Located two hours west of London Bristol is the European capital of street art and graffiti. But Bristol street art does not begin with Banksy. Not by a long shot. No, back in the mid-1980’s, the likes of Inkie and Nick Walker were already experimenting with graffiti around the city.
Inspired by the subway art coming out of New York, they treated the city around them as a blank canvas. But it is unlikely that they could predict how Bristol street art would capture the public imagination some 30 years later.
Bristol street art even has its own series of apps now. The Banksy Bristol Tour, available for iPhone and Android, takes users on a tour of Banksy’s Bristol. And walking tours are a common sight around the city. I did one myself by Duncan McKellar, and the photos in this post came from this 2016 Bristol tour.
But Bristol’s mayor Marvin Rees does not agree with the explosion of street art around the city. In November 2016, he launched his Clean Streets campaign to improve the city by 2020.
While his focus is primarily on fly-tipping and fly-posting, some worry about the effect of the campaign will have on the street art that has made Bristol famous. A group of street artists, including Benoit Bennett (AKA object…), have asked the council for the right to paint on 56 walls around the city.
If it goes ahead, it should give the artists more time to create their work, improving its quality. Street artist Decay also points out it means artists can choose if they want to paint legally, or illegally and accept the consequences of their choice.
But what of that famous Bristol son who did not care about the legality of street art? What about Banksy?
Banksy
Banksy has a more enduring appeal than many other artists. While critics dismiss other artists as just creating ‘graffiti’, they hail Banksy as a true artist. Is it his dry sense of humour? Or is it that his work often conveys messages that capture the mood of the moment in space and time?
His famous Well Hung Lover piece is one of his earlier works. It was created in 2006 when the building was a sexual clinic and depicts a naked man hanging out of the window to escape his lover’s suspicious husband. A thought-provoking and humorous subject, typical of Banksy. And it is one of the few to still exist in Bristol.
Found on Frogmore Street, it now acts as a site of pilgrimage for Banksy fans. The best view is from the small bridge on Park Street that crosses Frogmore Street. But not everyone is a fan of this uncompromising rogue artist and the famous image was vandalised in 2009 with blue paint and had to be painstakingly repaired, although the damage is still visible today.
It is a testament to Banksy’s success that new street art now covers the walls below the piece. Previously, Bristol artist Philth’s work depicting a woman tearing apart an orb occupied this same space, proof of the temporary nature of this art form.
But Banksy owes a great debt to the Parisian street artist, Blek Le Rat. As the founding father of the stencil technique, Blek was unimpressed to see Banksy adopt his trademark rat icon. Theorists believe the same rat icon revealed the identity of the mysterious street artist in 2009 though the work was never verified. But if Banksy is not the only street artist to come out of Bristol, who else should you check out?
Inkie
Inkie is one of the kings of Bristol street art. He was arrested with his group of artists in 1989 during Operation Anderson. Since then, he has been head of creative design at Sega. And he is now a teacher of art and graphic design. Inkie cites his time as a graffiti artist as a crucial training period for his creative expression.
Inkie also acted as the curator of the first See No Evil festivals in 2011. The festival took place around Nelson Street, a central route through Bristol. The festival transformed the drab street of 1960’s architecture into an outdoor exhibition. Graffiti artists came from all over the world to display on the Nelson Street walls. The street was mostly repainted in a repeat event in 2012.
Nick Walker
Born in Bristol, Nick Walker is often credited as an influence on Banksy. And like Banksy, Walker has displayed work all over the world, including New York and Paris.
Nick Walker’s contribution to the See No Evil festival was this immense bowler-hatted gentleman, pouring paint down the side of the building. This is one of only a handful of murals from the 2011 See No Evil festival that was voted to be saved before the 2012 festival. Walker’s suited man got the highest number of votes. His Vandal character was even featured in the video for I Gotta Feeling by the Black Eyed Peas.
Tucked away in Trenchard Street is this amazing stencil also by Nick Walker, which predates the See No Evil festivals.
Looking more closely at the butterflies reveals a wealth of detail, some of which are quite sinister.
Walker’s work now sells for huge sums. His ‘Moona Lisa’ work sold for £54,000 in 2006. And in 2008, he sold £750,000 worth of art at a solo exhibition.
Stik
The London street artist Stik was homeless until recently. He used leftover paint he found on building sites to begin his street art career.
While Stik is not from Bristol, he has left his mark on the city. The Stik Twins adorn the side of a 1960s tower block in the Nelson Street area.
Stik is a socially conscious street artist. He uses his stick figures to tell stories from the community, wherever that community happens to be. He often works with charities and organisations that work with the homeless.
Fans love the sheer simplicity and innocence of his work.
Conor Harrington
Conor Harrington is based in London. While he started as a graffiti artist, he now paints outdoor murals on commission.
His work combines classical art and street art. And his epic mural, The Duel of Bristol, is no different. Like Stik, Harrington is only a visitor to the city.
Found just off Broad Street, The Duel has a grace and level of detail often missing from street art. Harrington painted the huge mural for the second See No Evil festival in 2012.
Pixel Pancho
Pixel Pancho studied Fine Art in Spain, where he began his studies in street art. Valencia’s walls became his canvas. Inspired by Salvador Dali, Joaquin Sorolla and even El Equipo Cronica, Pixel Pancho mixes a range of artistic styles in his work.
Many of his paintings include robots, and he depicts the humanisation of robotic figures.
This mechanical bird appeared in Nelson Street during the 2012 See No Evil festival.
Aryz
This Spanish artist came to Bristol for the 2011 See No Evil festival. It was the second mural voted to be saved. He is famous for using spray paint and paint rollers to achieve his detailed paintings.
This 5-floor tall dog looks up at the Stik Twins. It is painted in Aryz’s trademark style. According to local See No Evil legends, he painted it in one day. Aryz is also an illustrator, and uses screen-printing in his smaller scale works.
El Mac
The Los Angeles-born artist draws his inspiration from a wide range of sources, including the Mexican culture of the American Southwest, religious art, and classical artists like Caravaggio.
El Mac used his girlfriend as the model for this vast mural on Nelson Street. El Mac uses a series of lines to achieve his 3D style.
This mural from the 2011 See No Evil festival was the third painting voted to be ‘saved’.
Justyna Budzyn
In Leonard Lane, between Corn Street and Small Street are smaller but interesting pieces like the one by Justyna, which uses a combination of typography and ceramics in her work.
Justyna focuses on man as an animal, and his place in wider ecosystems. There are a lot of references to nature in her work.
JPS Artist
Stencils by JPS are a huge part of the Bristol street art scene. You can see Banksy’s influence in his early work.
This piece appeared in Frogmore Street, and artist Jamie Paul Scanlon, alias JPS, claimed it after many believed it was painted by Banksy. This is not the first time a JPS stencil has caused confusion in the minds of Bristol residents. In May 2013, a few blocks away the ‘Girl On A Swing With Balloons’ was also initially mistakenly attributed to Banksy. A nice publicity stunt that does not detract from his talent.
Just round the corner, near the Queenshilling Nightclub, is another more recent piece by JPS that is a tribute to the late Welsh actor Andy Whitfield. The artist is still based in Weston-super-mare.
TATS CRU
TATS CRU is not one artist, but rather several. The group of graffiti artists turned muralists are based in the Bronx. They have even worked with huge corporations like Coca Cola and Sony.
Their large group self-portrait is below Nick Walker’s Vandal. They referenced the famous image of New York construction workers eating lunch on a girder high above the city.
The work was painted for the 2011 See No Evil festival.
Moose
Moose, real name Paul Curtis, has a different approach to other street artists.
Instead of painting on city walls, he uses a jet washer and stencils to remove pollution and dirt. In the past, he is also used an electric toothbrush to clean his art surfaces. You can see his Christmas scene here.
His form of ‘reverse graffiti’ should fit in well with the Bristol Clean Streets campaign.
The Leeds born artist created an environmentally friendly mural of swallows and flowers.
Bristol Street Art
It is undeniable that Bristol is the British capital of street art. Sadly, not all of the spray paint on display is true street art – not compared to the work of an artist like Harrington.
Whether the street artists can work with Bristol’s council remains to be seen. But it would be a blow to the city’s vibrant visual culture if its street art was treated like common fly-tipping.
If you would like to see more Bristol street art, then why not visit then city during the Upfest street art festival? It runs from Saturday 29th to Monday 31st July 2017.