A gallery of naïve art pieces from a while ago that decorated Bristol streets by J. Dior (Diore).
All photographs by Scooj
J. Dior
Tag: Urban
7119. Boiling Wells Lane (4)
This was a bit of a find, and is a collaboration between Posh and Noise, not a pairing that I would necessarily have expected, but welcome nonetheless. Tucked away in a tunnel that is infrequently painted, but has recently come alive, this is a collaboration that won’t get as much exposure as it certainly deserves.
Noise has painted some of his chunky letters with superbly worked horizontal fills and a rather nice midline in pink, which helps to add depth and interest. The ‘O’ of NOISE has been commandeered by Posh and brings together two very different styles.
Posh has upped his game this year significantly and either works on his own, or in collaborations or augments other artist’s work, demonstrating his versatility. He has framed his little yellow posh characters within the boundary of the ‘O’, and created quite a scene, which seems to include a skateboarding kangaroo? A really unusual and fun collaboration.
7118. Greenbank (164)
Conrico has been knocking out some outstanding pieces this year, and continues on that journey with this belter, painted as part of the Bristol Mural Collective paint jam in support of the people of Palestine.
This is a vibrant piece which mixes up Conrico’s themes. The wonderful landscape, and small house are inspired by Japanese culture, into which he has incorporated a Palestinian flag and a woman wearing a keffiyeh scarf. The dramatic sunset sky complements the piece perfectly.
7117. Dean Lane skate park (859)
After quite a long fallow period, Awkward has popped up once again, spurred on by Benjimagnetic, it would appear. His character pieces are so distinct and have a slightly sinister quality to them, with crazy big eyes, a skeletal nose and zigzag line mouth.
The blue-faced character looks like he is wearing a Cheech Wizard hat, the character created by underground comic artist Vaughn Bode, and firm favourite with graffiti artists. The speech bubble contains the word Awkward and performs the role of signature for the piece, as if a signature is needed for Awkward’s work. A lovely piece.
7116. St Werburghs tunnel (524)
This is another fabulous collaboration from Hypo and Minto, who seem to team up reasonably regularly and clearly enjoy painting together. The little tag – ‘Hypo Minto combo’ captures the friendship really well.
Hypo has smashed it with his writing. The colours are magnificent and transition through the piece with grace and style. The shading, and in particular the white highlights, help the piece to pop and create a superb 3D effect. Truly outstanding. Alongside the letters, Minto has painted a contrasting greyscale character portrait, and a tribute to Dave I guess. The combination piece just works – a classy collaboration.
7115. River Avon (90)
There is something very charming about the stylised skeleton characters painted by Squarms. They are nicely designed and consistently presented, so that it is clear and obvious that they all belong to the Squarm stable. His work feels like that of a graphic designer taking his ideas to the street.
These two small pieces are so much more than quick throw ups. The grey background has been prepared nicely so that the skulls stand out with their soft pink and light grey drop shadows. Accomplished designs presented really well by Squarms.
7114. Greenbank (163)
I have mentioned many times before on Natural Adventures how much I love the way street artists capture the moment or the mood of the city or country as a whole. In saying that, I would reflect that most, not all, street artists are aligned with progressive or left leaning sympathies. It is rare to see right-wing or fascist street art that evolves beyond slogan tags. This potent piece by Zoe Power is one of many painted during a paint jam organised by the Bristol Mural Collective up a Greenbank a couple of weeks ago.
Zoe Power has kept her message and artwork simple and unambiguous. The captivating piece features two faces looking at one another with tears, symbolising sadness and tragedy, painted in the colours of the Palestinian flag, with the words ‘Boycott Apartheid’ book ending the work. Who, in their right mind, could support the slaughter of innocent civilians on such a mass scale? Has the Israeli leadership learned nothing about attempted eradication of a people? Zoe Power and her collaborators are keeping the tragedy unfolding in front of our eyes out there and protesting through their art.
7113. St Werburghs Tunnel (523)
Inkie is back in town and has been painting a little. This is a rather nice little piece of classic Art Nouveau/funky graffiti writing, and what makes it a little unusual is that he appears to have painted it alone.
when you see a quick piece like this, you know just by looking at it that you are in safe hands and looking at the work of a master craftsman. The red fills of the letters are brought to life with the application of a thin white border. Classy.
7112. Boiling Wells Lane (3)
The tunnel, under the railway, at Boiling Wells Lane is usually pretty useless for graffiti, more commonly used for throw ups and tagging than serious artworks, but some new pieces from Hemper and friends have rather upgraded this spot, and I wonder if it will encourage others to paint there a little more.
Hemper has arisen from his mini-slumber for the last month or so and started producing these slimline ‘Hems’ pieces of which this is an absolute cracker. The black and white letters, portraying local scenes of trains and caravans, and full of mischievous characters, contrast superbly with the quilt-like patchwork of colourful patterns surrounding the piece. This is masterful work from one of the very best writers in the country.
7111. River Avon (89)
I have a great many pieces by Bags in my archives, but have only posted a fraction of them. I keep meaning to post more from this stalwart of the No Frills crew, but somehow never seem to do it. This is a recent piece, one of several, in which he has played with bilaterally splitting his letters into two colour sections, with the BA in one colour and the GS in another.
He has painted so many of these, that his letters must come very easily, and he tends to keep the general shape of his letters consistent from piece to piece. The dark blue and red colours work well, and I rather like the half-and-half appearance. I’ll try to post more of his pieces in the future.
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