It is always great to find another Epok piece, especially when not expecting it. I don’t often get to St Werburghs tunnel, so when I do pretty much everything is new to me. I hadn’t seen this piece on social media, and although it is a fresh piece, I obviously didn’t get here in time to see it clean.
Epok, St Werburghs tunnel, Bristol, April 2018
One day I would live to get into the mind of taggers and bombers to understand their thinking. Are there any protocols? Is everything a fair target for their graffiti? What do they respect/disrespect? Do they care about anything? My guess is that they have little conscience and genuinely don’t care what they do. Wreckless anarchy, which is probably quite an attractive option for some people. The class and quality of Epok’s work shines through though – this is a really good piece by him. Hats off.
In some parts of British society there has been considerable discomfort and anger directed towards the Government for joining the USA and France in bombing Syria without consutling with Parliament first. Mistakes have been made in the past, particularly over WMD which has suggested a more considered aproach might be necessary. As a result of the bombing, protests have become prominent in all walks of life. This is a graffiti art protest.
Decay, The Bearpit, Bristol, April 2018
Of course the two pieces (I admire his ability to recreate the same image freehand almost exactly) are by Decay, who has been making a deliberate effort to diversify his customary abstract radiating pieces, and this is a good example of something different.
Decay, The Bearpit, Bristol, April 2018
This little character, tinged with rage, conveys the message clearly and inoffensively. These were both sprayed for the Spring paint jam in The Bearpit.
Ooh, what a lovely collaboration between Dibz and Sikoh from a couple of weeks back on 20 April 2018. This collaboration has a wonderful nighttime quality about it, set on a dark blue ‘sky’ background.
Dibz and Sikoh, Dean Lane, Bristol, April 2018
I have posted several pieces by Dibz on this site in the past and commensurate with those, this one is clean and sharp and offers lovely complex lettering. It was great to be there when he started the piece to see how he goes about his work.
Dibz, Dean Lane, Bristol, April 2018
As wildstyle burners go, you would have to hunt high and low to find more tidy works, he really is meticulous in his execution. What I like about this is that the deep borders have a vanishing point somewhere below the piece, which is technically more difficult than having a shadow going in the same direction.
Sikoh, Dean Lane, Bristol, April 2018
Now Sikoh I have heard of before, but I haven’t knowingly seen any of his work before. Judging from this awesome piece and equally awesome Instagram feed he is an artist of the highest callibre. This piece is called ‘Plague Doctor’ and probably presses every possible button I have. A perfect piece in pretty much every way.
Sikoh, Dean Lane, Bristol, April 2018
He doesn’t give away too much on his social media profiles, but I tracked down his profile from the 2017 Upfest programme, although in my pictures I haven’t yet found his piece…time to search harder (just done some homework…I don’t have it, he sprayed his piece at the Hare pub). His profile is as follows:
‘Sikoh is a graffiti writer from Glastonbury with a preference for sharp, flowing 3D letters and semi- Bboy characters. One part of IGK- an international crew, local Bristol crew- PWA and one quarter of Glastonbury’s MOA. Sikoh has been painting since 2013. Much of his commissioned works have been within the UK hiphop scene, for artists such as- Leaf Dog, Smellington Piff and Jack Jetson.’
I think this has become a favourite spot for Bristol street artist Rezwonk who last December painted two pieces in Moon street, one of them in this exact location.
Rezwonk, Moon Street, Bristol, April 2018
His work, based on what I have seen of it so far, seems to focus on letters, often spelling our Rezwonk in some way. This one is, I think, the best I have seen so far, the initial ‘R’ is beautifully picked out in the middle sitting on a perfect circle of pink. His name repeated all around the outside. The drips are lovely and there is something a bit different here. Nice piece. Sadly I don’t think this one lasted even a week before it got bombed. He has however already replaced it (post to follow soon).
I bee W is an artist I admire very much. I first met him at Upfest 2016, and knew of his work before that, but this is the first time I have written about him, which surely can’t be right. His intricate stencils are often set on reasonably plain backgrounds, which brings out the central subject.
I bee W, The Bearpit, Bristol, April 2018
This ‘pigs might fly’ piece was created during the Spring paint jam in The Bearpit and I think carries a message, but I am not entirely sure whether it is connected to the clampdown on graffiti in The Bearpit or not.
I bee W, The Bearpit, Bristol, April 2018
It is a nice composition and contrasts well with the surrounding graffiti, helping it to stand out. It is like a gallery piece, and I like that.
Hot on the heels of my last post which featured a piece by Oreo, I found this one about half an hour later on another legal wall not far from Jardins de les Tres Xemeneies. At this spot, most of the work is by graffiti writers, occasionally punctuated by street art pieces like this one.
Oreo, Jardins de Walter Benjamin, Barcelona, March 2018
I love this. Mickey mouse with a badass bear head and a spray can at the ready and of course a halo to cap off the character. The piece keys in nicely with the writing to the right of it, and I wonder if they were sprayed at the same time. If not, then the two pieces have been cleverly integrated. More from this spot to come in due course.
Just about everything I know about this wonderful artist, Oreo, I have found out from the excellent No Grey Walls blog, written by Lewis Duncan, who was pivotal in directing me to some great legal walls in Barcelona for my trip there just before Easter.
Oreo, Jardins de les Tres Xemeneies, Barcelona, March 2018
The artist of this bear character is French artist Oreo (also painting under the names of Zack aka the scientist and Badassbearz). His works, which are instantly recognisble, appear all over Barcelona, and I managed to bag a few during my stay of which this was the first. In this piece Oreo presents us with the good and the bad bear and cleverly uses the box in the middle of the wall to separate out the two sides. Nice crisp work.
I have featured a lot of new artists on this blog recently, and this is the latest of them. Daz Cat is a Bristol-based illustrator and graffiti artist who I think is reasonably recent of the street art scene, although I would happily be corrected as there is not an awful lot of information in the Internet to go by.
Daz Cat, The Bearpit, Bristol, April 2018
His works tend to feature the heads of cats or dogs and often a little message – the one here ‘in fine style’ is used in other pieces too. He has had a recent burst of activity with some pieces, of which this is one, that were painted during the Spring Paint Jam in The Bearpit. More of his work, and perhaps more insight to follow soon.
Painted in The Bearpit for the Spring Paint Jam, this unusual piece is the work of the versatile Bristol artist Georgie. Georgie is a leading light in bringing street art to the people of Bristol through paint jams and her determination to preserve the notion of legal walls for the many street/graffiti artists in the city.
Georgie, The Bearpit, Bristol, April 2018
This piece itself is a stunning and intricate stencil work, which has been skilfully layered to create rich visual textures as you run your eye across it. Furthermore it is the kind of work that you don’t see enough of in The Bearpit.
Georgie, The Bearpit, Bristol, April 2018
When you take a close look, you can really see all the detailed work that has gone into creating this piece. Hats off to Georgie.
It’s that man Touc again, this time he has brought his little ray of sunsuine toucan to Dean Lane, a perfect roost for such a bird. There is something very endearing about this elaborate tag, and I am looking forward to finding and snapping up as many as possible.
Touc, Dean Lane, Bristol, April 2018
Of course, the first two I have posted are in the two most obvious locations, The Bearpit and Dean Lane. I have found one or two others which I will share in due course. Happy Toucan.
Natural adventures 