Tag: Urban

2091. M32 roundabout J3 (132)

There is no getting away from the fact that Smak is a brilliant graffiti artist and character street artist. He is also going through what I would call a productive and creative phase. This lovely piece of graff writing is on one of the walls at the M32 roundabout which seems to have quite a high turnover at the moment.

Smak, M32 roundabout, Bristol, March 2019
Smak, M32 roundabout, Bristol, March 2019

The colour selection set on a black background is superb, and the little yellow flashes make the piece stand out just that little bit more. It’s amazing what these guys can do with a spray can.

Thursday doors

Doors 64

Well I’m back from my short holiday in the French Alps, and have a few doors from there to share with you, but probably in a week or two. This week I am going to share five Bristol doors from alms houses and public houses… both rich veins to tap when searching for some door action.

Seeing these doors, which I consider to be fairly ordinary, as I publish them makes me realise that it is all too easy to take things for granted – one or two of them are crackers.

Enjoy…

Pub door (but not the main entrance), Bristol, March 2019
Pub door (but not the main entrance), Bristol, March 2019
Pub door, Bristol, March 2019
Pub door, Bristol, March 2019
Pub door, Bristol, March 2019
Pub door, Bristol, March 2019
Alms house door, Bristol, March 2019
Alms house door, Bristol, March 2019

Many more doors to be admired by following the links at the end of the brilliant Norm 2.0 blog: Thursday Doors – Norm 2.0

Until next time,

Scooj.

 

2090. Queen Charlotte Street (1)

The rewards for wandering around without a plan can be enormous, and after a long while of knowing about this piece I eventually found it quite by accident when I decided to walk down a street I rarely visit.

Tim Marsh, Queen Charlotte Street, Bristol, March 2019
Tim Marsh, Queen Charlotte Street, Bristol, March 2019

It is by the magnificent Tim Marsh, who I think lives in Barcelona, and who was a visitor to Upfest 2018. As with many artists who come to Bristol for the festival, Tim Marsh gave the city with this little ‘present’, and very kind of him to do so too. This piece looks like it might be the Queen wearing a kind of colourful Banksy mask… it could of course be something else completely. Typical of his work are the colourful geometric patterns that fill the space around his subjects. Thank you Tim.

2089. Hotwell Road (2)

Life is so full of surprises, and this piece by Silent Hobo rounded off a fantastic walk around Bristol during which I found several artworks completely new to me. The piece is tucked away on the side of a shop, and easily missed if you approach it from the wrong direction without looking back.

Silent Hobo, Hotwell Road, Bristol, March 2019
Silent Hobo, Hotwell Road, Bristol, March 2019

In this piece we see a fabulous blend of urban landscape in the form of the M32 and nature trying to get a grip from the ground upwards. The beautiful girl seems to be caught in the middle of the natural world and development… something of a conundrum for us all.

Silent Hobo, Hotwell Road, Bristol, March 2019
Silent Hobo, Hotwell Road, Bristol, March 2019

I love the work of Silent Hobo, particularly his characters who seem to have so much soul and mystery about them. This is a magnificent and somewhat unexpected piece.

2088. Moon Street (62)

It is not often that you see a piece of work bombed by the artist who originated it, but here we have just such an example from Rezwonk. The original piece in Moon Street survived intact for quite a while before it got a bit tagged, but it seems that Rezwonk decided to go the whole hog with this throw up.

Rezwonk, Moon Street, Bristol, March 2019
Rezwonk, Moon Street, Bristol, March 2019

It would appear that Rezwonk has quite a spectrum of styles in his work from tags, which are dotted all around Bristol, to characters, such as his big bird, to burners like these to high-end graphic design pieces. A versatile artist.

Rezwonk, The Bearpit, Bristol, March 2019
Rezwonk, The Bearpit, Bristol, March 2019

I have seen this particular ‘REZER’ burner in a number of places including The Bearpit. I think that Rezwonk must have goner on a bit of a spree. All good.

2087. Dean Lane skate park (200)

Regular readers will know how excited I get when visiting artists leave behind a little gift for us to enjoy, and so I thought it fitting to write my 200th Dean Lane post about Italian artist Filippo Mozone.

Mozone, Dean Lane, Bristol, March 2019
Mozone, Dean Lane, Bristol, March 2019

The piece is so obviously not in the style of any of the Bristol artists I am aware of and for this reason was a real curiosity. The character appears to be painted in the manga style and has a sketch-like quality to it. The large eyes remind me of ‘Marine Boy’ a cartoon I loved as a child. I am quite pleased with myself spotting the Japanese link, because I have just read in Mozone’s website biography that he was ‘was dazzled by Japanese cartoons in the 80’s and graffiti in the early 90’s‘.

Mozone, Dean Lane, Bristol, March 2019
Mozone, Dean Lane, Bristol, March 2019

This piece was a lovely surprise (and I like surprises) and is one of my favourite pieces of the year so far.

2086. St Werburghs tunnel (69)

I cannot think of a period in the four or so years that I have been writing about Bristol street art where there have been so many ‘new’ entrants into the painting scene. One such artist is Diced Mango who once on my radar only a few months ago is now producing pieces on a regular basis in several spots around the city.

Diced Mango, St Werburghs, Bristol, February 2019
Diced Mango, St Werburghs, Bristol, February 2019

This recent piece in St Werburghs tunnel combines a character with writing, a format common amongst graffiti writers. The portrait is naively drawn with Diced Mango’s trademark coloured ‘string’ hair.

Diced Mango, St Werburghs, Bristol, February 2019
Diced Mango, St Werburghs, Bristol, February 2019

The writing in gold is in a rather nice organic form. I think there is a lot more to come from this artist and I am looking forward to seeing how his work develops over the coming months and years.

2085. Brunel Way Bridge (12)

I have a feeling that this wonderful collaboration by 3Dom and Epok has been here for a little while, but it is a spot I visit infrequently and so cannot be sure. The wall, underneath Brunel Way is one which I find particularly difficult to photograph, due to the light reflections that encroach from the sides.

3Dom, Brunel Way Bridge, Bristol, March 2019
3Dom, Brunel Way Bridge, Bristol, March 2019

On the left is a rather large fly by 3Dom with an urban/industrial landscape on its back. The wings are beautifully crafted and the whole insect nicely proportioned…quite what the story is I am not sure.

Epok, Brunel Way Bridge, Bristol, March 2019
Epok, Brunel Way Bridge, Bristol, March 2019

The right hand side of the collaboration is a piece of graffiti writing from Epok. I never get tired of his beautifully designed asymmetric writing that seems to combine  graphic design and street art so perfectly. This is a fine collaboration from this ASK duo.

2084. Stokes Croft, Turbo Island (4)

Yet another amazing surprise from a week or two back walking on my way to work was this magnificent collaboration by DNT and Hazard. Previously this wall had hosted a fine collaboration by Soap, Hazard and Tasha Bee.

Hazard and DNT, Stokes Croft, Bristol, March 2019
Hazard and DNT, Stokes Croft, Bristol, March 2019

I haven’t seen any animals by Hazard before, only pictures of people’s faces, so this was definitely a lovely new insight for me. The Tiger’s face is brilliantly painted using as spectrum of white through to black spray paints, and it works perfectly on this wall.

Hazard and DNT, Stokes Croft, Bristol, March 2019
Hazard and DNT, Stokes Croft, Bristol, March 2019

The whole piece is brightened up with colourful writing by DNT on then left and Hazard on the right. The only thing I am n ot certain about here is whether Hazard’s name was by her or DNT. If it was by Hazard, then this is another first for me. Turbo Island is becoming a really great spot once again thanks to the efforts of PRSC and others who are working hard to make use of this wall.

2083. St Werburghs tunnel (68)

Well what a lovely surprise from a few days ago. I took a quick trip to St Werburghs tunnel and right next to one of the Fiva (Fiver) pieces was this fabulous Robot face by Snub23.

Snub23, St Werburghs, Bristol, March 2019
Snub23, St Werburghs, Bristol, March 2019

I have only known Snub23 to come to Bristol for Upfest, so it was extra special to find a piece here at this time of year. Snub23 adopts two instantly recognisable styles… this one of cartoon-style robots and sci-fi scenes and his geometric patterning which is similar to the work of Bristol’s Paul Monsters. Sometimes he combines both styles in a single piece. Brilliant to find this nice piece.