Spanning two high cliffs
suspended in time and space
Brunel’s finest bridge.
by Scooj
Tag: UK
262. Dean Lane skate park (8)
Now I am back in the UK, after a wonderful trip across ‘the pond’, I can resume my posts on Bristol street art/graffiti (with maybe a couple of guest entries from New York).
This is a truly brilliant collaboration from a few weeks ago in Dean Lane between Zesk and Hemper. Zesk has appeared in these pages a couple of times, and his writing is becoming much more familiar, especially his choice of colours (purples and golds) combined with spheres. Hemper I haven’t come across before, which is a little surprising as he has been writing in Bristol since 2009. There is a lovely profile on Hemper here – from the great ‘Weapon of Choice‘ website.
This collaboration was a bit of fun, and I think was sprayed at the same time as the recent Inkie piece. You will notice that a writer – Suger – has made an appearance. His improving burners are turning up all over the place in Bristol.
Now back to the streets, where I have already noticed a whole bunch of new stuff has gone up while I have been away.
England
Farewell New England;
old England awaits, flights booked
we’re on our way home.
by Scooj
261. The Bearpit (19)
19When it comes to Deamze pieces, we have come to expect some complex and elaborate wildstyle work. It is not always the case though, and this is an example of a simpler style of piece that he produces from time to time.
More like a throw up (a rapidly produced and usually spontaneous work), this clean and simple piece demonstrates the full range of talent springing from the incredibly prolific Deamze. Bristol’s greatest writer?
260. Ashley Road (7)
I can keep this relatively short and sweet. The practice hoardings at the Stokes Croft end of Ashley Road tend to have one of the highest turnovers of graffiti art in Bristol. Because of this it is easy to miss new pieces before they are over-painted, but sometimes, if you get the timing right, you will see a beauty like this.
It is no secret that I am a big fan of Face F1st, and this is my favourite to date. I really love the the way that PWA (Pirate Wall Art) is incorporated into the hair decoration. The designs in the lettering are becoming more elaborate too.
It sounds patronising, and certainly isn’t meant to, but I find this piece really charming. Just beautiful.
259. North Street, Workout (2)
It recently occurred to me that I am going to have to work through my backlog of Upfest 2015 pieces, because it will not be too long before they get replaced during the 2016 extravaganza and appear a little out of date. July 23-25 will see an influx of 300 artists showing off their talent, and I have to say I can’t wait. Among them will be Louis Masai, a London based artist who is renowned for his beautiful animal works.
Louis Masai gained an art degree from Falmouth in Cornwall, and has been living in London since 2010. More about him from his own website. This is a beautiful picture of two macaws (I seem to have posted a lot of these lately) and a clear and simple message that they belong in the wild and not in cages. I can go with that. His work is outstanding and his presence in Bristol this year will be a real bonus.
New job
Euphoric comes close
to describing how I feel
this very moment.
by Scooj
So euphoric in fact that I goofed again on syllables…all better now.
258. Sydenham Lane
I believe The Krah is only an occasional visitor to Bristol, so I was surprised and rather pleased to find this small stencil on a door in Sydenham Lane. I was not looking for any street art, but simply taking a short cut…or different route down into Stokes Croft. This was my reward.
I wrote a short post about a lovely piece The Krah did in Leonard Lane, which was rather different in technique to this delightful stencil. Sometimes these small pieces can be the most pleasing, and they sit very neatly on the vast spectrum of all that Bristol street art has to offer. As with so many stencils, there is a sinister side to this girl – the grenade and machine gun remind us that we live in a violent and crazy world.
257. Dean Lane skate park (7)
To find an Inkie work is always a pleasure. To find one that is still fresh, and you can almost smell the paint is even better. This piece was obviously a bit of fun, because the walls here at Dean Land skate park are over painted pretty much weekly.
I have a feeling that a few artists came together to spray these walls together last weekend, because in addition to Inkie, Zesk and Hemper and Mr Draws had all sprayed pieces at the same time. I am finding out that quite often groups of artists will congregate and have graffiti fun together.
I still stand out as an observer of street art, because that is what I am. Very slowly I am learning a little bit more about the culture, the relationships, the taboos and the protocols of the graffiti community, but I will always be an outsider looking in. It is not a regret, but more of an observation. It also means that my naivety in this landscape is sometimes crushingly obvious.
I do this though because it gives me great pleasure.
Snooze
Forty winks snatched high
in the air, hidden from the
wreckless crowd below.
by Scooj
Natural adventures 