Tsk, tsk, just as i say normal service is resumed, i have to be away for funerals and the like. Sorry.
Genuinely ta loads all for your kinds comments and drinking, really do appreciate it, as i’m sure he would too. Normal service will be back again in but a couple of days.
Have fun, and if you spot any good graf in this fair city in my absence, send it on in!
Filed under Abroad
A reader emailed me about this one last night, so just went and got photos this morning. It’s so fresh, you can still smell the paint when just standing next to it, a large new piece by Rowdy, Sweet Toof, Cyclops and Tek33, in the smokers cage for the Blue Mountain on Moon Street.
A closer shot, only artistically done as the cage was in the way.
Credits to the left…
…and credits to the right.
And another little signature on the wall next to it.
Down the other end of the street this piece has appeared since i was last down that way, another Cyclops eye.
As well as this small and slightly random stencil
Filed under Bristol, Cyclops, Rowdy, Sweet toof, Tek33
Noticed that the new Bristol City Council Chief Exec is currently taking part in an exercise with the BBC to look at photos of what people do and don’t like about the city, and the topic of graf’s come up.
On the news last night she seemed to mention graf as something that only detriments people’s quality of life, then stop herself short, so i thought the below might be a bit of fun.
I’m going to send the below out to everyone i can find in Bristol with an interest in graf, and would like you to do the same too if you would.
Bristol City Council now has a new Chief Executive, and BBC Bristol are currently running a project to send in photos to her of what people like and don’t like about Bristol. They’ll be taking her on a guided tour of the city based on the photos, and giving her copies of them all as well.
Obviously, the Council is in two minds about Bristol’s graffiti scene: on the one hand they keep Banksys; on the other, they remove other artists’ and writers’ work. A new Chief Executive could lead to a change of policy in the city so now’s your chance to support a policy that treats an internationally recognised graf scene properly.
So if you want to see the council begin to recognise the massive range of talent it has on its own doorstep, send the BBC a photo of your favourite bit of graf or street art in Bristol, maybe along with some comments on what it means to you and what you’d like the council to do about graf in the future.
You can email your pictures and comments to mybristol@bbc.co.uk or if you’re on flickr, upload them to http://www.flickr.com/groups/613122@N25/pool/
For more information, see
http://tiny.cc/OOLUuPlease forward this message on to other people who may be interested.
If enough people submit photos and comments pointing out what an amazing graf scene Bristol has, and how we’d like to keep some or all parts of it, then the council might start getting a the right idea on this.
Hell, we voted to save a Banksy, so why not now explain what we meant?
Filed under Bristol
Not much again in central Glastonbury, it’s a different kind of counter culture going on there, and painting on walls doesn’t seem to align that well with chakras, or balance many zeros, or something. I love Glastonbury dearly, but it does have it’s odder edges.
Anyway, back last summer a Banksy appeared in the town, around the time of the Festival, a fact presumably connected. Somewhere i’ve got photos of various Banksys at Glastonbury over the years, including (i think) some of the backstage signage he did with stencils. Will dig them out.
Sadly, after not that long, the Banksy in the town itself was vandalised/painted over (depending on how you look at it), and saw it for the first time the other day.
This was it when in good condition
and this is it now.
The teddy and lunchbox are still just about there, for you desperate, tragic, crazy wall choppers…
But the oddest thing is that not only has it been painted over badly, but that people have been chipping out lumps of paint from it, presumably as souvenirs. Bonkers.
For those with a more general eye, the only other thing my trip turned up was this angel at the bottom of the Tor. Not stunning, but not badly done.
Sorry about that, this blog is meant to be daily as far as possible, just been a bit tied up over the last few days, in part researching quite a cool story for you all, normal service now resumed.
Told you there were lots of events coming up in the Bristol graf/street art/whatever scene at the moment.
Oddly enough, both of these ones happen on the same day, 3rd April, in the same city, London.
First up is a London launch for the ‘Banksy’s Bristol’ book, at Cargo in trendy Rivington Street, with more live painting, this time from Inkie, Cheo, Lokey and Cheba. Bit of an early one this, 5:30pm til 8pm, so plenty of time to get the train back westward if it’s a school night. Should be very good…
Opening on the same night, but running til the 26th of April, is a new show from Mudwig. This time down in New Cross, which warrants some sort of Carter USM pun, but i can’t think of one right now. Not got times for this one, but unless there’s no big do on the 3rd for this one, then you should be able to do both in the same night. Awesome.
So i was walking down the Christmas Steps again today, not something i often do, and came across a guy painting some boards outside a shop front with some cans and stencils.
Turns out first of all that there’s a cool looking new shop on the Christmas Steps, with your usual selections of trainers, t shirts and artwork (must go back and check it out).
But also the guy, Tribe, who was just painting the shop signs, having painted a lovely totem pole piece at the back of the shop, is newish to Bristol after 18 years in France, and has some proper skills.
Was getting late, the light was fading, but got some snaps of the work in action.
The original sketch for the signs
On the left, an Angry…
…and on the right a Dave’s (not quite finished)
Just some of the stencils, paints and masking tape that go into this piece.
There’s even better on his blog
The sketch
The piece
Your hairstyle says a lot about who you are, doesn’t it.
Wicked.
With spring starting to hint its way into reality, there are loads of rumours flying around at the moment about stuff coming up for the summer, artist’s shows, secret events, nods and winks, you know the score.
All hush hush mostly, but found out yesterday about one i can mention on this blog, Mr Jago and Xenz are going to be doing a joint show sometime this summer! Awesome.
No date set yet, no venue booked, not even sure whether it will be in Bristol or London. Obviously I’d go for Bristol myself, but taking the Bristol approach to the trendy streets of Shoreditch could be kinda funny, the Wurzels meet Nathan Barley is certainly a concept that deserves at least a pilot episode.
But anyway, a heads up that two of Bristol’s most ‘up and coming’ artists are gonna be putting together a joint event, and that you should be there.
Will let you know more as more is known…
Blogged this before when it was halfway through, but now looking a lot more finished, here’s the new piece on Jamaica Street. Heard talk that it was a bit of a community project, a collaboration between artists and people new to it, certainly seems to be what it’s turned out as.
View of the whole piece. Very much ‘community art’ that i’ve gotta say often sets my teeth on edge a bit. You don’t ’empower communities through art’ or whatever, you ’empower communities’ by giving them the actual power and abilities to make things as they want them.
Odd though, inside and around the figures there are a load of little stencils, quite like this one…
and this one’s kinda comedy minimalist
These less so
And a whole load of stenciled title, reminiscent of the piece down the road by the bus station.
Filed under Bristol
Walked past these the other day on Chandos Road, have walked past them before, they were on the hoarding for a shop being renovated. Nice though, very Redland, but sadly now gone, as they were being stacked up to be taken away, the work being done.
Should have asked for them really…
Filed under Bristol
Bristol graffiti 