Walked to work today
then remembered the car’s booked
for its MOT.
by Scooj
Tag: UK
230. Warden Road
One of the true pleasures of photographing street art is finding some of subtle hidden pieces that are out there, but are often overlooked. 23 Magpies specialises in wildlife wheatpastes, often stuck in such ordinary places that if you blink you miss them.
This lovely work of a crow on sheet music is pasted onto a utility box, much as the chameleon was not far up the road on Dean Lane. I don’t know how long this has been here, but I only noticed it last week.
I am very fond of these pasteups, they feel like my own little treasures. If you look carefully you can see one of Andy Council’s pieces in the background.
229. Stokes Croft, the Carriageworks (11)
This is the second part of my marvelous Monday discovery. This is a piece by Bruno Smoky who is the husband of Shalak Attack and member of the Clandestinos Crew. I understand from his Instagram feed that Inkie was their host/guide over the weekend in Bristol, and who better to show them the best walls. I love the way the graffiti world hangs together.
This house on fire is a really breathtaking piece, and with the Shalak Attack work in the adjacent archway, the pair have really set the bar very high for the Carriageworks space. I hope the taggers stay clear and respect our visitors’ work. I like his nod to Buzz in the top left corner – respecting a little of our local thing.
Bruno Smoky grew up in Brasilandia, a neighbourhood in Sao Paolo, Brazil. He is now internationally recognised and has created works all over the world. I love this quote, lifted from his website:
“I do not neglect my roots, my greatest pleasure is to paint in communities, bringing art and culture to otherwise forgotten and precarious neighborhoods. I use Graffiti in the context of creating a space to exhibit my art to society, my themes are full of colors and forms of protest … ”
I feel genuinely privileged that they visited and painted in Bristol outside of any kind of art festival, such as Upfest.
Spring rain
After heavy rain
the smell, that wonderful smell
rises from the earth.
by Scooj
228. Devon Road (3)
I’m still excited by Devon Road. This is an exceptional piece by the brilliant Sepr. Typical of his pieces, it is in shades of gray and features a musician, in this case a guitarist.
The mustachioed character has a continental look about him and there is something rather peaceful about the work. I can almost hear the music.
I think it is fairly obvious, but I am a big fan of Sepr’s work and to find this near-perfect mural in Devon Road made me very happy indeed. Imagine my surprise when I came upon another one just around the corner. More on that one soon.
227. The Bearpit (15)
Back in April, there was a massive explosion of new pieces appearing in the tunnels of The Bearpit. This beautiful piece by Beastie, I believe, only happened because he was hanging out with some other artists and decided at the last minute to join in.
As is often the case at the moment, you have to be very quick to get ‘clean’ photographs of anything in the Bristol hotspots. By the time I got to this one, it was already quite heavily tagged. It is a really lovely work, Beastie is a very talented artist. Sadly, his cat in Hillgrove street has recently been defaced, which is a real shame, it is one of my favourite pieces in Bristol.
Interview
Opportunity
to show them why I am the
right one for the job.
by Scooj
226. Stokes Croft, the Carriageworks (10)
Every now and then, life throws wonderful surprises at you. On such days it is hard to contain one’s joy and enthusiasm. I am having one of those ‘red letter days’ that my grandmother used to talk about.
My walk to work on a Monday via Stokes Croft always gives me a bit of a thrill, because the graffiti artists tend to spray over the weekend, especially when the weather is nice, and many walls in the area get a facelift. This morning I was greeted with a double surprise on the archways of the Carriageworks. Two spanking new, clean pieces by internationally famous artists.
This husband and wife team come under the combined name of the ‘Clandestinos Collective’ and are ‘Shalak Attack’ and ‘Bruno Smoky’. This stunning colourful portrait is by Shalak Attack and is one of the most beautiful pieces I have seen in Stokes Croft.
Shalak Attack, Clandestinos Collective, Stokes Croft, Bristol, 9 May 2016
Shalak Attack, Clandestinos Collective, Stokes Croft, Bristol, 9 May 2016
Shalak Attack is a Canadian-Chilean artist who has been spraying urban murals across the world for over a decade. She and her husband are currently in the UK (London) with an exhibition ‘In the Raw’ of their work. What I love about this piece is that of all the places in the UK that they might have gone for the weekend, they chose Bristol and Stokes Croft…getting in some recreational spraying. How cool is that? I will post the second half of this happy event very soon.
225. Stokes Croft, Snug Bar (1)
I am often left wondering how street artists manage to do pieces which can only be accessed from a roof. Do they have permission? Do they jump up a ladder? Do they find some other way to get up? I guess it depends. Anyhow, this appeared a month of two back (I think) above a bar in Stokes Croft.
The piece is by Akarat and Hoax. I think that the birds on the left are by Akarat and the stencil is by Hoax. This is a tribute piece to Buzz, and you will see all the little Buzz words all around the piece.
I think I can also see a bit of a Mr Klue mural to the left. This is strange as it can’t really be seen from the road, but I suppose a wall is a wall. As we have come to expect from Akarat and Hoax, this piece is full of symbolism, but what it means…?
Waking up
Spring temperatures
soar, stirring dormant slow worms
from languid slumber.
by Scooj
Natural adventures 