Another wonderful pasteup from the recent visit by Tian. Again he has taken a still (a promotional shot?) from a film, which I haven’t been able to identify yet (any ideas?) and turned it into a monochrome stunner.
As always, location is key to a wheatpaster’s art, and this is no exception, it looks splendid amongst all the other posters on this wall. The council worker ripped off loads of posters, but thankfully left this Tian piece in situ. It was still there yesterday.
Another splendid paste up by Copyright. I featured another of his posters last week from Dean Lane skate park, and as a pair they are quite brilliant. How much I would love to own them and have them hanging at home.
His work is technically superb and his subjects always beautiful. Better than that though is the location and framing of this wheatpaste. Copyright has put some thought into how it should look…a common trait with pasters. Since seeing these two wonderful works I have found two more sprayed walls by Copyright, so plenty to keep me busy. The backlog is ever growing.
One of the true pleasures of photographing street art is finding some of subtle hidden pieces that are out there, but are often overlooked. 23 Magpies specialises in wildlife wheatpastes, often stuck in such ordinary places that if you blink you miss them.
This lovely work of a crow on sheet music is pasted onto a utility box, much as the chameleon was not far up the road on Dean Lane. I don’t know how long this has been here, but I only noticed it last week.
I am very fond of these pasteups, they feel like my own little treasures. If you look carefully you can see one of Andy Council’s pieces in the background.
Dean Lane skate park is situated between Dean Lane and the Eastern end of North Street, and is a major draw for street and graffiti artists. The skaters quite like it too. Just on the way out of the park I noticed this poster, which I kind of walked past without really registering it, and then went back to it, thinking it was rather unusual. It is in fact a pasteup piece by Copyright an artist who has graced the streets of Bristol previously, notably during Upfest. His website is here.
Since taking this picture at the end of April, I have since found another poster in North Bristol, equally striking.
This is beautiful. A simple stencil and a lovely portrait. His style is very recognisable…I say that now that I know who he is and have done some searches on his work. I really like this work and rather wish I could peel it off the wall and take it home. I think his works for sale are a little outside my price bracket.
I am enjoying spreading out my posts of Tian’s fabulous work in Stokes Croft. His tour of England has been something of a success, and pasteups are appearing on social media from all over the country.
This is another iconic moment in film history. Who could ever forget this scene when Ursula Andress, playing Honey Ryder, emerges like a goddess from the sea in the 1962 Bond movie Dr.No.
Now she emerges from the walls of Stokes Croft, as if she has been here all the time since 1962. I just love the content and execution in Tian’s work. Top notch stuff.
For many people reading this, the name Johnny Ball conjurs up images of a children’s TV presenter, and it is difficult to wipe that image. This lane I presume is named after a different Johnny Ball. Some time ago I snapped this unusual Kid Crayon wheatpaste, before I knew who he was. There is something simple and charming about it and it declares his presence on the street art map.
Unlike other works he has done, there is no portrait, but the different coloured eyes are there. I really do like his work, it is unusual, there is nobody else who does it quite like this. The poster has long since gone.
This is just brilliant. A pasteup of Jodie Foster from the 1976 film Taxi Driver up against a hoarding in Stokes Croft. There is something about the subject, the location and the shades that make this…well, as I said before, just brilliant.
I think Tian’s work taps into our formative years and triggers these iconic memories (‘yes, I remember that’ moments) and presents them as if they are faded by time. It really works for me.
Better still, Tian has left a trail of wheatpastes all over Stokes Croft and I look forward to sharing them with you, over the coming days.
I have had this picture in my archive for a while, but simply never got round to publishing it. I love the piece, but the photograph is not very good, slightly blurred and so I have held back. It is by Kid Crayon though, and I do so very much like his work, so the time has come.
Kid Crayon’s wheatpastes are really curious. His style is quite unique, and it is difficult to see who might have influenced him. Not that it really matters. I really like his stuff, and am always pleased to uncover another work. I saw a new one last week and will post about it soon.
What a lovely surprise I had on Thursday this week…a new artist has hit the streets of Bristol. When I say new, I mean new to me. Tian is a French artist, born in le Mans in 1964, which makes him pretty cool in my book, we are the same age. In 1982 formed a punk-reggae band called Nuclear Device…remember them?…nor me. He started pasting in 2007 and has been going from strength to strength since then.
He is currently ‘on tour’ in the UK (see his itinerary on his Facebook page here) and was in Bristol from the 18-20 April. So far I have found three of his paste-ups but I will be out looking for more…you can do a lot of pasting in three days. Because this is the first of his works that I saw I am dedicating a single post to it. I will probably post collections by area if I find a lot of his work. I really like this style, the tints and subject material, but of course I am always a big fan of wheatpastes. This piece made me really happy.
Is that Sphia Loren?
More from Tian’s own excellent website.
I surprise myself that this is the first post from Jamaica Street…it won’t be the last. I spotted this tiny wheatpaste a few weeks ago. It is by the fabulous 23 Magpies from Gloucester, and is so different from most of the street art I see. I love her work, and featured a piece from Dean Lane back in September 2015.
23 Magpies currently has an exhibition of her work in Gloucester Guildhall. I think it unlikely that I shall be able to go, but I will keep an eye out for more of her works in Bristol.
This flying squirrel is certainly one of the more unusual pieces I have seen.
7/10
Natural adventures 