So, here he is once again, this time making an appearance in one of the tunnels of The Bearpit. This toucan, by Touc, really is one of the cheeriest graffiti characters in town and I would suggest you have a cold heart if you aren’t the tiniest bit captivated by him.
I don’t know what HATOUCAN means…is it a toucan sneeze? My supply of Touc finds is drying up a little, so you might not see him for a little while – until then…farewell.
This absolutely stunning commission on the outside wall of The Bridge Inn on the corner of Passage Street and Queen Street, is by an artist I have not come across before, David Blatch. Formally an animator and new media designer, David Blatch is from South Africa but now lives in Bristol and is on the look out for commissions.
The artwork itself for this amazing Jimi Hendrix portrait is exceptional and provides Bristolians in this part of town with an iconic landmark.
It would be great to see more of this kind of ‘high-end’ work brightening up the city, reenforcing Bristol’s USP of supporting the full spectrum of street art in all its foms. Very nice piece.
Only a few days ago I posted something a little different form Duncan McKellar, the foil butterflies on the tarmac of Frogmore Street. This creation, from the same artist, is designed to bring a smile to people’s faces. No piece of ‘street furniture’ is safe from his creative attention, with several statues receiving the same treatment.
The pineapple is ‘sculpted’ from hundreds of pieces of bright yellow foam (it looks like insulation foam to me), and attracts the attention of passers by. What I love about his work is its ‘guerilla’ style…he keeps the local newspapers and busybodies guessing about who he is and where his next project will take him.
I am a fan of all street art that challenges people to see the world through a different lens, and this work by Duncan certainly does this. I’ll try to hunt down more from this ingenious artist.
I think that there is something about street art and rabbits, or at least I seem to come across a disproportionate amount of them in my travels. This fine example is by Nevla and resides in one of the tunnels up by the Ikea roundabout on the M32.
Nevla has only relatively recently crossed my radar, but I like his unique cartoon style that he brings to the table. I don’t yet think I have seen any of his work outside a tunnel…maybe it’s time to break cover.
I haven’t posted much from Hire for a while, and sadly I got to this one just a few moments too late it looks like. It is a real shame that some idiot has run a white line through this piece, and the beautiful Sikoh and Dibz piece next to it. Arturo has little to be proud of in my view.
The amazing thing about this piece is that it is not a collaboration, the whole thing is by Hire, the Gothic influenced writing on the left and the dayglo bunny on the right. I like the way he has put these pieces side by side with their contrasting backgrounds. The colours used for the writing would make Decay very happy (he uses exactly this palette form most of his work). And, just in case you weren’t sure, the bunny helps us out with the location of the piece. Fine work.
In recent months I have become aware of a tag appearing all over the place, that is better than your average tag, and of course being a fish it gets my seal of approval. I have no idea who it is by, but I think they might belong to DBK crew, as those letters are never too far away.
The first of four tags was in The Bearpit not too long ago. Lots of drug references here.
I am not too sure what the letters spell, but to me it looks like ‘SOA’ and then I guess it is possible that the tail fin is also a letter.
As with all tags, the graffiti artist has got the consistency down to a T and can probably run one off pretty swiftly.
As I am writing this, It occurs to me that the whole thing says SOAK, and that the fish tail does form a letter, the letter K. Soak is a graffiti artist in Bristol who I featured not too long ago. It all makes sense now.
My understanding is that every now and again, Bristol Drain Services like to give their office building a makeover. They provide the paint and the artists crete something special. This wall which was previously occupied by Kid Crayon and SPZero76 has recently been given an abstract refresh by the fabulous Paul Monsters.
His colourful geometric designs are instantly recognisable and can lift any wall, no matter how bland, into the status of artwork. I hope to catch up with Paul in the run up to Upfest 2018, or at the very least at the festival itself, for which he is one of the central organisers.
Rezwonk has been a bit of a busy man recently, especially in the Stokes Croft area. This burner at the top end of Hepburn Road is a humorous tribute to Fab ice lollies, spelling out Rezer (Rezwonk). His work is undeniably classy and this has something special about it.
I have not seen any burners from Rezwonk before this one, but he uses writing an awful lot in his pieces, and it would seem that letters and writing are central to his work. Over the past few months Hepburn Road has become noticeably less threatening as the police and local authority clamped down on the drug dealing that used to plague this area. This spot is a favourite of DNT’s and I expect Rezwonks piece to be replaced before too long.
On the lovely curved wall of Dean Lane skate park, this bright and cheery piece by Mr Draws was sprayed on 20 April to mark the 420 campaign. Regulars will know that I have long enjoyed the work of Mr Draws, and although his freestyle is not to everyone’s taste, it works for me.
Mr Draws is going through one of his incredibly productive phases at the moment and I simply can’t keep up…there is too much in Bristol to cover in two posts per day, let alone all my other material from New York, Barcelona and London. I’ll do my best to keep it all coming.
Three cheers for the toucan – in what is probably the closest graffiti spot to my work. Imagine how delighted I was to see this recent adition of one of Touc’s beautiful birds. A simple idea, but nicely done and eminently collectable.
Somehow, bringing an exotic bird like a toucan into the urban environment achieves more than simply a splash of colour, it brings with it the magic of rainforests and of hope. It certainly worked for Guiness.
Natural adventures 