Queen Elizabeth + Bowie = Banksy NOT!

Posted on February 25, 2022 by Mary C

Rock star status lightning bolt – a now iconic symbol painted on David Bowie’s face for the “Aladdin Sane” album cover in 1973. Here, ~~Banksy~~ Incwel applies the lightning bolt to a younger Queen Elizabeth in a piece titled “Still Sane”- bestowing her with rock star status? It was painted in 2012, the year of Queen Elizabeth’s Diamond Jubilee (i.e. her 60th year as monarch).

behind a traffic light, on the upper level of a building, on a pale grey wall, a Banksy street art. A black and white Queen Elizabeth 2, younger woman, with a crown on her head. She has a red and blue David Bowie lightning bolt across her face like the Aladdin Sane album cover of 1973

Lucas Antics, Bristol England

Posted on February 23, 2022 by Mary C

Alex Lucas & Paul Fearnside are the two artists that are Lucas Antics. Among their many talents is mural painting; this blog post features some of the murals that they have painted in their home town of Bristol. The photos are from the spring of 2017.

below: Pineapples and bunnies on The Little Shop, Cheltenham Road.

below: The whole mural.

large mural by Lucas Antics on The Little Shop on Cheltenham Road in Bristol. A woman is looking in the window of the store. The mural is bunny rabbits and pineapples, 6 rabbits and 7 pineapples

below: More rabbits at the Stokes Croft Vintage Market

below: A red fox, comfortably sitting on the new moon.

“We are all in the gutter but some of us are looking at the stars.” A quote from Oscar Wilde’s play “Lady Windemere’s Fan”

below: A dashing dandy lion in the doorway with his sidekick, a little white mouse. The fable of the lion and the mouse has been told in many variations over the centuries. In it, a lion spares the life of a mouse. A short time later the mouse saves the lion by chewing through the ropes of a net that has ensnared the lion.

below: Welcome to Montpelier (a neighbourhood in Bristol)

The next three images are from the same mural, Uncertain World, painted on the exterior of the Cabot Institute at Bristol University.

Bristol Bearpit

Posted on February 22, 2022 by Mary C

The Bearpit is a park in Bristol, circular in shape and with roads surrounding it; It’s like being in the middle of a large roundabout and in fact it is the St. James Barton Roundabout. All entrances are by underground passage.

It is in an area that is the historical center of the city. After being badly damaged by aerial bombing raids during WW2 , not much was done with it until the late 1960s when new roads and office blocks were built. The bearpit was designed as a pedestrian friendly area, a city park but soon became a place where no one felt safe. In 2011 it was voted the worst place in Bristol . Over the years a number of groups tried to clean up the park and make it a welcoming place for people – with mixed success.

In May of 2017 when I was there it was a place to hang out. It was also a place for political protest.

tables and planters at Bristol bearpit, park, with a mural of flowers. In the background a sign, political poster, and in he background, Debenhams store — VOTE – “It ain’t much, but it’s all we have against the Greedheads” Hunter S. Thomson

May 2017 was in the midst of campaigning for the the UK General Election of 8 June 2017. Theresa May (Conservative) was Prime Minister. May had became PM after David Cameron resigned because of the Brexit vote. Jeremy Corbyn was leader of the Labour Party. The Conservatives won the election with 317 seats although Labour was close behind. Like most elections, this one can’t be summarized in a few sentences but if you are interested in more details, there are lots of places to look on the internet.

below: A large Corbyn rat poster by political art John D’Oh with the slogan/phrase “Make June the end of May”.

large poster by John D'Oh political humour for the 2017 UK election

political poster save the NHS vote Labour, picture of a woman on the phone, by John D'oh

In paradoy of newspaper Daily Mail, text on graffiti says Daily Fail, with three stencil faces

below: Mural by SP_ZERO aka Keith Hopewell

graffiti of face of young girl with braids tied with ribbons, and wearing a red bandana mask over her nose and mouth, on a green tile wall beside stairs

government is theft graffiti

street art by a tree in the bearpit area of Bristol, a person in a grey hoodie is spray painting a black line, beside a stencil of a man with long beard and mustache that says beard envy

graffiti on a tile wall beside stairs, an electrical two pronged plug with little legs, running, with broken electrical cord as a tail

A group of young men sitting on benches in a park, with a street art wall behind them, space aliens and creatures

street art wall with imaginative and creative space aliens and creatures

below: Mural by LAIC217

Where’s the toilet paper? Is there any significance to the Adidas clothing and shoes?

Mural with orange headed devil with horns, yellow eyes, and skull like face, with bony hnads on shoulder of graffiti artist, caption says For using stencils you will go to hell — For using stencils U will go to Hell.

below: While we’re on the subject of Hell, a poster playing on the word exposure by Georgie aka georgieartist. I love the fact that someone has written “Story of my fucking life” on it.

below: A broom with heart by qwert art

whimsical graffiti by qwert art of a broom with a white skirt and long skinny arms holding up a red heart where a face would be

below: Mural by Kid Crayon of Eat Crew. Just above the mural you can see part of the black and white bear sculpture/statue that used to stand in the park.

In 2019 the Bearpit was “cleaned up” i.e. all the graffiti and street art was removed as were the squatters. A quick check of the area on Google Street View shows that as of March 2021 the park was still graffiti free.

people on Bristol streets

Posted on January 7, 2018 by Mary C

People in murals and other street art seen in Bristol earlier in 2017.

below: A mural in shades of yellow by tattoo and street artist Sepr (instagram) . These aren’t blackbirds baked in a pie, instead they are blackbirds in a cup and saucer. Let’s have tea!

mural, yellow and grey on black background, car parked in front. Mural is a man holding a tea cup in one hand and a small plate in the other. Two blackbirds in the cup and one on the plate.

below: Jesus Break Dance by Cosmo Sarson

large mural of a man upside down on one hand, only a loincloth on, no other clothes

below: A large mural of a woman’s face in yellow and black, by Stinkfish, Stokes Croft, 2012

large mural of a yellow woman's face, long black hair, on the side of a building, blue and red text graffiti along the bottom

below: The Coat of Arms by Nick Walker

mural on a wall, figure with many arms, wrds that say the coat of arms

below: On the left is ‘Afrika en la casa’ by Feo Flip (Basura Visual) and on the right is a cracked face by LAIC.

two large faces, one man , one woman, with a door covered with posters between them

below: Another piece by LAIC. Most of his street art involves distorted faces,

below: Street art by Dr. Love from Tbilisi Georgia, love holds you up. Girl on swing. Red balloons.

street art piece of s girl sitting on a swing that is being held up by two red balloons

below: Welcome to St. Pauls mural

mural on a wall, city scene

street art, 3 pieces,painting of woman's head in grey and purple, graffiti in pink and green shapes, plus drawing on a door in the middle

below: Alice in Wasteland.

stencil graffiti

below: A little line drawing wonderfully placed around the chain.

small drawing on a wall, man with scowling face, large head and small body,

below: Boxing dog-faced men with bright red gloves.

mural of naked men with red boxing gloves

below: DENX ’09

street art painting of a man with blue face, black hat and jacket and green pants

mural of a witch with wizard hat on blue with yellow stars

under a barred window, a painting of two faces on blue background

resist graffiti words

parking meter man as a monkey, sneering, and pointing, beside a sign that says no parking, words on street art say put the oney in the meter

words that say think local boycott tesco, picture of a man holding a protest sign and a megaphone

street art animals, Bristol

Posted on December 26, 2017 by Mary C

More Bristol street art
This time, focusing on those featuring animals

below: A debonair lion stands in the doorway, by Alex of lucas-antics

a lion standing in a doorway, by lucas_antics, green vest and green hat, holding a cane, tail curled up and a white mouse on the tail

below: Another mural by Alex covers the front of The Little Shop on Cheltenham Road. This time, she has painted bunny rabbits and pineapples.

bunny rabbits and pineapples on a blue store front, The LIttle Shop on Cheltenham ROad in Bristol

close up of mural - bunny rabbits and pineapples on a blue store frnt, The LIttle Shop on Cheltenham ROad in Bristol

below: A red dinosaur

street art mural, animals, red dinosaur, with some text graffiti too

below: A bird mural by Aspire

street art mural of a bird, blue and grey and black

below: Another Aspire bird, a robin on a tree branch. Beside it is an orange telephone box by D7606 (instagram)

a robin on a branch, mural, on green background, on a wall beside another street art piece of an ornge British telephone box

below: Bite the hand that feeds you. Someone is missing an arm!… it looks like it might by Ronald McDonald’s arm?

a graffiti fox, standing on two legs, with words, bite the hand that feeds you.

graffiti, cat head,red lips with green tongue sticking out, plys yellow triangle and blue circle

pink pink graffiti on a brick wall beside sign that says Princess Road

below: The ice cream in the cone is looking horrified as the teeth and beak of a yellow bird-like creature hovers above him. There is also an owl that was painted by Dscreet (Australian). The words between the bottom two windows say Burning C which is a reference to Burning Candy Crew, the group that Dscreet once belonged to.

a yellw bird creatre with a long beak, an owl and an ice cream cone

birds on a wire, silohuettes on blue background

blue cat like ceature with gold crown, sitting in window sill with two clay flower pots in front of it

Jamaica at Hillgrove, Bristol

Posted on December 22, 2017 by Mary C

below: A panda finds a quiet corner under the street sign.

small street art piece of a panda with bamboo in its mouth, under a street sign for Hillgrove Street

Hillgrove is a short street, two blocks long. It is dissected by Jamaica Street. On one corner is a large mural by Phlegm. A man looks through a telescope while sitting on the shoulders of a man who in turn is standing on stilts. One hand is holding the telescope while a bird on a rope is held by the other. A large red and white wave reminiscent of ‘The Great Wave off Kanagawa’ by Katsushika Hokusai is the eye catching focus of the painting. It’s as if he’s looking to the future while standing on the shoulders of giants (masters).

buildings on a street in Bristol, including one with a large mural by phlegm,large red and white wave with a person on a ladder besideit looking through a telescope

large mural by phlegm,large red and white wave with a person on a ladder besideit looking through a telescope

below: A stenciled cat walks on the sidewalk…. the work of Beastie.

small stencil of a realistic looking cat, on a concrete wall, at sidewalk level so itloks like it's walking on the pavement

below: A natural woman of sorts – with plants, vines and roots and the bugs and butterflies that depend on them.

tall narrowmura of a woman with flowers and vines and chinese character tattoo on her shoulder

Bristol paste-ups

Posted on December 21, 2017 by Mary C

below: Be brave paste-up by donk (instagram)

be brave pasteup by donk, ofLondon, in Bristol a young person with eys closed, Indian feather head dress on hed, in monotone black and white

below: Hero of the Beach (Ben Rider), Be Brave (donk), Play Nice (donk), and Adventures into the Future

section of wall covered with pasteups, be brave, play nice, adventures into the future, hero of the beach dog, ghetto blaster

below: This characters are the work of qWeRT (on instagram)

two little green andwhite characters on a blue wall, a red heart is above the head of a tall skinny standing creature while the other is sitting crossed legged beside him

two little purple and white characters on a beige wall, a red heart is above the head of a tall skinny standing creature while the other is sitting crossed legged beside him

vertical paste up, man in suit and good shoe, but with head and hands as machinery

below: A pouting child beside the steps.

black and white photo of a cjild with curly hair and topless

below: Ribcage and a pink ‘Grab This’ pussy with a gun. The latter is by Ben Rider (instagram)

two pink paste ups on a door - the top is a drawing of a ribcage, bones only and the other is a cat with a gn and the words grabthis (grab this pussy?)

below: Paint me a rainbow

a black girlwith long curly hair is painting a small house, the house is black and white but there is a rainbow of colours coming out of it

below: A torn version of the picture above along with some other pasteups. Men in glasses, profanity pony wishes, and a more complicated poster with a hand, a skull, and other things. The words on this last one say ‘Office of the Medical Examiner, County of Cook’. Eyes dominate two of the posters – same artist?

below: She carries an awkward load on the left while the girl on the right is well armed and well prepared.

below: Mais Amor, por favor…. more love please. Another pasteup by donk.

pasteup of a smiling woman's head, large puffy hairdo, words say mais amor por favor.

below: Another donk piece – a pirate lying in a liquor bottle with another bottle in his hand.

donk pasteup in a doorway, on brown paper, a drawing of a man lying on his back inside a liquor bottle, he's holding another bottle in his hand

graffiti text pasteup in black writng on white paper

below: I was in Bristol just before the British elections in the spring of 2017. There was quite a few anti-May/Tories and pro -Corbyn/Labour graffiti including this dinosaur themed one.

black and white poster on a graffiti spray painted wall, words n poster say TMay Rex with a picture in the middle of May's (British Prime Minister) head on a dinosaur

below: The Humble Magnificent with masked boy, a donk piece.

donk pasteup of a boy in hat, wearing mask and standing with his hands at his side, background is covered with large red polka dots - the border is the words The Humble Magnificent repeated 8 times

below: A creature waits outside number 42

on a blue door with the number 2 on it, a small black and white paste of a head of a creature, signed creature [illegible name - maybe arequte?]

below: mcln’s plague doctor character is in Bristol too. He’s drawn on a printed page and the words in that rectangle are ‘resist the temptation’.

mcln pasteup of plague doctor character in black top hat

Eyes on the Streets

and feets on the ground. Graffiti, street art and murals seen while wandering the streets and alleys of our colourful world.

Category Archives: Bristol