Tag: The Bearpit

205. The Bearpit (14)

In the South East tunnel of the Bearpit you may this wonderful and very typical work by Angus (although nothing lasts very long there). It is a fun piece featuring Meg Griffin from the Family Guy, a TV cartoon I don’t watch so can’t explain any more about the work. Over the last few years Angus has burst onto the Bristol graffiti scene, and being a local street artist, he has had many great influences all around him.

Angus, The Bearpit, Bristol, April 2016
Angus, The Bearpit, Bristol, April 2016

If you want to know more about Angus, there is a lovely interview with him on the Best of Bristol website, which I thoroughly recommend reading. I rather hope to bump into him at some time, because he seems like a really decent bloke. I like the familiarity and crispness of his work.

Angus is also a member of The Secret Society of Super Villain Artists (SSOSVA) – you will see more artists from this group in future posts.

195. The Bearpit (13)

Walking home yesterday, I came across an artist painting a new work on the PRSC Open Air Gallery. The previous piece by Cheba had been badly defaced with Buzz tags (which are becoming a bit of a menace) so a new work was going up. I spoke with the artist, ObjectØØØ, another incredibly nice person, and we swapped Instagram addresses. I said I hadn’t seen any of his work yet and he told me he put something up in The Bearpit over the weekend. The penny dropped – I had photographed his work on Sunday and here it is:

Object000, The Bearpit, Bristol, April 2016
Object000, The Bearpit, Bristol, April 2016

This is a wild creation and a strong message too, like Narnia meets Billy Bragg. I like the ‘other worldliness’ of it. I am now looking forward to the completion of his mural on the Open Air Gallery, which also has a strong message.

Object000, The Bearpit, Bristol, April 2016
Object000, The Bearpit, Bristol, April 2016

192. The Bearpit (12)

Another fabulous stencil, this time by Dice 67, an artist from Cheltenham, and one that I blogged about in August 2015. His work then was sprayed as part of Ufest 2015. This piece is quite different, lurking in one of the tunnels of The Bearpit.

Dice 67, The Bearpit, Bristol, April 2016
Dice 67, The Bearpit, Bristol, April 2016

An Instagram conversation with Dice 67 revealed that he only sprayed this on Saturday (four days ago) and by Sunday, when I photographed it, it had already been tagged by DBK. I do wonder if DBK are pushing the boundaries of graffiti etiquette at the moment. Anyhow, at least I got a reasonably clean snap of this really technical piece of work.

Dice 67, The Bearpit, Bristol, April 2016
Dice 67, The Bearpit, Bristol, April 2016

I love this work, in particular the signature on the spray cans.

191. The Bearpit (11)

Turnover in The Bearpit has reached staggering proportions lately and I am really struggling to keep up. This wonderful stencil by the fabulous John D’oh, is one of several highly political statements directed at current Government Ministers.

In this instance it is the turn of George Osborne, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whose recent budget was perceived as being one of the most unfair in decades.

John D'oh, The Bearpit, Bristol, April 2016
John D’oh, The Bearpit, Bristol, April 2016

John D’oh is another Bristolian artist, whose works are becoming more and more frequent on our streets. His website is worth a quick gander. I love this political stuff, it is edgy and full of vitriol whilst managing to present humorously. As you can see below though, it is not to everyone’s taste. The piece appeared less than a week ago and is already defaced.

John D’oh, The Bearpit, Bristol, April 2016
John D’oh, defaced, The Bearpit, Bristol, April 2016

186. The Bearpit (10)

This ‘throw up’ (a very quickly sprayed freestyle piece) was crafted by Decay on the same day (Friday 8th April 2016) that I wrote about this piece.

Decay, The Bearpit, Bristol, April 2016
Decay, The Bearpit, Bristol, April 2016

It is very simple and also very powerful, Decay could have a career in logo design! The initials DK obviously have driven his ‘Decay’ moniker. This is a nice crisp striking piece in one of the tunnels at the Bearpit.

Unfortunately, this has been ‘taken out’ in the words of Decay as have nearly all the Bearpit tunnel pieces by a Bristol tagger called DBK. It is a pity, but this is what DBK does, and all the other artists know this and, I guess, just put up with it.

173. The Bearpit (9)

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.

Decay, The Bearpit, Bristol, 8 April 2016
Decay, The Bearpit, Bristol, 8 April 2016

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, The Bearpit, Bristol, 8 April 2016
Decay, The Bearpit, Bristol, 8 April 2016

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.

Decay, The Bearpit, Bristol, 8 April 2016
Decay, The Bearpit, Bristol, 8 April 2016

Happy.

158. The Bearpit (8)

It is Easter Sunday today. I wish you a happy day. This is a recent piece by the extremely prolific Tom Miller. It can be found on the south tunnel end wall of the Bearpit, which is the exact site of another of his recent works featured here.

Tom Miller, The Bearpit, Bristol, March 2016
Tom Miller, The Bearpit, Bristol, March 2016

His ‘imaginite’ concept is in full flow here, combining hard reality with soft imagination. I find his works counselling, and am always excited when I discover a new piece such as this one.

Tom Miller, The Bearpit, Bristol, March 2016
Tom Miller, The Bearpit, Bristol, March 2016

Probably more accustomed to a gallery wall, it looks like Miller really enjoys creating his street pieces.

8/10

155. The Bearpit (7)

Tuesday this week was a bit of a red letter day. I managed to see some wonderful new works walking in to work via Stokes Croft and The Bearpit. It has been very frustrating, because I have been in training since then, and not been able to post anything, so I have a bit of a backlog.

SAMSUNG CAMERA PICTURES
Aspire, The Bearpit, Bristol, March 2016 – Yellow-headed Blackbird

This is yet another very recent bird by Aspire, and there are more to come. Although Aspire calls this bird a saffron headed marsh squawker (his joke?) it is actually a yellow-headed blackbird, found in Mexico and central North America.

Aspire, The Bearpit, Bristol, March 2016
Aspire, The Bearpit, Bristol, March 2016

Another triumph from Aspire

8/10

146. The Bearpit (6)

This post is governed more by events than any kind of planning on my part. Last week I photographed this small wooden plaque recognising the great talents of DJ Derek. Any of you who have followed this blog for a while may remember this post of a stencil by Stewy in Leonard Lane.

DJ Derek, The Bearpit, Bristol, March 2016
DJ Derek, The Bearpit, Bristol, March 2016

There is some sad news today; news reports are claiming that the remains of Derek Serpell-Morris have been found in Patchway, North Bristol. There will be a collective sigh of sadness as people in Bristol become aware of the fate of this iconic character.

The catchphrase on the plaque is now burdened with a heavy irony given the circumstances of his disappearance and passing. I don’t know who the  plaque is by, but it is signed MTB.

This is a sad day indeed.

 

6/10

141. The Bearpit (5)

Another tricky one today. This amazing piece is the left hand side of a larger piece entitled Lifestyles of the Poor and Dangerous.

Hoax? and Akarat? The Bearpit, Bristol, March 2016
Hoax? and Akarat? The Bearpit, Bristol, March 2016

I managed to track down the artists of this whole wall via DNT’s Instagram feed, and it would appear that it was a collaboration by Akarat, DNT, BS51, Klue and Hoax.

Hoax? The Bearpit, Bristol, March 2016
Hoax? The Bearpit, Bristol, March 2016

The two stencils here I would guess are by Hoax and Akarat. This piece I think was sprayed in mid-February 2016.

Akarat? The Bearpit, Bristol, March 2016
Akarat? The Bearpit, Bristol, March 2016

These stencils are exceptional. Get down to The Bearpit and check them out.

Hoax? Akarat? and DNT Stokes Croft, Bristol, March 2016
Hoax? Akarat? and DNT Stokes Croft, Bristol, March 2016

The stencil of the child with the gun also has recently (March 3 2016) appeared in Stokes Croft at number 37.

8/10