Adjacent to the Sofa Project back yard is another yard that is a bit of a street art goldmine. First up from this little backwater is this gorgeous piece by Voyder, characteristically sharp and of very high quality.
Voyder, Waterloo Place, Bristol, October 2018
With a vanishing point somewhere behind the lettering this piece stands out from the wall and the flash across the middle gives the impression of a reflective band of sunlight as if the piece is being tilted side to side. Now sunlight…that would make a refreshing change. Beautiful piece of writing as always.
I was first alerted to this Kleiner Shames piece on Instagram, but from the pictures I saw I just couldn’t get the location. In the end I had to message one of my street art buddies to find out where it was…which looking at it now with hindsight is blooming obvious. There is a charity in Bristol called the SOFA Project (Shift Old Furniture Around) which has two locations one of which, the Old Market store, has a walled yard where this piece is sprayed. The charity sells on old furniture, donated locally, to those less able to afford new furniture. A worthy venture.
Kleiner Shames, Waterloo Place, Bristol, October 2018
On to this stunning piece by my favourite ex-Bristol artist, Kleiner Shames. Most of his wall work is writing, with the odd exception, and he tends to spell out the letters FOIS which spells out ‘time’ in french. The lettering here is so easy on the eye and beautifully designed. Every time I see pieces like this I feel there must be an element of art deco architectural influence going onm, or at least that is what it looks like to me. This is a very fine piece indeed.
On the same recently erected hoarding in Thomas Street where Sled One sprayed his banana piece, is this wonderful organic piece of wildstyle writing from Ments. Normally Ments writes his name, but this piece is so cryptic that although I suspect it says his name I can’t quite make it out, other than an S at the end.
Ments, Thomas Street, Bristol, October 2018
I have always liked the work of Ments because it is so different from pretty much all the rest of the writers in Bristol, usually adopting this mystical, swirly, other-worldly style. His colours often incorporate these purples and oranges. The note ‘Save Hamilton House’ refers to a campaign to protect a building just across the other side of the main road which is at risk of demolition and redevelopment. There are many local studios for artists and the like in Hamilton House and redevelopment would break up this very tight community in Stokes Croft.
I am used to seeing NEVERGIVEUP’s urban (and occasionally rural) bunnies and his monsters. Less often seen are his wildstyle writings such as this one which he did together with Soge whose piece is just to the right.
NEVERGIVEUP, M32, Bristol, September 2018
The writing says EBOK, and although I don’t know what it means, I seem to recall it isn’t very savoury. It seems to me that spray painting comes so easily to this artist and that every time I have met him he has been very relaxed and calm. Hugely talented and a lot of fun too, he has just started up an Instagram account called ‘followmyrabbits’ in which he is posting rabbits he has left lying around all over the place…and not just in Bristol.
Occasionally I manage to come across Fiva’s work – he is not as prolific as many of the Bristol artists, but the quality of his pieces is unquestionable and his style recognisable and attractive. He usually spells out his word in large letters and sometimes, as in this case, fills them with scenes. Often he accompanies the letters with some kind of character – this is a standard format used by many of the graffiti writers here.
Fiva, St Werburghs, Bristol, October 2018
The lighting in St Werburghs tunnel tends to leave pictures looking a bit orange and the contrast rather poor, so this lovely work by Fiva really doesn’t look as good here as it did in the tunnel. The incorporation of a scene in his letters gives a sense of depth and mystery to the piece. fine work from Fiva.
Alongside a rather magnificent Sled One piece i posted a little while back is this really unusual work from Ments. I haven’t seen much of his work for a while, so it was great to find this. In the past I have described his work as ‘organic’ in its form, but this piece represents quite a departure from his previous work.
Ments, Brunel Way Bridge, Bristol, September 2018
There is a modernist feel to this piece, abstract surrealism almost and I rather like it. The writing spells out MENTS as it does in most of his work, but this time it is a little more legible. The colour selections are quite unusual but seem to work pretty well on this bright red background. More to come soon from Ments.
It seems to me that most street artists have peaks and troughs in the frequency of street work they do. Life, as for each and every one of us, gets in the way. It might be work, family, illness, lack of inspiration or other external forces that put a slow down on wall work.
Smak, M32 roundabout, Bristol, September 2018
On the flip side though there will be times when the green light is on and artists hit the street with sometimes alarming regularity. It feels to me that Smak at the moment is going through one of those phases where I am seeing a lot of his work, and this one at the M32 is a real beauty.
I find I encounter the same peaks and troughs, and at the moment I am really struggling to photograph as much as I like. Frail in-laws and very busy times at work are conspiring to hold me back from what I most enjoy. I know however that things in time will improve and I have so much to look forward to. Somehow I also have to factor in learning how to spray.
I just love it when these two get together, which fortunately they seem to manage rather regularly. These Laic217 bookended Cort pieces do tend to follow a formula in terms of presentation, but the characters and writing always offer something visually stimulating.
Cort, Dean Lane, Bristol, September 2018
Cort’s writing style seems to be quite versatile and he has produces a real gem here, incorporating soft curves and angular shapes all into the same piece. It is an unusual and slightly unconventional style, but that is what makes it stand apart from other writing.
Laic217, Dean Lane, Bristol, September 2018
Then on to the Laic217 characters. His skeletons have become such a prominent feature of walls around Bristol that they must have entered the sub-conscious of a great many Bristolians on exposure alone.
Laic217, Dean Lane, Bristol, September 2018
Rarely disappointing these figures include many of the things we expect from Laic217 – great clothing, skulls, smiley’s brick walls, bucket hats. I love the bit of fun too with the left hand side character using a roller to spell out the two artist’s names at the top of the piece. Another classic wall.
Laic 217 and Cort, Dean Lane, Bristol, September 2018
This collaboration is a real treat and raises the bar by quite some margin. It is by Subtle and Rezwonk and is quite the best collaboration I have seen on this wall this year, in fact possible anywhere in Bristol.
Rezwonk and Subtle, Dean Lane, Bristol, September 2018
Rezwonk has provided an incredible background of little white symbols – actually I think they are made up of the letters R E Z W O N K, and in amongst them are some bright green ones randomly spaced. Each of the symbols has been dabbed, probably with a cloth, to give them some texture. This really does provide a perfect backdrop.
Rezwonk and Subtle, Dean Lane, Bristol, September 2018
The writing from Subtle is nothing short of sublime, every single part of it touching on perfect, right down to the hex shading on the S and the T providing texture and interest, but it is the 3D effect that really sets this piece apart. It is hard to look at it and not be fooled into thinking it has been written on a board that stands proud of the wall by a couple of inches. Also some of the accents have picked up the same bright green used by Rezwonk, to provide some read-across between the two.
An utterly outstanding collaboration that takes collaborations to a new level.
A colleague alerted me to this hoarding, which is within lunchtime walking distance from my work, so I felt obliged to go and take a look. Sometimes such tip-offs can be a bit of a disappointment, because not all ‘street art’ is worth the trip. This wonderful piece by Smak however was absolutely worth it.
Smak, Tower Hill, Bristol, August 2018
I had kind of been aware of these hoardings but didn’t know that there was anything decent there. In fact there were three notable pieces of which this is the first. Smak is an interesting artist in that he has two personas. This is his ‘graff’ persona, but he also does high-end pieces and commissions under another name – he even painted a large wall at Upfest this year (to follow).
Smak, Tower Hill, Bristol, August 2018
This wildstyle writing is really skilfully done and spells out SMAK. In the middle of the work he had woven in the head of a bird, and there are some feathers in there too. A classy piece.
Natural adventures 