I haven’t posted much from JPS for a long while, because I haven’t seen any of his recent work, and he doesn’t seem to come to Bristol as much as he used to. I owe my interest in street art to this artist thanks to a small piece near my work in Frogmore Street which he had just restored.
JPS, the Tropicana, Weston-super-Mare, August 2016
This old one in the Tropicana entrance area is a multi-layered stencil of Cain from Robocop. It showcases just how brilliant JPS is at creating these large highly detailed stencils. The broom next to it gives an indication of scale. I am in love with this man’s work.
Going back a little while to the summer of 2016, I managed to find a few moments to hunt down some street art while on a day trip to Weston-super-Mare with the family. I spent a little time in the Tropicana and snapped this nice work by Nol and Edo Rath who paint together as Noodle inc.
Nol and Edo Rath, the Tropicana, Weston-super-Mare, August 2016
The bold colours, clean lines and humorous monsters are typical of their work, which shares some similarities with Buff Monster. After taking this picture, I have since become more familiar with their work and with Nol in particular through Upfest. Always a pleasure to see their creations.
My trip to Weston-super-Mare last summer was a bit of a treat for me. I managed to grab 20 minutes away from the family who wanted to sit on the beach and eat ice creams, and decided to take a little peek in the Tropicana. The small anteroom, it turns out, is something of a museum honouring JPS and PZY. I’m not so sure how this came about, but there is a lot of their work there.
JPS, Tropicana, Weston-super-Mare, August 2016
This is one of the smaller stencils, highlighting the lateral thinking that JPS often applies to his smaller pieces. A small hole in the wall becomes an object for lifting by two fork lift trucks. It is a witty and fun piece, which offsets some of his darker themes. More to come from this treasure trove.
Even if you haven’t seen the film series – ‘A Nightmare on Elm Street‘ you will almost certainly have seen representations or images of Freddy Krueger, the villain of the piece. If you haven’t, then here he is in all his nightmarish glory. This is a magnificent stencil piece by JPS (who else), that faithfully conveys the Krueger character.
JPS, Tropicana, Weston-super-Mare, August 2016I have written a lot about JPS and how much I admire his work, and it is when you get up close to pieces like this that you really appreciate his incredible skill. His love for the entertainment industry and the characters it creates provides him with plenty of material.
JPS, Tropicana, Weston-super-Mare, August 2016JPS seems to enjoy the horror, sci-fi and adventure genres as well as straying occasionally into cartoon characters. I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again…JPS is pretty much responsible for me writing about street art in the first place, so he is in my view, a bit of a hero, an inspiration.
Tucked away on the left hand side of the Tropicana as you enter, is this wonderful stencil of the Weird Girl (Cynthia) from the Tim Burton film Frankenweenie. It is a beautiful piece by the talented German artist PZY.
PZY, Tropicana, Weston-super-Mare, August 2016
Her work bears many similarities to the work of JPS, and perhaps it should come as no surprise that they are partners. Quite a lot of stencils by both of them are to be found at the Tropicana.
PZY, Tropicana, Weston-super-Mare, August 2016
I really love this piece. It has such character, weirdness and a tiny bit of menace. You can find more of her fabulous work on her Facebook page which is worth a look.
A recent trip to W-s-M resulted in seeing much more street art than I had prepared myself for. I knew I would find a few stencils by local artist JPS, but wasn’t too sure what else I might find.
Osch, the Tropicana, Weston-super-Mare, August 2016
The Tropicana was the site of Banksy’s Dismaland last year, and this year the venue hosted the Hazy Days festival, which looks likely to be repeated and expanded for 2017. At the Hazy Days festival this year, several artists, including Dan Kitchener, My Dog Sighs and Osch gathered at the Tropicana and created some wonderful works. This is the piece by Osch, and shows a rather different style to the one in my previous post.
Osch, the Tropicana, Weston-super-Mare, August 2016
Osch is a highly accomplished artist with an incredibly distinct style. Plenty more of his works will feature in this blog before long.
The last thing I was expecting to see on a day out in W-s-M was a large Dan Kitchener piece.I don’t know how this can have passed me by. It would appear that he was creating this piece a week or two before Upfest 2016 at the Hazy Days Music & Arts Festival.
Dan Kitchener, Tropicana, Weston-super-Mare, August 2016
The following quote from Kitchener’s Instagram feed gives some background to the fabulous mural:
“‘Metropolis’ – Here’s my finished mural from Hazy Days Music & Arts Festival in Weston Super Mare, an amazing event, amazing organisation and a lovely place by the sea! I love being able to paint my more fantasy style illustrations on walls, and this future geisha assassin, looking out over the future Tokyo metropolis was an image I have had for a while and was waiting for the right wall and time to paint it! The geisha is based on my shoots with Ayumi LaNoire. The wall was all freehand spray paint, as usual! No projections or tracing, or stencils, just pure freehand”
Dan Kitchener, Tropicana, Weston-super-Mare, August 2016
Yet another wonderful surprise for me, and a glimpse at the extraordinary talents of Dan Kitchener. The images he creates are so full of atmosphere and narrative. I am always reminded of ‘Blade Runner’ when I see his works.
On my recent day-trip to Weston-super-Mare, I felt compelled to visit the Tropicana, site of Banksy’s very successful Dismaland. I never made it to the exhibition, which I deeply regret, but read a great many posts and blogs about it and felt quite well acquainted with many of the exhibits. The site now plays host to a temporary fairground, with open entry, so I decided to take a look around. Ironically it all felt rather more dismal than it might have been during the exhibition.
My Dog Sighs, Tropicana, Weston-super-Mare, August 2016
Going in through the entrance lobby, there are several stencils by JPS, Fawn and Pzy, which I will get round to posting soon. Once into the main area, there were several larger murals on the left hand side walls. Unfortunately these were rather obscured by heavy fairground wagons and equipment. Undeterred, I found a way round the back and snapped away. This is a beautiful piece by the excellent My Dog Sighs, and so utterly unmistakable.
My Dog Sighs, Tropicana, Weston-super-Mare, August 2016
The photographs were tricky to take, because I couldn’t get any real distance from the piece. It didn’t matter though. This was another great extra surprise, because I didn’t know there was going to be anything here at all. It all comes down to wandering around, being curious and looking. I got my rewards.
Natural adventures 