Welcome to the wild and wonderful world of Tom Miller, Bristol artist. A gallery.
All photographs taken by Scooj
Tom Miller
Tag: Tom Miller
2122. The Nova Scotia
Anyone who can tell me what is going on here (other than the artist himself) deserves a medal, because it is wild and complex. Tom Miller has an exquisite touch and fertile imagination, a potent combination for creating vibrant and sometimes provocative street art.
Tom Miller left this piece unfinished for quite some time with a little note in the bottom right hand corner saying ‘work in progress’, but I have to say that the only difference I can make out between the unfinished and finished version is his signature.
The piece is in two very distinct and contrasting halves. On the left are several faces looking a bit like masks and typically distorted in a surreal way that Tom Miller does so well.
On the right hand side are two large intertwined and rather frightening dog heads and just above them a series of smaller ones. There is real threat and menace here which seems to be at odds with the unsuspecting mask faces to the left. A truly dream-like or even nightmarish piece from Tom Miller, executed with enormous skill.
2079. Jessop Underpass (2)
There is one artist in Bristol whose work is guaranteed to bring a splash of colour and an interesting perspective and that is Tom Miller. This piece has appeared recently opposite the Riverside Garden Centre and is a bit of a stunner.
There is a bicycle theme on the left hand side which is full of movement and which appears to metamorphosise into a fairly typical abstract explosion of colour and form the further to the right of the piece you look.
The transition is worked so skilfully and perhaps exaggerated by splitting the piece up into three sections (I had to do this because the fence where it is painted is so long.
Ever since I first saw my first Tom Miller piece I have marvelled at his extraordinary talent and how he has brought his unique brand of surreal fine art into the street. In my view an artistic genius.
1668. Upfest 2018 (19)
I realise that this piece was not an official Upfest piece, but I don’t really care about that, because it is by one of Bristol’s finest artists, Tom Miller, and was painted in Dean Lane during the Festival – it counts in my book.
I managed to hook up with Tom Miller a couple of times over the festival, indeed we cowered from a heavy rainshower together on the Saturday morning under one of the skate park ramps.
Yet again, Tom Miller has absolutely ‘nailed it’ as he seems to do with every piece he creates. I only wish that my photography was up to the standard that he sets with his murals.
It is often difficult to fathom out what exactly is going on in Miller’s pieces and indeed, I think it is often open to interpretation – maybe only the artist really knows what this piece is about, but it incorporates all of his surrealist elements and the bright colours he uses. What is incredible about Tom Miller is that he seems to be just as adept with spray cans on walls as he is with paint brushes in the studio, and the end results are always unmistakably Miller pieces. Bravo two times over – I love this piece.
1554. Dean Lane skate park (136)
It is simply not, not possible (thank you Manja Mexi Movie) to admire the bravery and talent in the work of Tom Miller. This transformation of a container that is more used to hosting quick burners is quite remarkable. Sadly, it has since reverted, but for a few fleeting moments class had arrived in this Dean Lane spot.
Unfortunately I arrived a little too early to see this piece completed – there is a little footnote in the bottom right saying ‘Back 2moro’. I think it was almost completed, but when I returned only a few days later it had been over-sprayed. It is part of the game, and all artists know the score, but there is something disrespectfully self-destructive about writing over good art I feel.
Tom Miller confounds with his surreal explosiveness, connecting a dream world with a tangible one. The colours he has used and the overall effect is like nothing else I have ever seen in Dean Lane. I do like it when highly competent and trained artists take to the streets, it adds to the incredible diversity of free art. Bravo! Tom Miller.
1437. The Bearpit (133)
I believe this to be the best piece I have seen this year, and one of the best that the artist, Tom Miller, has produced to date. This classy work was painted for a Spring paint jam on 14 April 2018 and dominates all around it.
This most most eye-catching and vibrant of pieces, illuminates the tunnel and brings a touch of fine art to the people who pass through it. So typical of Miller’s work, there is a face, disfigured and distorted by colour stretching out of it. A scene of serenity and torture compressed into one space. His surreal and dream-like pieces never cease to amaze me, but this one really trumps the rest.
Tom Miller has been busy this Spring, a trend which I hope spans into the summer and beyond. This piece is so good.
1423. Stokes Croft, the Carriageworks (37)
You can’t turn your back for one minute in Stokes Croft. If you do, you run the risk of missing out on a clean piece of artwork. This wonderful surreal piece by Tom Miller had only been up a day or two before being tagged over. I find it strange that the perpetraters respected the work enough to tag the black surround, but left the central part largely untouched. Either respect the piece or don’t, but this faux politeness is a joke.
Once again Tom Miller challenges our conventional world with a burst of colour and a figure whose head appears to be exploding off its body. I think that Miller has an unbelievable talent and extraordinary imagination. Best of all, I like it that he uses the streets as a gallery so that Bristol citizens have free access to his talents.
Although his subject matter might not be to everyone’s taste, it is clear that we are witnessing the emergence and development of a very special talent.
1393. The Bearpit (127)
Although I am confident this is a Tom Miller piece, with his trademark explosion of swirling colours, it is not signed, and so there is that tiny little nagging doubt about it. However, since nobody else in Bristol paints like this, I will attribute it to him anyway.
I’m not sure if it is still there or not, it has been a week or two since I did any street art hunting in Bristol, but most of his recent stuff has been tagged and oversprayed unnecessarily quickly, which is pretty annoying really.
In this piece, a motif he uses a lot, a heart, is surrounded by a chaos of colour. A nice piece.
1329. Stokes Croft, the Carriageworks (34)
It has been a while but it is always worth waiting for any works by Tom Miller. Tom is a hugely talented fine artist who creates wonderful and sometimes slightly disturbing surreal pieces, often involving distorted body parts.
This piece is located in one of Miller’s favourite spots and catches the eye of passing pedestrians and motorists, more than other work here. His artwork is very different and really stands out – we are lucky to see gallery quality paintings on the street.
There is a lot of symbolism in this piece…a hand instead of a face clutching a heart from which an arm is extending clutching another heart. So many ideas and bits of detail to marvel at, and all set on a background of light shades, shapes and colours. I love this piece and admire the artist hugely.
Sadly, nothing lasts forever, and the piece only lasted about a week before it was sprayed over by what looks like a thelocknessmonster piece. I know which I’d rather have hanging up at home.
935. Stokes Croft, the Carriageworks (26)
Anyone that reads my posts regularly will know that over the last couple of years or so I have been closely following the progress of Tom Miller. A young art student who I believe has recently graduated from UWE in Bristol. He recently held a successful exhibition entitled ‘Paracosm’ at the It’s All 2 Much gallery in Stokes Croft.
I was driving home not long ago and spotted Tom at work on one of the arches, so I pulled over, and chatted with him while he was taking a break and eating his lunch. He is genuinely such a nice guy and utterly modest about his work. It is great in Bristol that we have quite a few fine artists who cross over into street art, widening the spectrum of what we are fortunate enough to see.
I am not sure if this piece has a name, but it is characteristically effervescent with ideas and thoughts merging with the human body…where physical meets metaphysical in art form.
Nothing demonstrates this meeting of worlds better than a close up of the character’s ‘head’. Needless to say I am a huge admirer of his work, and look forward to his next piece. It is to his credit and the respect in which he is held, that this piece has remained untagged and in pristine condition for at least a fortnight…a rarity in these parts.
Natural adventures 