6175. M32 Cycle path (272)

Laic217, M32 Cycle path, Bristol, June 2024
Laic217, M32 Cycle path, Bristol, June 2024

This year, we haven’t really had to wait too long before being treated to a Laic217 piece on a reasonably regular basis, and this is one of his most recent works on the M32 cycle path. What Laic217 has presented us with here is a rather trippy, and slightly menacing (those black fingernails like talons) piece that plays into his penchant for face distortion.

Laic217, M32 Cycle path, Bristol, June 2024
Laic217, M32 Cycle path, Bristol, June 2024

Although the piece is nicely executed, I personally find it a little unsettling, which I am sure is the point. Laic217 will push the boundaries in a way that his art can. His solid, tight, block letters contrast really well with the unconventional character portrait. Not my favourite piece by Laic217, but a great example of the way he challenges us to see things.

6034. St Werburghs tunnel (425)

Laic217, St Werburghs, Bristol, April 2024
Laic217, St Werburghs, Bristol, April 2024

Ha ha! This outrageous portrait piece by Laic217 at the entrance to the tunnel just makes me laugh. It has all the hallmarks of his work, that takes the grotesque to a new level, softened by some superb paint craft (by which I mean tone and depth) and a brilliant background.

Laic217, St Werburghs, Bristol, April 2024
Laic217, St Werburghs, Bristol, April 2024

I wouldn’t ordinarily associate Laic217 with St Werburghs tunnel, but it is great to see him painting here. The distorted face features an enormous toothy mouth and protruding chin, but the character seems happy enough with it. Street artists often add an edge to portraits by omitting to include pupils in the eyes, which gives a bit of a sinister appearance, unsettling for the viewer. The material of the character’s clothes is as you’d expect perfectly painted, and the backdrop of blue smiley faces on a pick background, is suitably trippy. This is a great piece from Laic217.

3939. Moon Street (89)

This post contains two things I love about Bristol street art; Moon Street and Laic217. I think that Moon Street was central to my love for street and graffiti art, as it was on my walking route to work, along with The Bearpit. Both are, sadly, spots in decline. The Bearpit has been sanitised and painted with anti-graffiti paint, and Moon Street is on the edge of a huge gentrification development programme in the Stokes Croft area, and fewer artists visit these days, preferring other less disturbed spots.

Laic217, Moon Street, Bristol, August 2021
Laic217, Moon Street, Bristol, August 2021

This nice trippy skeleton piece is by Laic217, and I think I have said enough in previous posts about how much I enjoy his work. Three things stand out for me, the lovely folds in the hoodie material, the pink glasses and the smiley bucket hat. This piece couldn’t possibly be by anyone else.

3820. M32 Cycle path (135)

Laic217 – or old faithful as he should be called, has turned out yet another outstanding piece to add to his vast collection. Just to get a feel for his talent, it would be worth taking a quick look at this newly revised gallery to refresh your memory.

Laic217, M32 Cycle path, Bristol, July 2021
Laic217, M32 Cycle path, Bristol, July 2021

In this piece, we see Laic217 return to his trippy, psychedelic facial disruption theme, with doubling eyes vertically and mouth furnished with an additional row of teeth, not forgetting the duplication of smoking joints. I don’t think we have to look too far to understand where Laic217 gets his inspiration from.

Laic217, M32 Cycle path, Bristol, July 2021
Laic217, M32 Cycle path, Bristol, July 2021

The character looks a little worse for wear, his bloodshot eyes adding to the overall look, and the pink gunge dripping from his bucket hat rather neatly spells out Laic217 before settling on his shoulder. For Laic217 connoisseurs, this is a gem.

3570. L Dub (25)

This is a very special piece from Laic217 because it takes us back to a hallucinogenic theme explored by the artist a few years ago, and I haven’t seen one of these distorted faces in a long while.

Laic217, L Dub, Bristol, March 2021
Laic217, L Dub, Bristol, March 2021

This is classic Laic217 at his best… a character and the letters LAIC, but how his work has come on over the last few years. He takes a lot of care with his work and his finessing makes a significant contribution to some brilliant technical work. Here, the double-faced character is spraying the letters, an idea used several times in his work.

Laic217, L Dub, Bristol, March 2021
Laic217, L Dub, Bristol, March 2021

The face has two perspectives looking in slightly different directions, but cleverly, each face seems to work independently. The mouth is large and shared by each face. Confusing and unsettling, this is a challenging work. Nice to see the bucket hat and smiley making a return too. Wonderful trippy work from Laic217.

2111. Upfest 2018 (138)

I have always had a soft spot for Loch Ness’ work, but even more so since he gave me my first spray painting lesson last May. This rather trippy piece the pub garden of the Steam Crane is bright, colourful and slightly peculiar.

Loch Ness, Upfest, Bristol, July 2018
Loch Ness, Upfest, Bristol, July 2018

I must have taken the picture after Upfest itself as during the festival this garden is absolutely heaving and taking clean shots of this wall is near impossible. The piece features a kind of skeleton on its side, although I actually think that the wall is on its side, because the drips go from left to right. In order to see the piece as it really is, I have turned the photograph 90 degrees and hey presto! you can see it much more clearly.

Loch Ness, Upfest, Bristol, July 2018
Loch Ness, Upfest, Bristol, July 2018

Always great to see work from Loch Ness.