Life’s about to change
so batton down the hatches;
puppy comes today.
by Scooj
Tag: UK
Happy Christmas
.
A happy Christmas
to all who celebrate it
and to those who don’t.
.
by Scooj
1201. Upfest 2017 (111)
One of the real pleasures of Upfest is the way in which it brings together artists from all different disciplines and from all over the world giving us the opportunity to witness the huge spectrum of talent. Side by side we have graffiti writers and fine artists and graphic designers and illustrators equally respected and admired.
This is a beautiful piece from Cai Burton who is an illustrator and designer and is based in Bristol. You can see more about him and his work on his excellent website. Owls seem to work very well in street art – I’m not sure why, but they crop up reasonably frequently. Note to self – do an Owl special. This was a popular piece at the festival.
A farewell
Thumping heart
be silent a while
let me breath
I must see
her countenance one last time
before all is lost
by Scooj
1200. M32 roundabout J3 (57)
‘Trick of the eye’ – this is a magnificent piece by one of my favourite Bristol artists, Sled One. In this one piece he has created an extraordinary fantasy world and constructed a brilliant piece of wildstyle writing into the mix as well.
The writing says ‘eye’, which is clever enough on its own, but it is the remarkable hand (protruding from the iris of the eye) pulling a rabbit from a magician’s top hat, hence the titlwe of the piece.
In my view, the magician of the piece is Sled One. He really is an extraordinary talent and creates these ‘stories’ like no other artist I have seen. While his story telling is great, it is the beautifully crafted characters that make these pieces. His imagination is allowed to run wild and he produces these surreal cartoon style creatures which are so full of interesting detail and demand to be studied.
This is an absolutely stunning piece of graffiti art that would hold its own on any wall anywhere in the world.
1199. Backfields Lane (3)
I think this is the largest Decay piece I have seen, and I like it. Going large suits his work in my view. When I first saw this wall, there was a large white van obscuring the bottom half, and I was rather fed up. But by the next time I visited, the car park was empty and I got a good unobstructed view.
Decay has taken to adding some philosophical text next to his pieces recently, and I think mit works quite well. Here he says ‘living in the days of ill soul’ and I kind of get what he’s talking about.
He has worked hard to make it look like the piece is emerging from a hole in the wall and I think to a greater extent it works. On seeing a previous piece by the artist, my wife rather spoiled things by pointing out a phallic undertone…which I hadn’t noticed. Now when I see his pieces I kind of see it again, and especially in this piece. I am not sure if it is deliberate or accidental, but it is difficult to ignore once it has been pointed out. Sorry.
A great piece from Decay.
1198. Stokes Croft
This part of Stokes Croft is quite a difficult area to set up a business, especially in the food sector. There are already quite a lot of cafés and restaurants which cater mostly to the Bohemian set from Montpelier. This particular restaurant ‘Meat Liquor’ was targeted more at the young student market, but I understand it had to close after less than two years, due to incidents in the area and in the restaurant. The area has the highest incidence of drug dealing in Bristol and maybe the closure was connected to that. Anyhow, the hoardings have gone up, and not long after that the graffiti art arrives.
This, I believe, is a collaboration between Ryder and Aspire (the bird man) who must have been visiting from London where he now lives. The writing says Ryder and the bird I think is a turkey, so this must be a festive piece. I looks a little like it might have been done reasonably quickly, but it certainly adds colour and vibrancy to the hoarding.
1197. City Road (5)
It is always worth taking a look in places that you don’t go to too often, just to check if there is anything new. Well I hadn’t been to this spot for a long time, I know not since before the end of July, because this piece is by Dabuten Tronko, who visited Bristol for Upfest 2017.
It is an interesting piece and picks up the theme of his other boats that he sprayed where the A38 meets The Bearpit roundabout. This is a curious piece of writing set on a red and grey background and picking out a rowing boat within the letters. I am not sure what the word says, if it says anything at all. I like making discoveries like this.
Antiperspirant
.
Unbelievable!
girl on the train applies mist
to her whole body
under and over her clothes;
the smell of it lingers on.
.
by Scooj
Critic
Unremarkable
devoid of any talent;
I’ll write about it.
by Scooj
Natural adventures 