Tag: Weston-super-Mare

392. York Street, Weston-super-Mare

For me, the best bit of going to Weston-super-Mare is knowing that it is the home of JPS, and it really doesn’t take very long to find some of his works about the place. It is largely thanks to JPS that I have taken such an interest in street art in the first place. His pieces in Frogmore Street and at the ‘Arches’ on Gloucester Road, were among my first posts.

JPS, York Street, Weston-super-Mare, August 2016
JPS, York Street, Weston-super-Mare, August 2016

His stencils are witty and often contain wordplay but have their real strength in their technical execution. JPS often references popular culture, TV and films in particular, and here he features a life-size Batman, and wonderful pun. I have seen images of this piece all over digital media, so it was a real pleasure to find it for real. I love it that the wall has been repainted and rendered (?) around this work – big respect.

JPS, York Street, Weston-super-Mare, August 2016
JPS, York Street, Weston-super-Mare, August 2016

On this particular visit to W-s-M I took many photographs of JPS works and I am mindful that I might have to do a bit of a compilation post, although I really don’t like doing that. I’ll have to have a think.

368. Tropicana, Weston-super-Mare (2)

The last thing I was expecting to see on a day out in W-s-M was a large Dan Kitchener piece.I don’t know how this can have passed me by. It would appear that he was creating this piece a week or two before Upfest 2016 at the Hazy Days Music & Arts Festival.

Dan Kitchener, Tropicana, Weston-super-Mare, August 2016
Dan Kitchener, Tropicana, Weston-super-Mare, August 2016

The following quote from Kitchener’s Instagram feed gives some background to the fabulous mural:

“‘Metropolis’ – Here’s my finished mural from Hazy Days Music & Arts Festival in Weston Super Mare, an amazing event, amazing organisation and a lovely place by the sea! I love being able to paint my more fantasy style illustrations on walls, and this future geisha assassin, looking out over the future Tokyo metropolis was an image I have had for a while and was waiting for the right wall and time to paint it! The geisha is based on my shoots with Ayumi LaNoire. The wall was all freehand spray paint, as usual! No projections or tracing, or stencils, just pure freehand”

Dan Kitchener, Tropicana, Weston-super-Mare, August 2016
Dan Kitchener, Tropicana, Weston-super-Mare, August 2016

Yet another wonderful surprise for me, and  a glimpse at the extraordinary talents of Dan Kitchener. The images he creates are so full of atmosphere and narrative. I am always reminded of ‘Blade Runner’ when I see his works.

367. Tropicana, Weston-super-Mare (1)

On my recent day-trip to Weston-super-Mare, I felt compelled to visit the Tropicana, site of Banksy’s very successful Dismaland. I never made it to the exhibition, which I deeply regret, but read a great many posts and blogs about it and felt quite well acquainted with many of the exhibits. The site now plays host to a temporary fairground, with open entry, so I decided to take a look around. Ironically it all felt rather more dismal than it might have been during the exhibition.

My Dog Sighs, Tropicana, Weston-super-Mare, August 2016
My Dog Sighs, Tropicana, Weston-super-Mare, August 2016

Going in through the entrance lobby, there are several stencils by JPS, Fawn and Pzy, which I will get round to posting soon. Once into the main area, there were several larger murals on the left hand side walls. Unfortunately these were rather obscured by heavy fairground wagons and equipment. Undeterred, I found a way round the back and snapped away. This is a beautiful piece by the excellent My Dog Sighs, and so utterly unmistakable.

My Dog Sighs, Tropicana, Weston-super-Mare, August 2016
My Dog Sighs, Tropicana, Weston-super-Mare, August 2016

The photographs were tricky to take, because I couldn’t get any real distance from the piece. It didn’t matter though. This was another great extra surprise, because I didn’t know there was going to be anything here at all. It all comes down to wandering around, being curious and looking. I got my rewards.

366. Richmond Street, Weston-super-Mare

Recently my daughter suggested we had a day at the seaside. In Bristol, the seaside generally means Weston-super-Mare, or Weston on the mud. A Victorian seaside town that was very much alive when we visited. It is also the home of one of the great stencil artists in the country, and one of the first artists that inspired me to write about street art in the first place, JPS.

JPS, Richmond Street, Weston-super-Mare, August 2016
JPS, Richmond Street, Weston-super-Mare, August 2016

This is a piece that I have seen numerous times on digital media, but to see it for real was a treat. It is funny and beautifully executed. Furthermore, what none of the pictures reveal is that it is outside the Bear Grills restaurant, adding to the joke.

JPS, Richmond Street, Weston-super-Mare, August 2016
JPS, Richmond Street, Weston-super-Mare, August 2016

This is the first of many of JPS pieces I will write about from the W-s-M ‘gallery’, as they can be found all over the place, and I am sure I missed tons, so a further visit is in the planning.