Well I said two posts ago that I would start to feature more of Shab’s work, and here I am, true to my promise. This is a really nice piece down a back street with a very low footfall. I doubt many people have had a chance to see this piece, and indeed I am not sure if it is still there.
Shab, Picton Lane, Bristol, April 2016
Once again the signature eye features prominently, together with another of Shab’s motifs, a crow. I like his work, and particularly like the patterns in black and white he makes to in-fill the piece. More soon.
It has been a little while since I last posted a Deamze piece, and somehow that just doesn’t seem right for this blog. It is possible that I have posted more of his pieces than any of the other Bristol street artists…but I am not counting.
Deamze, Raleigh Road, Bristol, February 2017
This wonderful piece in greens and browns is on the hoardings next to the recent Voyder bones work. The wildstyle writing is as intricate and clean as you’d expect from a Deamze piece, and on the right hand side he features a cartoon hog (?) holding a little creature in its grip.
Deamze, Raleigh Road, Bristol, February 2017
I’m sure I ought to know who the cartoon character is, but on this occasion I am stumped. Many of the cartoon characters that Deamze chooses to paint are from 1980s TV cartoons, but I was doing other more important things, and missed out on this TV toon culture. Perhaps somebody knows who it is.
Deamze, Raleigh Road, Bristol, February 2017
I like always to photograph the D at the start of his lettering, just to compare the style from one to the next.
Another piece by an artist I have not come across before. This is by Skor85, who sprayed this as part of a paint jam in The Bearpit. Judging from his Facebook wall it would seem that he is a Bristol artist, and I think I might recall one of his pieces from Dean Lane.
Skor85, The Bearpit, Bristol, January 2017
This is a nice piece, in a really poorly lit tunnel, hence the rather hopeless quality of the pictures. I’m not sure how prolific the artist is, but I’ll be on the look out for more. Bunny, dog or kangaroo? My money is on a dog.
Shab was one of the first wave of Bristol graffiti/street artists along with the likes of Cheo, FLX, Inkie, 3D and Jody to name just a few. It is curious then that this is my first post about Shab’s work. It is of a very recent piece that went up in Dean Lane. I didn’t post it immediately, because I didn’t know the artist, but serendipitously he followed me on Instagram the same day, and that was that. I am a little ashamed that I hadn’t made the connection myself before, but I am still learning…every day. I have several other pieces by him in the archive so I will start posting them.
Shab, Dean Lane, Bristol, February 2017
This abstract piece is fairly typical of his work and features an amazing eye, one of his ‘signatures’. The piece brings together two contrasting elements, the rounded white shapes bound with black outlines, and a multi-coloured jagged pattern – the two complementing each other perfectly. It looks like a spaceship, but probably isn’t one.
Shab, Dean Lane, Bristol, February 2017
The eye is really beautiful. Looking forward to finding and posting more from this master.
In The Bearpit, there are four premium spots, each one is at the end of each of the four tunnels. These are the places that are most sought after, but also the ones most frequently tagged, so anything sprayed here is always going to be reasonably short lived.
Pure Evil, The Bearpit, Bristol, January 2017
It was lucky then that I came across this piece by the London-based artist Pure Evil while it was still fresh and unmarked. Pure Evil is an artist I knew nothing about until I started researching this post, and realised that perhaps I should have known a little more. His biography on his website is well worth a read – he has covered a lot of ground.
Pure Evil, The Bearpit, Bristol, January 2017
I note also, that he is selling prints of his Bristol Bearpit piece for cool £2,000 on his website. I am guessing from that kind of price tag that he must be strongly established in the art world. Obviously I prefer the freebies he leaves on our city walls. I rather like this work, and will be more vigilant when I visit London to see if I can find any more. Let’s hear it for more scary bunnies.
Pure Evil, The Bearpit, Bristol, January 2017
“My enemies are in power – and my heroes are dead” – that speaks for a lot of us.
I love surprises, and this was one hell of a surprise. I took a lunchtime stroll down North Street, because I knew there were some new pieces, but only caught sight of this one on my way back. What a find.
China Girl Tile, Lime Road, Bristol, February 2017
Of course, it is a bunny with a grenade by the amazing Chinagirl Tile – I have always wanted to find one of these, but to have one in Bristol is simply amazing. The new piece is only a street away from the amazing foxes and soup tin she installed for Upfest 2016.
China Girl Tile, Lime Road, Bristol, February 2017
Chinagirl Tile is always a very welcome visitor to Bristol, and I hope very much she will be returning soon. Let’s hear it for the wabbits.
This is a brilliant new hoarding in an area that Voyder likes to spray in a lot. He used to spray in the car park next to these boards, but it is out of bounds at the moment while the construction work is going on, so the hoardings will do. His last piece here was the ‘sticker’ piece which I still think is one of his best.
Voyder, Raleigh Road, Bristol, February 2017
This one is vibrant and eye catching, and if you take a closer look, you can see that the letters are constructed with bones. A fun piece from this Bristol master.
Another political message and contorted body from the philosophical ObjectØØØ. The tunnels of the Bearpit provide probably the best space in Bristol for political comment as the area attracts some of the most socially deprived or uncared for people in the city. It is a place where culture and the impacts of government cuts converge in an angry outpouring and sense of injustice.
Object000, The Bearpit, Bristol, February 2017
ObjectØØØ’s pieces always capture this sense of outrage – you are never in doubt about what he cares about. It is good that he chooses to do something about it through his artwork. This is a powerful piece, carrying the slogan ‘lucky not better’. In the piece, ObjectØØØ has painted a pained figure, a fallen angel maybe, appearing to crash to the ground. His trademark feathers and wing mark this out as one of his works. A really great piece.
This is a rather lovely recent piece from Andy Council to celebrate the Chinese New Year and the year of the Rooster. The colours are fantastic and he has created a special Chinese take on the Clifton suspension bridge – a nice touch.
Andy Council, North Street Green, Bristol, February 2017
The piece is not very far away from the turkey that he sprayed back in November. Andy Council is probably one of the most well known street artists in Bristol, as he combines his pleasure spraying with all sorts of design commissions in the city. A popular artist who is at the heart of the Bristol street art movement.
Andy Council, North Street Green, Bristol, February 2017
This piece is a really interesting collaboration between Ulysses Nevmer and Alexandr Hade both from Minsk in Belarus. Searching the Interweb to try and find out more about them, it would appear that they have worked together before.
Ulysses Nevmer and Alexandr Hade, Upfest, Bristol, July 2016
The piece features two female portraits, looking towards one another. It is difficult to know if they are the same person or different people, but there is clearly a story going on. There is a confidence about Nevmer’s figure and on the left and Hade’s figure to the right is seeming to look on, longingly with some uncertainty.
Ulysses Nevmer, Upfest, Bristol, July 2016
Ulysses Nevmer tends to paint people, so she says in the Upfest programme biography, “because they are beautiful , also not only outside!” You can see more of her work on her Facebook page.
Alexandr Hade, Upfest, Bristol, July 2016
Aleksandr Hade has an interesting statement in his biography and it relates to the story in his pieces mentioned above:
“The front layer of Aleksandr’s works may seem pretty obvious and straightforward at first sight, though almost always it has its hidden meaning or a story to tell. The whole essence of his art concludes in prompting the audience to speculate on the real storyline and the idea beneath the seem-to-be-evident form. Aleksandr mostly touches on the themes of diverging time, people’s attitude to nature and mythology.”
Natural adventures 