Banana fritters
promise so much more than they
ever deliver.
by Scooj
Banana fritters
promise so much more than they
ever deliver.
by Scooj
My lunchtime stroll today took me to Montpelier, the heart of alternative Bohemian Bristol. Although I live nearby, I don’t know the area well, so I was in for a treat. I veered off the main roads into the back streets, and found walls festooned with murals, mostly by very local artists.

I came across this political piece, which speaks volumes about the severe cuts which are destroying public services. It is a collaboration between Rowdy and Mau Mau. Rowdy is known as one of the longest-standing graffiti artists in the UK, and paints a lot of crocodiles and jagged teeth. Mau Mau’s trademark is a fox, which features in most of his works.

This was, as far as I can make out, painted on 27 October 2015; so really recent. I am pleased to have seen it so soon after completion.
7.5/10
Faded memories
of innocents; I weep with
the passing of time.
by Scooj
This building and its immediate neighbours are arguably the most painted walls in Bristol. Artwork is over-sprayed weekly or sometimes more frequently. You have to be quick if you want to photograph any of it, and some of it is really good.

I love this wonderful stencil. I am guessing it is a self-portrait of the artist, but I have no idea who that artist might be. I might have to do some digging around. From the comments below, it would appear to be a piece by Hoax. It is gone now (Jan 2016). Another addition, now in April 2016, I have just noticed a wonderful Face F1st next to the hoax stencil. I am a huge fan of Face F1st.

8/10
The wait is over,
excited children extort
sweeties from neighbours.
by Scooj
Another weird and wacky wheatpaste from Kid Crayon that I posted some time ago to illustrate a haiku, before I started posting about street art.

I really am warming up to his uncomfortable portraits and his choice of spots. It is strange, but until you start looking for his works you simply don’t see them, or if you do, they don’t seem to register. They are all over Bristol, and I have several more lined up to post.

I see this boy/man eating cheese most days, and it always makes me smile.

8/10
See the crocodile
with happy smiling faces;
snap snap, hurry up!
by Scooj
*Crocodile – an informal line of people, especially children, walking in pairs
**At primary school, decades ago, we had a trip to the London Natural History Museum. My teacher said ‘let’s see the crocodile’…I spent the rest of the day looking for this infernal reptile. I never found it.
This is an interesting work by the very prolific Sepr. I am not too sure what the story is with this, but the pigeon has the ring! The work is immediately adjacent to the Andy Council mural featured in a recent post.

An evening at
the flicks with the family;
Spectre spectacle
by Scooj
This mural rather dates itself with its portrayal of the obsession of the selfie. I guess it is called ‘I’m taking a selfie’. It is one of several works in the immediate vicinity that have the ASK signature on it.

OK, so I am new to all of this, but it took me quite a while to find out who or what ASK is. It turns out that ASK is a Bristol crew, the acronym stands for After School Klub. As far as I can work out, there are four members of the ASK crew, and they are Epok, Sokem, 3Dom and Sepr. I am not sure which of them is behind this particular work, which is perplexing.

In addition to ASK, some of their individual or collaborative works are tagged with ASK KTF or ASKTF. The KTF is another TLA (Three Letter Acronym) which I understand to be ‘Keeping Things Fresh’. I will feature more of their works soon.
UPDATE June 2016 – There are at least 14 or so members of ASK, but I still don’t know which members are responsible for this piece.