Remember this naughty fox?
Well Mau Mau has returned with a topical piece (when he sprayed it), cleverly conflating an urban fox with R2D2 from Star Wars.
Always witty and often quite acerbic, Mau Mau rarely disappoints. I only wish I had found this gem before it had been tagged. Maybe someone was offended by the language (I think not).
I look forward to more foxes in the Stokes Croft area.
It has been a little while since I featured a work by one of Bristol’s finest and most famous street artists, Nick Walker. It took me a little while to find this, despite it being in the road where I work. It is a shutter piece, and the shutters are invariably up when I am at work, and down when I am not. I took this photograph on a Sunday.
The piece is unmistakably by Walker, with its pinstriped character and trademark ‘vandal’ moniker. It is indeed a treat to have so many of his artworks so close to where I spend most of my days.
It is a little neglectful of me not to have found this piece sooner, but better late than never.
Brilliant, brilliant, brilliant. I have been keeping my powder dry with this one, although I don’t quite know why. When I see a great piece of street art, I really ought to share it straight away.
3Dom is one of the most creative and imaginative of the Bristol street/graffiti artists. His works nearly all have a surreal feel to them and contain unique blends of shapes and colours that are rarely seen elsewhere. His imagination runs riot with this piece and he introduces different textures and shadings in this character. I love the green body and arm, that resemble a close-up of a spider’s leg.
The piece can be dated as having been sprayed post-Bowie’s death, as there is a mention of him and Buzz. What is pleasing about this is it is so clean, and as yet untagged. One of my absolute favourite pieces this year (so far).
I found this lovely tribute to DJ Derek, the first of many I suspect, along the Cheltenham Road at the back end of last week. It is by Lemak and I believe was completed on 3 April 2016.
Lemak originally comes from Fleetwood but is currently based in Bristol.He was originally inspired by stencil artists and first took to spraying in 2011. I think this work is very accomplished, and the stencil portrait of DJ Derek is a fine and fitting tribute.
DJ Derek, was a locally well known septuagenarian disc jockey who played at clubs all around Bristol and beyond. He mysteriously went missing in July and his body was found in March this year. More on this in my posts 31. Leonard Lane (3) and 146. The Bearpit (6).
This picture was taken in October 2015, and the wall has since been refreshed by Deamze, and featured here a few weeks ago. It has taken me a while to work out who this fine triptych was by; I think I have it now.
The face in the centre is by Voyder, a sensationally good street artist in Bristol, and it really draws the viewer in. It looks like the left hand side wildstyle is by Soker, although I cannot be certain.
The right hand side is by Deamze I think. The three elements together have a lovely symmetry, but for me the face wearing ski goggles? wins the day for me. I’m glad I captured it before it disappeared.
It was an accident of fate that took me to this encounter yesterday. I spent my lunch break walking to the Post Office in the Galleries, and then nipped into M&S for sandwiches…a treat I don’t usually afford myself. I intended to return to work, but thought I was so close to The Bearpit, I would just see if there was anything new.
Better than that…a graffiti artist was spraying in one of the tunnels. The colours of paint on his trousers pretty much gave him away – red, grey, white and black – I approached him and asked “excuse me, but are you Decay“. Not a phrase I use often. It was, and we struck up a conversation.
Decay has only recently moved to Bristol, but it would explain the proliferation of his work around the place. I asked if he would be at Upfest 2016, and indeed he will. I will look him out. Finally I asked if he would mind if I took some pictures, and he said it was fine, but not the face. The whole experience was a bit ‘Exit through the Gift Shop’, a Banksy film I thoroughly recommend.
My first real contact with an artist in action. A good day, which only got better, as on my way home I spotted Alex Lucas working on a commission, and chatted with her too…more on that in a future post.
Happy.
A beautiful sunny day in November 2015 treated me to some fabulous walls that still sustain me now. This is a well worked collaboration by Feek and Soker on the side of the Manor Scrap Company, and opposite the playgrounds of the Hannah Moore Primary School. It also appears that Deamze might have had a hand in this too.
The characters either side of the wildstyle are by Feek, and you can read the lettering ‘Sokem’ by Soker. I don’t yet know why all his wildstyle burners say Sokem and not Soker. I guess it is a bit like Deamze writing Deam, Deams or Deamze…they probably do it because they can.
I like the slightly unsettling clown and bumper car rider in this piece…there is something menacing about them. Probably not ideal opposite a school, but hey, that’s how it is.
7.5/10
Some time ago, when I was strolling around the back streets of St Pauls and Montpelier I came across this really unusual wall by Jack Dones, who is one part of the Paintsmiths, although I think he painted this as a solo piece.
It is a very clever and rather touching idea and very different from most of the street art in Bristol. It is a well known image, but I’m not sure how many people know where it is as it is a bit off the beaten track. I would have liked to seen it in its pristine condition, but I came rather late to the party.
7/10
It is a strange thing with hunting down street art that you can be completely ignorant of a particular artist, and then within a few days see several of their works. One such artist is Laic 217 who I featured for the first time on 31 March 2016. Earlier this week I spotted another of his pieces in the skate park in Dean Lane.
What I like about these is the character within the burner that seems to be common to his works, and the colours he uses.
I look forward to finding more of his stuff, especially as I now know where to look.
7/10
I am still coming across street art that was created during Upfest 2015, and on my walk yesterday I found this wonderful piece by Gemma Compton.
Compton is an artist and fashion designer who is based in Bristol, and another graduate from UWE (University of the West of England). A lot of her work incorporates wildlife and birds in particular. She has an interesting website that shows off her extensive work. Street art is clearly not her main focus, which is a pity, as this is rather good.
7/10
Natural adventures 