion‘. I’m not too sure to what this refers, but I think the message could be read on several levels, from the personal to local to national or even global level. We are living through hard times and compassion is taking a real beating. I’m sure these lurches to the right will come to an end, but for the time being we must endure them and push back wherever possible.
Alongside a rather magnificent Sled One piece i posted a little while back is this really unusual work from Ments. I haven’t seen much of his work for a while, so it was great to find this. In the past I have described his work as ‘organic’ in its form, but this piece represents quite a departure from his previous work.
There is a modernist feel to this piece, abstract surrealism almost and I rather like it. The writing spells out MENTS as it does in most of his work, but this time it is a little more legible. The colour selections are quite unusual but seem to work pretty well on this bright red background. More to come soon from Ments.
Ubiquitous is one of the words I would use to describe the work of Tasha Bee. It doesn’t seem to matter where I wonder, I end up finding some of her work. This piece I found while taking the dog on a long walk around Montpelier – I wasn’t even hunting it down.
Tasha Bee I think also wears the crown at the moment for being the most prolific artist in Bristol, giving Laic217 and Nevergiveup and Facef1st a run for their money. I have said before how much I love the serenity of her faces, and am enjoying more and more the fills she is using for the hair. Great work.
There were a few wheatpasters at Upfest this year that were completely new to me, including Mini Gabi who created this fun piece, I think on North Street. Having done just a little bit of research on Mini Gabi, she certainly seems to be well established and has an excellent website and biography that you can find here.
I like the Sex Pistols reference with a soft take on it with the words ‘I just want to be me’. There are some similarities with Phoebe New York, not so much in style, but more in creating a fictional character to be pasted about the place. Another similarity is in the inclusion of contemporary quotes or short phrases. The artist is actually called Gabi Almeida, but for this blog I shall be calling her Mini Gabi, because it makes sense to me. There might be more of these to follow.
This was not the main piece by Si2 (Hull Graffiti) at Upfest this year, but a lovely gift to leave behind. Si2’s wheelie bins can be found all over the place, generally wherever the artist has been. To get a utility box thrown in for good measure is an extra treat.
Si2 has a great knack for creating deep shadows on his monster faces that give them a texture and almost 3D feel to them. The strong prime colours might also help them to stand out. You would have a heart of stone not to raise at least a small smirk on seeing these creations.
I was not 100 percent convinced my his official piece this yer, but will need to take anothert look before writing a post about it. These are however, delightful.
Natural adventures 