Tag: Street art

1309. Shoreditch, London (3)

When looking for street art outside the borders of Bristol, it is always a genuinely pleasant experience to find a piece by a Bristol artist. And so it was in this fortuitous instance while wandering around Shoreditch fairly aimlessly, because I don’t know my way around. On a hoarding I saw a very familiar sight that was rather comforting, a couple of pieces by Decay.

Decay, Shoreditch, London, February 2018
Decay, Shoreditch, London, February 2018

Although Decay is a migrant Bristolian, a buit like me, I still consider him to be part of the city. In this first piece, Decay looks like he is branching out a little from his usual concentric shapes – I have seen another piece similar to this one recently. I think it works.

Decay, Shoreditch, London, February 2018
Decay, Shoreditch, London, February 2018

Right next to this first piece, Decay has painted one of his works which is altogether more familiar. I believe he sprayed these only a day or two before I photographed them, which is great, especially as I had no idea he had been in the area. A serendipitous trip to London, certainly in my case.

Decay, Shoreditch, London, February 2018
Decay, Shoreditch, London, February 2018

Two more fine pieces from Decay.

1308. Shoreditch, London (2)

Shok1 is a very well known London street artist whose x-ray pieces are instantly recognisable. In this side street, which I almost missed, he has sprayed a remarkable picture of a hand tossing a drinks can away.

Shok1, Shoreditch, London, February 2018
Shok1, Shoreditch, London, February 2018

I remember watching him at Upfest 2016 when he sprayed the x-ray skull of a unicorn and couldn’t believe the painstaking work that went into creating the misty effect of his pieces. He would spray a mist, step back, return, spray a mist, step back, return dozens of times over until the layering and tone was exactly right.

Shok1, Shoreditch, London, February 2018
Shok1, Shoreditch, London, February 2018

I think that Shok1 has cornered the market in this kind of work, a little bit like Fanakapan and his helium balloons. It would be interesting to see what other styles he could do, with his exceptional understanding of anatomy.

1307. Shoreditch, London (1)

I went to stay with my sister in London for a night a little while ago, and before getting on the train at Paddington to come home to Bristol, I took a bit of a diversion to Shoreditch. It was on this street art hunting expedition that I dropped and broke my camera, which was incredibly annoying. All good now though as I was covered on our insurance policy and I have a new, slightly better, camera.

Thierry Noir, Shoreditch, London, February 2018
Thierry Noir, Shoreditch, London, February 2018

One of the first pieces I saw (before broken camera) was this wonderful musical character by Thierry Noir. I love the apparent simplicity of his work and the bold colours he uses which add character to the locations he paints. I always think there are elements of a fusion of Picasso and Matisse in his work, but that might just be me. I do like this piece a lot…pity about the car parked right in front of it though!

1306. Upper York Street (10)

Well, well, well. This is a sensational piece of writing by Epok which was sprayed at the same time as the Sepr pianist. Two great artists painting together but not a collaboration. The modern phrase that comes to mind when I look at this is ‘he’s smashed it’.

Epok, Upper York Street, Bristol, February 2018
Epok, Upper York Street, Bristol, February 2018

With some references to the modernist movement, this piece is technically brilliant, bringing together elements of writing, shading, colour selection and mood that have created a master work.

Epok, Upper York Street, Bristol, February 2018
Epok, Upper York Street, Bristol, February 2018

Anyone with aspirations of becoming a writer should take a long hard look at this piece. It would be worthy of hanging in any gallery. Perhaps you have noticed that I like it…a lot.

1305. St Werburghs tunnel (17)

I think I said it quite recently that I don’t often get down to St Werburghs tunnel, which is a pity really because I miss out on a lot of gems like this one from Whysayit. I am beginning to think that he might simply be whysay or YSAE, because his Instagram handle which used to be Whysayit has changed to Whysissy and again to Whydot. However, I am not retrospectively going to correct all my posts. I shall call him Whysayit.

Whysayit, St Werburghs tunnel, Bristol, January 2018
Whysayit, St Werburghs tunnel, Bristol, January 2018

Once again we such great quality of ideas and shading from this graffiti artist. When I see great writing, I often wonder whether the artists could do characters or something other than writing. There is something of a split between graff writers and street artists, but some have crossed the divide and others, such as Deamze and Voyder seem to be equally comfortable with both.

1304. Stokes Croft

At a bus stop, just opposite Ashley Road, there is a hoarding which has slowly and steadily been claimed by graffiti artists. The building owner has tried to shoo them away, but it is a bit of a relentless tide. The initial graffiti that went up was mostly quick burners and none of it up to much, with the odd exception. Then with accelerated pace, more pieces have been going up recently and this lovely quick one from Jee See appeared a couple of weeks ago.

Jee See, Stokes Croft, Bristol, February 2018
Jee See, Stokes Croft, Bristol, February 2018

Of course, it was over -sprayed a couple of days later, but I was very pleased to capture it. This is a revolutionary motif that Jee See likes to use a lot, and I have to say I really like it. It was a piece like this that first put him on my radar. Power to the people! Briz Graff.

 

1303. Upper York Street (9)

This has been a winter where some of the giants of Bristol street art have awoken and decorated our walls with some of the finest works for a while. Sepr is one such giant who seems to be painting most weekends and turning out some really high-quality work.

Sepr, Upper York Street, Bristol, February 2018
Sepr, Upper York Street, Bristol, February 2018

What a stunner this is – ‘knock it on the head – before it knocks you on your arse’. I’ve not heard the expression before, but am willing to adopt it on the back of this wonderful Sepr work.

Sepr, Upper York Street, Bristol, February 2018
Sepr, Upper York Street, Bristol, February 2018

The common thread running through much of Sepr’s work is music, and musicians and here he has painted a pianist stretched out and toppling off his stool. For me, his works have a very strong retro feel and remind me of 1950’s cartoons – the hairstyle and the trilby are not of this decade.

Sepr, Upper York Street, Bristol, February 2018
Sepr, Upper York Street, Bristol, February 2018

These cartoons, beautifully drawn are pulled out from the wall by some expert shardos that govo it a bit of a 3D feel. Definitely worth a look.

 

1302. St Werburghs tunnel (16)

The turnover of work in St Werburghs tunnel is quite eye-watering. I don’t visit very often, but every time I go, pretty much everything is new. I went down there deliberately this time to find this piece by Hazard.

Hazard, St Werburghs tunnel, Bristol, January 2018
Hazard, St Werburghs tunnel, Bristol, January 2018

It is hard not to be utterly captivated by her work (hers is on the right) which usually features a female portrait, either face on or profile, with beautifully ornate hair and head decorations.

Hazard, St Werburghs tunnel, Bristol, January 2018
Hazard, St Werburghs tunnel, Bristol, January 2018

I am not too sure who the piece on the left is by, but the contrast in styles is really interesting and in fact both work quite well together. I’m not sure that this was a collaboration, but I might be wrong. A fine piece.

There is a comment below from Tasha Bee who painted the lady on the left, she says it was a collaboration, and seeing the joint signature now, it all seems obvious.

1301. Old Ashley Hill

I have driven past this piece dozens of times and caught a glimpse of it out of the corner of my eye, but parking is tricky. Finally I found some time to double park, nip out and take these pictures.

Decay, Old Ashley Hill, Bristol, January 2018
Decay, Old Ashley Hill, Bristol, January 2018

It is a wonderful piece by Decay and one that is likely to be around for some time as it looks like a private commisssion. Many of his pieces, particularly in the centre of town get oversprayed, so it is nice to have a spot where it will be around for a while.

Decay, Old Ashley Hill, Bristol, January 2018
Decay, Old Ashley Hill, Bristol, January 2018

Decay is the master of these abstract designs and his work is easy to identify due to its distinctive shapes and use of the colours red, white, grey and black. This one is a stunner.

1300. M32 roundabout J3 (64)

Sitting snugly next to an Elvs work is this great chrome piece by Rusk, set on a black background and decorated with pink and purple bubbles. A friend of mine, who is a designer, asked me what is this thing for drawing arrows on the end of graffiti letters all about. Is it simply a design feature? who first did it? does anyone know? I don’t know the answers, but they do feature in most wildstyle writing.

Rusk, M32 roundabout, Bristol, January 2018
Rusk, M32 roundabout, Bristol, January 2018

Rusk as always has smashed it with this piece, which is rather different from some of his work I have been posting recently. Maybe I’ll ask him about the arrows next time I see him.