Tag: Street art

1198. Stokes Croft

This part of Stokes Croft is quite a difficult area to set up a business, especially in the food sector. There are already quite a lot of cafés and restaurants which cater mostly to the Bohemian set from Montpelier. This particular restaurant ‘Meat Liquor’ was targeted more at the young student market, but I understand it had to close after less than two years, due to incidents in the area and in the restaurant. The area has the highest incidence of drug dealing in Bristol and maybe the closure was connected to that. Anyhow, the hoardings have gone up, and not long after that the graffiti art arrives.

Ryder and Aspire, Stokes Croft, Bristol, December 2017
Ryder and Aspire, Stokes Croft, Bristol, December 2017

This, I believe, is a collaboration between Ryder and Aspire (the bird man) who must have been visiting from London where he now lives. The writing says Ryder and the bird I think is a turkey, so this must be a festive piece. I looks a little like it might have been done reasonably quickly, but it certainly adds colour and vibrancy to the hoarding.

1197. City Road (5)

It is always worth taking a look in places that you don’t go to too often, just to check if there is anything new. Well I hadn’t been to this spot for a long time, I know not since before the end of July, because this piece is by Dabuten Tronko, who visited Bristol for Upfest 2017.

Dabuten Tronko, City Road, Bristol, December 2017
Dabuten Tronko, City Road, Bristol, December 2017

It is an interesting piece and picks up the theme of his other boats that he sprayed where the A38 meets The Bearpit roundabout. This is a curious piece of writing set on a red and grey background and picking out a rowing boat within the letters. I am not sure what the word says, if it says anything at all. I like making discoveries like this.

1196. Broome Street, New York (1)

Perched on the side of a five storey block and partially obscured by the building below is this fabulous pop art piece by London street artist D*Face. This was another nice surprise for me while out shopping in SoHo with my children, who I have just noticed are in the featured image.

DFace, Broome Street, New York, October 2017
DFace, Broome Street, New York, October 2017

The piece is called ‘double crossed’ and features a couple of his D*Face dogs. There is an interesting short article about the piece in street art news which talks about the little clown in the bottom left hand corner, which D*Face left there when he was asked to paint this wall.

Like so many excellent pieces in the area, this was organised by the LISA project.

1195. Little Italy, New York (2)

Deep in the heart of Little Italy, in amongst all those wonderful restaurants is this incredible piece by Tristan Eaton. It is of course a portrait of the gorgeous Audrey Hepburn, disguised in a patchwork of colours and patterns, a little like the work Louis Masai produces.

Tristan Eaton, Little Italy, New York, October 2017
Tristan Eaton, Little Italy, New York, October 2017

Tristan Eaton has a wonderful website which is well worth a click or two. His description of this piece is as follows:

This piece was painted in August or 2013, for The Little Italy Street Project and The Little Italy Merchants Association. Located at the corner of Broome & Mulberry at the entrance of Little Italy.

This was one of the outstanding street art pieces from my recent short trip the New York.

1194. Bowery, New York (1)

Wandering around the East Village and SoHo districts of New York was such a pleasure. I had no destination in mind and just went where my instincts led me. How exciting then to come across this magnificent Blondie tribute piece by Shepard Fairey.

Shepard Fairey, Bowery, New York, October 2017
Shepard Fairey, Bowery, New York, October 2017

In have not seen a Shepard Fairey street art piece before and the style and colours of this one are captivating. I am aware of his ultra famous ‘HOPE’ portrait of Barack Obama. I understand that the piece was created to celebrate the 40th anniversary of Blondie’s first album which was debuted at the CBGB’s club opposite. The wall was curated by the LISA project.

Many thanks to Sarah Sansom, street art hunter and contributor to Street Art Cities.

1193. East Village, New York.

One of the things I was most hoping to see during my trip in October to New York was some wheatpastes by Phoebe New York, and I was not disappointed. There were plenty to find in the area around our hotel in Rivington Street.

Phoebe New York, East Village, New York, October 2017
Phoebe New York, East Village, New York, October 2017

I first came across her work at Upfest 2016, when I found two or three of her pasteups carefully placed in strategic positions along North Street. After that, I found some of her characters in London during my six month spell when I worked two days a week there. I have followed her on Instagram, and strongly recommend her original and quirky feed.

Phoebe New York, East Village, New York, October 2017
Phoebe New York, East Village, New York, October 2017

The two pieces shown here are the first of several that I found during our four-day excursion to the Big Apple. The first is on a plain white wall and picks out the little Phoebe perfectly – have a beautiful day.

Phoebe New York, East Village, New York, October 2017
Phoebe New York, East Village, New York, October 2017

The second pasteup is on an altogether different background with loads of flaking pieces of paper from previous wheatpastes and an interesting face for company. I love the placement of the piece, and especially love the dress. Perfect.

1192. Raleigh Road vector (18)

A throwback to earlier this year when we were lucky enough to have Boogie in Bristol for the ‘Boogie down Bristol’ event organised by Inkie. Of the three Boogie pieces that I photographed at that time, I think this one in Raleigh Road is probably the best.

Boogie, Raleigh Road, Bristol, July 2017
Boogie, Raleigh Road, Bristol, July 2017

I very much like the way that he makes a feature of the ‘oo’ in his name, and indeed when toying with ‘Scooj’ I have noticed how much the ‘oo”s lend themselves to all sorts of options.

Boogie, Raleigh Road, Bristol, July 2017
Boogie, Raleigh Road, Bristol, July 2017

Boogie is recognised as a master of his craft, and from this piece you can see why. Great colours, beautiful design and clean lines throughout the piece. I don’t know why, but all his pieces remind me a little bit of bubble gum…that’s probably just me though.

1191. Moon Street (39)

This gorgeous piece went up earlier in the year in Moon Street, and it is ridiculous that it has taken me so long to post about it. It is by Rezwonk, a Bristol artist, but one that I am struggling to find any information. Sometimes it just is that way – not all street artists are busy on digital media and why should they be?

Rezwonk, Moon Street, Bristol, July 2017
Rezwonk, Moon Street, Bristol, July 2017

Technically this is a clever piece and the writing is designed to confuse, much of it being backwards. If you look carefully on the bottom line, you might make out the letters (written backwards) KNOW… spelling out WONK. I don’t have the patience to work out what the whole piece says, but I’m sure Rezwonk was happy with it. Since spraying this, he has created another piece a few yards away which I will post soon.

1190. M32 roundabout J3 (56)

It has been a very long time since I last saw a piece by PWA’s Soap, and this wonderful piece was alongside a piece by his crew pal Face F1st. As I write this, I believe that a couple of new collaborations between the two have just been sprayed at the Carriageworks and I can’t wait to get some pictures.

Soap, M32 roundabout, Bristol, September 2017
Soap, M32 roundabout, Bristol, September 2017

I am a little stumped by what the writing on this piece says, but am so pleased to see those mouths once again…it has been such a long time. The photographs are not great, it was a bright day, and the sun was behind the wall, with the light being very troublesome.

Soap, M32 roundabout, Bristol, September 2017
Soap, M32 roundabout, Bristol, September 2017

It would seem that Soap is becoming a little more active again. I do hope so.

1189. M32 cycle path (10)

There is quite a lot of development work going on around this spot, and the cycle path has been diverted. As a result, this spot has become a bit of a backwater recently, but it is always worth taking a quick look.

Smak, M32 Cycle path, Bristol, October 2017
Smak, M32 Cycle path, Bristol, October 2017

On one of my visites, I came across thuis wonderful Smak piece, that personally I think is really classy. I know that wildstyle writing is a fairly acquired taste, but the more you look at it and the more examples you find, the more absorbed you become. The skill needed to create pieces like this I think is vastly underestimated by the casual passer-by, indeed, many consider it messy and unartistic. I do not count myself amongst those people. I love this piece.