I’m trying to work through some of the pictures I have been meaning to post for a while…there is just too much talent in Bristol.
This is a subtle little piece by 3Dom on a small side path off Wilder Street, which I photographed back in June, long before all the Upfest excitement. The unusual work has an emphasis on mushrooms – what kind we can only guess, but the whole piece has an hallucinogenic quality to it.
3Dom is utterly brilliant – there is little more to say really.
On the West side of the M32 roundabout there is a long concrete wall which runs next to a pathway and which reduces in height along its length. About midway along this wall is this magnificent Epok piece.
So typically Epok wildstyle writing, and a fabulous selection of colours. It really is outstanding in every sense of the word. It is in the part of the wall where the pathway narrows, so it is very difficult to photograph pieces here unless taken from the sides, or using fisheye lenses.
Epok’s works have lovely simple and clean lines and blends smooth curves with angular shapes to create the EPOK letters. Always pleasurable to see.
The fencing in Armada Place is a hotspot that is slightly off the beaten track, and can easily be missed. I make a point of taking the short diversion away from Stokes Croft on my way to work, to be able to capture gems like this one by Fois (Kleiner Shames).
It feels like Fois has become a little more active recently, or maybe I am just finding more of his wildstyle pieces. I don’t know, but I always feel good when I come across one for the first time. I like the way that he disguises the name Fois just enough to make it hard for the ‘untrained’ eye to read. This is really a wonderful piece that he calls ‘a quick one’.
Only recently I found out that Fois is actually Kleiner Shames – a rather respectable looking designer. It irks me that by calling him Fois all this time I look like a bit of an idiot. I suppose it is all part of being on the outside looking in.
Well this may well be my last post before Upfest 2016 festival which begins tomorrow, and for which I have already seen a few early works on Instagram. There is a certain privilege that goes with being a Bristol street art blogger, and that is that each year, the largest gathering of street artists in Europe happens right here, in my back yard.
Another privilege is to watch, all year round, the work of these two wildstyle writers who are at the top of their game. This simultaneously painted pair of pieces is on the back wall of the Vector car park. Deamze is on the left, and Voyder is on the right.
The Deamze writing is reminiscent of a piece I posted back in June from the M32 cycle path. It uses the same greens and has his customary character and ASK motif.
The Voyder piece is really unusual and something quite special. In his Instagram feed he has tagged the piece with #lichtenstein, and you can see the pop art explosion of colour and form.
I love, love, love this. Voyder has absolutely cracked it with this one. Interpretive and in the style of a great artist and brilliantly executed. I can ask no more. Both of these will now have to make way for new pieces for the festival tomorrow. So excited.
This is another wonderful bit of wildstyle writing from Bristol’d rising star, Sled One. A modest piece from a little while ago on the northern steps down into the Bearpit. What I really like about Sled One’s work is that although his writing works always incorporate his name, they vary so much in their construction. No two pieces are alike.
I notice that he will be at Upfest and has a site just to himself. I am so looking forward to seeing what he gets up to. I saw the map and list of artists coming to Bristol next weekend for Upfest. It is staggering just how many will be here. I do hope that I can catch up with as many as possible. It promises to be an amazing festival.
A little while ago, I took the short loop into Moon Street – I do this about once a week – from Stokes Croft, just to see if there was anything new. It seems that turnover there has slowed a bit in recent weeks so I was pleased to find this collaboration. It is something quite different in light backwashed colours. It almost feels as if the pieces are incomplete…I have returned since, and thy are unchanged.
The right hand side of the two is clearly by Fois – the extra touch of the cowboy hat rounds this writing off perfectly.
The writing on the left hand side though is a mystery. I don’t know who it is by, and given that Fois seems not to use digital social media (at least publicly), it is hard to establish the artist. It is one I will have to return to if I find out anything more.
UPDATE: Thank you Duncan. The second piece is signed Ysae, and is similar to other writing by the same Artist in the Bristol/Swindon area. Unfortunately at this time I know no more than that.
Although nowhere near the site of Upfest, I fully expect most of the Stokes Croft and Bearpit areas to get complete make-overs during the festival weekend.
Just a quick post this time of the very prolific Voyder. This piece was down on the hoardings with pieces by Sepr and Deamze and Sled One, so I guess it was part of an ASK get together.
This is so typical of the outstanding pieces Voyder produced in a style that is unmistakably his. Although prolific (I make that assumption from looking at his Instagram stream), I think some of his works are quite inaccessible. He seems to spend a lot of time in large derelict buildings, which are off the beaten track, and certainly not on my radar. I think I have a large enough territory without seeking out new places.
There is little doubt in my mind that the brightest rising star on the street art scene in Bristol is Sled One. His work, both the wildstyle writing and his freestyle characters are second to none, and yet I feel there is still so much more to come from this extremely talented young artist. My son tells me he is a good skater too, which obviously adds to his credibility as a street phenomenon.
This writing demonstrates his incredible range. His shapes vary from piece to piece. He seems to have an incredible capacity to see what he wants to create and then go and do it. I find this piece really compelling, and just by looking at it you can see the quality shining through.
I was away in London earlier this week, starting a new job that requires me to work two days a week in ‘the old smoke’. It is my home city, so I feel quite comfortable being back there, but would never swap it for my life in Bristol now. This, however, is a slight digression.
On Monday night in my soulless hotel room, I was fretting about this amazing new Zase and Dekor piece that they slapped up in Bristol on Saturday (and had posted on Instagram).
The turnover is so high at Dean Lane, I was desperate to get back to Bristol and photograph it before it got tagged or over-painted.
On Wednesday, my first day back in my Bristol Office, I sprinted over to the skate park in my lunch break (I’ve got the return journey down to about 40 minutes) and was rewarded with this remarkable piece. I have always had huge admiration for the Zase-Dekor collaborations that mostly reside in the North of Bristol.
Usually they craft huge works, but this one is much smaller and clearly a bit of fun. Many of the hallmarks are there…the cartoon-style character and wildstyle ZASE, and the wonderful crisp lines and clean finish. A small masterpiece.
The piece I posted by 45RPM recently of the anteater seemed to be very popular, so I am posting another of his works, this time from the magnificent Brunswick Square hoardings. This piece features the RPM lettering and a rather angry looking bulldog squeezing his way into the picture.
I have to say that I think 45RPM’s work is quite an acquired taste, or maybe that is just me, but every new piece of his that I see, the more I seem to enjoy them, and now, going back through my files, I am finding more of them and liking them better on this ‘second viewing’ than on the first. There is more to come on and from this fine street artist.
Natural adventures 