This is the first of two posts by the same artist in the same spot, although chronologically reversed. The Artist is Soker, the spot is the hoardings in front of the Vector building, I took thisd picture in March 2017 and it had only recently been sprayed.
Soker, Raleigh Road, Bristol, March 2017
Soker produces just the most incredibly consistent and high quality pieces, using great colour combinations and fabulous clean lines. Recently he has been working a lot with Cheo, this was at least the third recent outing the pair have had together.
Soker, Raleigh Road, Bristol, March 2017
Not much more to say about this one really, to use contemporary parlance, he smashed it.
This is one of the more unusual pieces I have posted in quite a while. I think it is just a crazy abstract expression, but I can’t be certain. The artist Jee See has featured in this blog several times with his ‘seismic’ pictures and girl in a military hat (freestyled not stencilled as I had implied in an earlier post). This piece is unlike anything I have seen before.
Jee See, Dean Lane, Bristol, March 2017
I really can’t quite make out what it is or represents – maybe it is a starship exploding, but what are those window frames on the left of the picture. What are the building shaped objects at the top of the piece, and are they even part of the whole work? The weird thing is that I actually rather like it, even though I can’t fathom out a story…or anything at all.
I’ll let you into a little secret. I tend to write my posts in batches, and usually in advance by about a week, which is why there is always a bit of a time delay between the appearance of a recent piece and my posting of it. I do this out of necessity, because of my full time job and finding pockets of ‘me time’ to do some writing. I mention this because yesterday (my realtime – Sunday 9 April) I met Laic217 in Moon Street, working on a piece that I will post in a week or two. He is as enigmatic in person as he is in his street art.
Laic217, St Werburghs, Bristol, March 2017
This piece appeared a few weeks back in St Werburghs tunnel alongside the great work of Silent Hobo. An alien face, bucket hat and gold chain with a planet pendant mark this out as an obvious Laic217 piece, irrespective of the fact that he has signed it Laic on the arm.
Laic217, St Werburghs, Bristol, March 2017
I am still enjoying finding and writing about Laic217’s work, it almost feels like a game of hide and seek. I would point out that he is a better painter than I am a writer and he is more prolific than I could ever be. On to the next one.
I think I saw my first piece by Dice 67 in almost this exact spot in the north tunnel of The Bearpit a couple of years back. His stencil work is really first class and his subject matter always intriguing.
Dice 67, The Bearpit, Bristol, March 2017
I believe the girl featured in this piece is his daughter, who often appears in his works. I love his stencil work, the layers all come together so seamlessly. The attitude of this piece is fantastic. I hope he comes back to Upfest this year, he will be most welcome.
It took me a little while to photograph this fine pheasant by Andy Council, but at last I bagged it. This is the third of his birds that he has recently completed in the North Street area, the others being a turkey and a cockerel, both covered previously on this blog.
Andy Council, Greville Road, Bristol, April 2017
This pheasant will most likely disappear in July when Upfest comes to town, as this is a very desirable wall. The pheasant is a really great pierce of work by Andy Council with the usual architectural superstructure and fantastic colours. This is a lovely piece. The other recent birds are shown below:
Andy Council, Greville Road, Bristol, April 2017Andy Council, North Street Green, Bristol, February 2017Andy Council, North Street, Bristol, January 2017
Well it seems that lightening does strike twice after all. Inkie has returned to exactly the same wall he sprayed a couple of weeks back, leaving another one of his trademark pieces.
Inkie, Dean Lane, Bristol, April 2017
This time the base colours are green pink and black. You can just about see the outline of his previous piece underneath this one. He really is a master of his craft.
A straight forward burner in great colours by Tuco, a Bristol street artist who is perhaps less prolific than some of the others around. He has gone to some effort for this piece of work, rolling the background in black before moving onto his letters.
Tuco, Dean Lane, Bristol, April 2017
This is a beautifully sprayed piece with really crisp lines and lovely filling and shapes. This is the first piece of his that I have seen since his Upfest 2016 piece.
For a long while now, there have been hoardings outside the Metropolis in Stokes Croft, but this is the first piece I have seen there, since they were erected, worthy of photographing.
Face F1st, Stokes Croft, Bristol, April 2017
I saw the piece being sprayed when I drove past it, but had to return with a camera. What I didn’t know at the time is that it was the elusive Face F1st at work. So now I have seen him, and I know he has a beard, but that is about it.
Face F1st, Stokes Croft, Bristol, April 2017
This time there is no FACE lettering, instead an octopus (something he has sprayed before) and a face emerging from the centre of the piece. It is certainly quite unusual, and the colours give it a rather understated appearance but it is a good piece and a slight extension of Face F1st’s usual format.
I really enjoy the political edge that street art brings to us, and one artist more than any other in Bristol, challenges the status quo and presents us with philosophical and political thoughts. ObjectØØØ.
Object000, Stokes Croft, Bristol, April 2017
It is a while since I posted anything from the arches of the Carriageworks, but things have become busy there recently. This piece by ObjectØØØ is of an organic robotic creature and carries a stark warning:
‘As all these incredible new technologies come online, who benefits? The warmongers and profiteers. Maybe technology can save us, but not in the hands of self-serving elites…‘
Object000, Stokes Croft, Bristol, April 2017
This is ObjectØØØ in full flow and at his creative best. Full of rage, anger and passion. I love this piece. RESIST.
I include these pieces by Mr Draws, because they represent a strong reference point for the role street/graffiti art play in social commentary. In Bristol, and I imagine in cities all over the World, we face changes to our local communities happening at a rate faster than ever before. Globalisation and the advent of the Interweb have driven change, and along with the ‘progress’ this affords us, it also brings with it casualties.
Mr Draws, The Bearpit, Bristol, March 2017
The Bearpit sits at the end of the A38 (Cheltenham Road/Stokes Croft/Gloucester Road), which is famed for being one of the longest continuous ‘independent’ high streets in Britain. This is a claim that is disputable since a number of supermarket chains and coffee shops have moved in. As independent shops have struggled with the economic downturn, their premises have been bought up by supermarket ‘local’ outlets and by global coffee chains. It is this ‘changing of the guard’ that vexes so many citizens, particularly in a fiercely independent part of a fiercely independent city.
Mr Draws, The Bearpit, Bristol, March 2017
As for the works themselves, these are quick pieces from an artist normally associated with his stylised mountains. I like this political twist to his work which is becoming more and more creative as time goes on.
Natural adventures 