Graffoto Round Up of the Year - Part 4

Photos by HowAboutNo and NoLionsInEngland


And here we have it folks, part 4 of 4 in the round up of 2011.

This final look at the year now covers September all the way through to the end of December. Being that it was mild for the time of year, and there were a shed load of art festivals and paint jams in town, the surrounding areas had a nice smattering too.

Street art pastes and stencils seemed to be out of the window for pretty much most of this quarter, and I think that was also a big shift for the year. Good to see more talented artists grafting it at the side of a wall. Also nice to see lots of quick and dirty damage throughout town.


Rowdy/Horror, photo HowAboutNo



Rusht, photo HowAboutNo



Shane ODV, photo HowAboutNo



Roid MSK, photo HowAboutNo



D*Face in progress outside the Moniker Art Fair, photo HowAboutNo



And completed, photo HowAboutNo



Various, photo HowAboutNo



Gold Peg, photo HowAboutNo



A solid year for the machine of graff that is Probs. Think this is my fave piece he has done ever. (photo HowAboutNo)



I think we'll see a bit more of JimmyC in 2011 (photo HowAboutNo)



Motor, photo HowAboutNo



C215, photo HowAboutNo


, photo HowAboutNo


2011 was the year Ronzo turned his hand away from sculpted pieces to graff.....and a welcome turn it was. This piece painted with Conor Harrington


photo HowAboutNo


Evol impressively buggered about with scale this set of blocks making up a mini housing estate complete with Elk, Drax and Shun tags. Read more about his visit here


photo HowAboutNo


Banksy did quite a few street pieces, all outside Soreitch - consequently I didn't get off my lazy arse to photograph them. No bother, this was my favourite thing he did all year anyway.


General and most lovely damage . . . (photo HowAboutNo)



Swoon, photo HowAboutNo



This superb paste up by Gaia lasted no more than a few days and was fly posted over (photo HowAboutNo).



Revok/Roid at the most single hit "legal" spot in Shoreditch (photo HowAboutNo).


Don’t believe the nay-sayers saying the scene has tanked, looking back we have been overwhelmed with top quality shit on the streets of London in 2011. Stuff that should have got a mention earlier but just got missed in the admittedly random selection process includes:

Phlegm was down several times during the year


photo: NoLionsInEngland


One of the highlights of the year was the privilege of seeing Sweet Toof and Paul Insect collaborate on this stunning rooftop piece, and in case you missed it, the timelapse is here


photo: NoLionsInEngland


Elbow Toe


photo: NoLionsInEngland


This Chu sticker made us chuckle earlier in the year


photo: NoLionsInEngland


So that's it for Graffoto's round up of the action in 2011. At the beggining and at lots of points throughout the year it did seem like it was stale and not moving anywhere. Part of wanting to look back at the year at the begginging of a new one has shown that it was a busy and colourful year, full of lots of new names and techniques and people to watch in 2012.


The shift also seemed to go towards lots more "with permission" spots last year, I guess a big test for those shutters and areas may fall closer to Olympics time, when the council may decide to buff at random for no reason whatsoever.

Happy 2012. Fuck The Buff.

we are merely vermin

A brief retrospective on the Souls on Fire (SOF) lads, and a special mention for Vermin who has his own show this month

All photos by shellshock


“If human beings were shown what they're really like, they'd either kill one another as vermin, or hang themselves“ (Aldous Huxley)


I’ve always been partial to a bit of the Souls on Fire (SOF) crew. They make you work. It’s not a picture of a decent looking woman, or a 6th Former’s clumsy political message. They make you wonder what it is in their art that you like. It makes you delve into your inner core to worry about yourself and your own frame of mind. Am I a bit mad because I like this stuff? Don’t answer that question….

I wanted to do a short blog on their work, and when I had a look through my photo archive I realised that they are slightly elusive and their pieces were rather thin on my ground. But it’s still nice to raid the archive and show a smattering of their productions in Bristol.

SOF mainly hail from Frome in Somerset (pronounced ‘Froom’, like vroom, and NEVER ‘Frowm’, like gnome, although more and more newsreaders seem to be doing that) and consist of Pen, Boswell (who used to write under the name ‘Warp‘), Vermin and Rowdy. They mainly write and paint in Bristol and as you’ll see from my slightly random photos they also often work on their own, plus collaborating with other writers, some of whom may not be obvious choices.



Boswell & 3rd Eye - St Werberghs tunnel - August 2008


Pen & Rowdy - St Werberghs tunnel - August 2008


Here’s a few from the Mina Rd tunnel in Bristol a couple of years ago. Boswell does his customary ‘Where The Wild Things Are’ type creatures, but 3rd Eye has his ever so slightly fluffy edges with cartoon-ish characters (still maybe not a cartoon for the kiddiewinks though...).

Pen writes his name like he’s under electric shock treatment and Rowdy shows his ‘other style’; that of ethereal impressionist abstraction (it’s not all crocodiles and painted rocks you know)


Boswell and Pen - The Deaner - July 2009 (with a sliver of Kato on the left)


Boswell and Cheo close up - The Deaner - July 2009


Boswell and Cheo - The Deaner - July 2009

Over the other side of town, I’ve found a few in the archive from the Dean Lane skate park in July 2009. It’s no surprise that Boswell and Pen mutually work together (top photo), but let’s be honest who would have expected Cheo and Boswell to be able to sit on a wall in sync!? Somehow they pull it off, rather like a nice cop / nasty cop routine.


Vermin and Mr Jago - Stokes Croft - September 2010


Vermin - close up - Stokes Croft - September 2010

Finally, I’ve pinned one down from Vermin (a.k.a Dale ‘vn’ Marshall), painted this summer with Mr Jago round the back of Stokes Croft (the self proclaimed ’cultural quarter’ of Bristol). The emotion and fluidity in both of their work shines out for me.

I think it might be my Asperger’s leaning, but I could lap this stuff up all day. I find the abstractions and fantastical meanderings mesmerising, and I‘ve never been afraid of a bit of darkness and emotion. It‘s probably therefore no surprise that my favourite canvas was done by Crie, from the Trans Pennine Nomads (TPN) crew; someone I’ve blogged on several times before. And no visitor has ever had a bad word to say about it (yet.... Nolions & HAN have never been round to my gaff...lol)


My Crie canvas

So, I’m looking forward to ‘Room 101, The Fine Art of Graffiti‘, which is Vermin’s first solo show, opening this week. It showcases 101 oil paintings completed in 101 days this summer, as well as five additional show paintings and site-specific installations. Details are on the flyer below.



The room 101 theme obviously draws parallels from George Orwell’s novel, 1984, as well as Dale’s personal experiences and ongoing battle with his own mental health, including stays in a secure unit. His history and life story (visit here for details) is in equal parts amazing, shocking and totally understandable when you see his art. I don’t know Dale but I feel some connection through his art, maybe aided by us being from the same city. My own minor battles cannot be compared to his, but I do get a strong personal feeling from all of this, and my heart skips a beat when I dip into his story and his soul.

The show also has a dedicated website here

Subway Art 25th Anniversary Edition

I thought that as a reference book and an X-ray shot into a counter culture that generally is inclined to shun publicity, Subway Art could not be bettered. Sitting with the 30cm x 43cm 25th anniversary addition on my knees (the book – not me) I conclude that as a photograph album this new edition just blows your socks off.







When I looked at the picture above I wondered if it was just the irregular lighting in my irregular kitchen that made the colour of the old book photos look a bit richer but a close comparison reveals the truth. At the larger scale the over-saturation of some of the colours is reduced and you can see more of the detail of the graff archaeology seeping through from the pieces underneath that have been gone over. Obviously, you can only really prove that with the Mk I eyeball, the pics you look at here have been distorted by being captured on the camera, buggered about with the flickr resolution compromises and then knackered by displaying on whatever device you use to read this. This picture is a detail of the L in a BLADE piece, old edition above, anniversary edition below.




The launch and signing graced by the presence of Martha Cooper, Henry Chalfant and Blade drew a legendary attendance of current graffiti writers and London Ol Skool (HAN – “Court and Social” page on this blog?).


Blade, Chalfant, Cooper. Sweet Toof canvas behind.


Interestingly, along with pages from the book being displayed on the wall, some huge canvasses painted by members of the Burning Candy crew provided their own stylistic and lyrical interpretation of a few of the historic and renowned images from Subway Art. Gorgeous stuff. And the Burning Candy guys had to queue like the rest to get their new books signed.


TEK 33 - Subway Fiction



Rowdy - "Train-surfing Mouse"



TEK 33 - Night Of The Denoms

Rowdy - Never Smile At A Crocodile

Sartorial Gallery
London
4 June – 27 June 2009

all photos: NoLionsInEngland except Romanywg where noted


Burning Candy crew of Bristol and London has knack for pleasing both fans of graff and street art. A crew show in October 08 was followed in short order by a Sweet Toof solo show in Dec/January and now it’s Rowdy’s turn to rock his skills at Sartorial Gallery in London.

On the streets, Rowdy is best known for his crocodiles with their oversize teeth and luminous eyes.


Burning Candy – Brick Lane, London


Occasionally cameos come from a scraggy wild faced fox and a prickly hedgehog, which like the crocs are invariably given menacing snarls and grins.


Rowdy/Sweet Toof



Rowdy/Sweet Toof/Cyclops/DScreet


Recent isolated examples of indoor daubings which have cropped up at urban art auctions have suggested a preference for the abstract, it was a pleasant surprise of sorts to find the large upper room full of crocs and foxes familiar from the streets. Indeed, a very substantial mobile of menacing wooden crocs the same as ones which used to be seen glued to road signs, gates and doorways dominates the room. Little jasper will grow up a twisted and terrified brat after having one of these hanging over his crib.


Never Smile At A Crocodile


Rowdy’s anthropomorphised animal characters cruise an urban landscape of offices and towerblocks, the town is the swamp and the crocodiles are the king predators. Bold primary colours and a simple style gives the Rowdy panorama the feel of nursery book illustrations. Curiously, about half of the paintings are called simply “untitled”


Untitled


Rowdy’s vision is clearly a city environment where danger lurks. The menacing half hidden predators cruise the streets and hide behind buildings. What do they signify though? Burning Candy gallery work has historically empathised with the underdog, the outcast and the outlaw, so possibly Rowdy’s characters are criminals. Perhaps they are the authorities, the rozzers, the bodies who would love to catch graff crews in the act. One painting which does have a title is Displaced Bank Manager, the dishevelled appearance and manic stare conveys an idea of a fat cat on his arse through greed and incompetence with only his pension pot to keep him company whilst his mates the crocs continue to lurk deep in the streets. Hang on, we’re back to crims again, a classic case of mixing up your crocodiles and allegories.


Displaced Bank Manager


A trio of very large canvasses create a night time urban panorama, the black night allow the illumination of neon lights and buildings o develop a luscious glow in these pieces. The cities are built on rivers and crocs patrol these waters. This trio didn’t look like they formed a tryptich but that was impossible to confirm due to the crowds, that’s what you get you place the bar next to the set piece paintings. At least you didn’t have to walk too far from the front door to get you free beer, so who would argue that the priorities were wrong?


Untitled


Rowdy has a love affair with a double image composition. Street pieces often incorporate double ended crocs, twin-headed with no tail like in the Burning Candy Brick Lane piece photograph at the start, this compositional structure is repeated in the gallery where the cityscape often includes a waterfront, giving him the chance to create reflections. It probably not just coincidence that some of the best photos of Rowdy’s work in the wild involves water reflections.


Synchronised Swimming – Rowdy In The Gallery



Crocs In A Swamp (detail of original photo courtesy Romanywg)


There is a very architectural feel to the small collection of paintings downstairs which lift the paintings up from the pure abstract like a stone skimming over water. Some of the paintings have an incredible depth, the layers dare eachother to cross the room or burrow back into the walls. The pictures invite you to step into them, perhaps then to turn around and stare back out at the world, who knows, perhaps you’ll see grinning crocs and wild eyed foxes staring in.


African Fence


Within the abstract pieces, stare long enough and perhaps the vertical and horizontal impressions resolve into proxies for buildings, horizons and rivers (so, not pure abstract then)


Benfica


Late night car journeys, peering at beacons and neon signs through rainswept windsceens are darkly captured in Botafugo (a place in Brazil), at least that’s what comes to my mind.


Botafugo


You could lose yourself in these for hours. Where the sense of urban landscape fades away to leave just distant horizons, the trick seems to be accomplished by switching from well defined acrylic blobs and runs to bursts of spraypaint.


Untitled


Rowdy has an effective and evocative technique, but technically probably isn’t quite at the same levels of accomplishment demonstrated by Sweet Toof and Cyclops but that’s a bit like saying the Beatles weren’t brilliant musicians, the effect is the important thing. Rowdy doesn’t lose his street content or skills in transferring to the gallery yet the work stands well in comparison with almost all other shows flying the Urban Art tag this year. And you definitely have to see the pieces in person to appreciate some of the subtle layer effects properly.


Untitled. tinny by separate negotiation


The set of pics from the show can be seen here.

Appetites whetted for a recollection of the Burning Candy Show at Sartorial in October 2008 can obtain satisfaction here.

Sweet Toof’s ultrabrite gallery performance in December 08 went up and down, up and down till it was clean and sparkling.