Tag: Urban

1165. Chalk Farm (2)

This was the first piece I saw from the Global Street Art organised set of walls at the Chalk Farm housing estate. Looking like a giant billboard, it caught my eye from the end of the road, and even from a distance I thought it might be a piece by Pref ID. I must be getting quite good at this, because I was right.

Pref ID, Chalk Farm, London, November 2017
Pref ID, Chalk Farm, London, November 2017

Pref ID creates brilliant pieces incorporating clever word puzzles. The one in Bristol for Upfest 2017 was very tricky. This one is a little more straight forward…’Upwards and Onwards’.

Pref ID, Chalk Farm, London, November 2017
Pref ID, Chalk Farm, London, November 2017

It is a cleverly constructed and beautifully painted piece – if only the light hadn’t been fading and that blooming car wasn’t in the way. But as with so much street/graffiti art, it is located in a car park, and cars are an occupational hazard. I do like his work, and hope to find some more.

Pref ID, Upfest, Bristol, July 2017
Pref ID, Upfest, Bristol, July 2017

1164. Chalk Farm (1)

Sometimes wandering around, taking a look around just one more corner or walking another 100 yards further up a road can bring huge rewards, and so it was with my discovery of the Chalk Farm housing estate makeover organised by Global Street Art.

Sokar Uno, Chalk Farm, London, November 2017
Sokar Uno, Chalk Farm, London, November 2017

I had been aware of the gathering of artists in a North London estate and had seen some images on digital social media, but on the day I was walking round Camden Town I was not seeking out this treasure trove, I just kind of came upon it, after glimpsing a distant piece by Pref ID.

Sokar Uno, Chalk Farm, London, November 2017
Sokar Uno, Chalk Farm, London, November 2017

This is a remarkable piece by Sokar Uno, who wowed the crowds at Upfest 2016 in Bristol with his stunning piece there. Both of these works have an extraordinary quality about them, and the subjects appear to be made of stone or asleep.

Sokar Uno, Chalk Farm, London, November 2017
Sokar Uno, Chalk Farm, London, November 2017

His pieces contain a lot of symbolism, often featuring chairs, and in this work an hour glass. Time seems to be passing and some grass and flowers have grown through the checkerboard floor – how long has this giant been lying there and why?

Sokar Uno, Chalk Farm, London, November 2017
Sokar Uno, Chalk Farm, London, November 2017

Sokar Uno creates interesting movement in this work, as shown by the left hand of this figure which can be seen in three positions and the right hand with a white outline around it. And then there are the drips! An exquisite piece.

Sokar Uno, Upfest, Bristol, July 2016
Sokar Uno, Upfest, Bristol, July 2016

1162. M32 roundabout J3 (54)

This is a supremely beautiful work by Epok from a recent paint jam down at the M32 roundabout. I like everything about this piece, the proportions of the letters, the angles and curves, but most of all I think the colour selection is sublime, and I love the tinges of red in the middle of the piece.

Epok, M32 roundabout, Bristol, November 2017
Epok, M32 roundabout, Bristol, November 2017

I have never met Epok, nor seen him spraying, but would surely like to see him at work. There is something different about his wildstyle pieces that really catches the eye. I think that one of the main things is that his writing doesn’t adhere to our writing conventions of letters having an equal height and proportion. His letters fit into his design, which often tapers at one end or the other.

Epok, M32 roundabout, Bristol, November 2017
Epok, M32 roundabout, Bristol, November 2017

I love this piece. Outstanding.

1161. Ashley Road (14)

Ok, so this is an interesting piece in Ashley road that appeared recently. It is, I think, by the Bristol artist Fiver, who also goes by the name Fiva and Henry Barnes who I posted about back in March this year. It is a bright and cheerful piece and would appear to be a celebration, welcoming ‘Eira’ into the world. Maybe his own child? I don’t know. I hope this isn’t just a one-off because I like the style of his work here.

Fiva, Ashley Road, Bristol, November 2017
Fiva, Ashley Road, Bristol, November 2017

As well as turning to street art from time to time Henry Barnes is also a tireless campaigner for the National Autistic Society and their too much information campaign, which is a thoroughly brilliant thing.

1160. M32 roundabout J3 (53)

It has been some time since I last saw anything by Ments, so it was fantastic to come across this fine piece recently that was sprayed as part of an ASK paint jam. The wall was given a great backwash of grey-green, and several excellent works produced.

Ments, M32 roundabout, Bristol, November 2017
Ments, M32 roundabout, Bristol, November 2017

Ments has a wonderful organic style to his wildstyle writing, which spells out MENTS…although I struggle to see all those letters. The colour selections are fabulous and work so very well against the backdrop.

Ments, M32 roundabout, Bristol, November 2017
Ments, M32 roundabout, Bristol, November 2017

This is an outstanding piece and welcome return from Ments.

1159. Brunel Way bridge (2)

This is a nice witty piece from Feek as part of the Halloween ASK collaboration at this spot. The ASK crew have been very busy recently. This piece has a real comic book feel to it and is by one of the artists whose work I don’t see too often – the last piece was on one of the ramps at Dean Lane skate park.

Feek, Brunel Way, Bristol, November 2017
Feek, Brunel Way, Bristol, November 2017

Feek has painted a ghoulish Miss Millies (a poor man’s KFC, if there is such a thing) waitress serving up body parts, with a speech bubble saying ‘youur piece sssucks‘ a reference not only to the food pieces being served up, but also a playful jibe at his crew mates and the pieces they are working on.

Feek, Brunel Way, Bristol, November 2017
Feek, Brunel Way, Bristol, November 2017

I have just noticed another thing about Feek’s work that I have never noticed before, but it would appear that he nearly always includes a speech bubble as if he wants to give his characters a voice. I’d really like to see more of his work on Bristol’s streets.

 

 

1158. Bedminster

This piece and the one adjacent to it by Deamze have gone now as the buildint they are sprayed on is now surrounded with anti-graff hoardings, presumably because some development work has begun.

Soker, Bedminster, Bristol, September 2017
Soker, Bedminster, Bristol, September 2017

This is yet another high-quality piece from the Soker production line. Strong clear lines and colours, clean work from this great writer. There is a party feel to this piece with a backdrop of orange flashes and blue bubbles that contrasts cleverly with the pink and green lettering. The baseball caps on the letters adds a nice tough to the piece.

1156. M32 Spot (12)

The columns under the M32 are constantly being refreshed, which is great news for people like me. This column is by an artist I have not featured before on this blog. He is J. West and is a Bristol animator turned artist. He has a love of depicting animal which has been in part inspired by his time working at Bristol Zoo Gardens.

J. West, M32 Spot, Bristol, October 2017
J. West, M32 Spot, Bristol, October 2017

This is a nice strong symmetrical piece that contrasts with many of the other rather more organic pieces at this location. J. West has used the constraints of the column to his advantage and produced this arttractive and intriguing piece. I look forward to seeing more of his work in the future.

1155. Dean Lane skate park (91)

A wonderful recent piece on the long wall at Dean Lane by three of Bristol’s very best street/graffiti artists, 3Dom, Soker and Cheo from the ASK stable. I think that this might have been another Halloween collaboration – they have been very popular this year.

3Dom, Dean Lane, Bristol, October 2017
3Dom, Dean Lane, Bristol, October 2017

First off, on the left is a curious surreal house/shed/kennel with something swirly going on in the middle. 3Dom always has this dream like imagination that presents the familiar combined with the bizarre. The dripping house and shadow underneath are very nice touches to this piece. Great to see 3Dom being more visible on the streets again after a gap of several months.

Soker, Dean Lane, Bristol, October 2017
Soker, Dean Lane, Bristol, October 2017

I suspect that regular readers will be very familiar by now with the writing of Soker (text says SOKEM) or at least if you are not, where have you been? His writing is always of a high quality and I have rarely been disappointed.

Cheo, Dean Lane, Bristol, October 2017
Cheo, Dean Lane, Bristol, October 2017

Finally, rounding off the collaboration is a wonderful homage to ‘Freddy Krueger’ by Cheo, complete with razor fingers, stripy t-shirt and a pumpkin face. This is a fun piece that really stands out…it is a pity that there is a bit of glare on the photograph. Most annoying.

3Dom, Soker, Cheo, Dean Lane, Bristol, October 2017
3Dom, Soker, Cheo, Dean Lane, Bristol, October 2017

All in all this was a nice halloween surprise for me in this spot which I regularly visit. Great work from the boys.

1154. Dean Lane skate park (90)

There are some unusual colour selections in this nice collaborative pairing of Soge and Hire down at Deaners.The deep blue and maroon backdrop certainly lift the wildstyle writing of Soge, but Hire’s rabbit on the right is a little disguised.

Soge and Hire, Dean Lane, Bristol, October 2017
Soge and Hire, Dean Lane, Bristol, October 2017

I have said it before on this blog that Soge has an incredibly elaborate Gothic style of wildstyle writing which is quite unusual. I have absolutely no idea what the writing says in this piece, it might be ‘SOGEJEDEN’ which is his Instagram tag. I don’t know.

Hire, Dean Lane, Bristol, October 2017
Hire, Dean Lane, Bristol, October 2017

Always I have to like Hire’s rabbits wherever they appear – which is usually Dean Lane these days. Cheeky and mischievous.