A walk around Bristol, the UK's street art HQ

When you think about Bristol and street art, your mind can't help but race through images of Banksy's work. But for those in the know, he was considered the city's second generation of street artists. The first generation were known as graffiti artists and followed a more New York style of aerosol art.

The Mild Mild West by Banksy, Stokes Croft, Bristol

I mention this because history is important to get context and dig deeper, beyond the superficial. On a recent "Where The Walls" street art tour visitors got a first hand account of the Bristol street art scene. The focus was on today's active artists, but if you press the tour guides they will fill you in on Bristol's vibrant graffiti heritage that has created the rich, creative community today. All the Where the Walls guides are involved in the street art scene today, but more importantly, have been around before anyone was interested in Banksy!

Join the 5-star rated tour and you might be lucky enough to be led around the city by John Nation. As an ex-youth worker and influential community leader of the Bristol street art scene you'll get a unique perspective of the scene. On my tour, visitors also heard about the history of Barton Hill Youth Club, which was a place teeming with graffiti talent back in the late '80s and early '90s. Check out pictures of the tour below.

See No Evil, 2013, Nelson St., Bristol

Why Bristol is UK's street art HQ   The love for graffiti and the laid back West Country manner allowed entrepreneurial artists to create an enviable environment to develop their artform. This is witnessed by legal, council and business supported events around the city, as early as the 1980s.

I first met Inkie, a leader in the street art movement in the UK, Europe and the U.S., at an Arnolfini Art Gallery event, 1985 (organized by Nick Walker.) This event featured the U.K.'s pioneering first wave of artists - Bristol's 3D, Goldie, Pride (The Chrome Angelz,) and ZBoys. Fast forward to 1998 and Bristol hosted "Walls of Fire." This time, Inkie organized this massive public graffiti art event around the Harbourside development in the center of the city.

More recent headlines have been made by Inkie's "See No Evil" street art festival which began in 2012 and ran until 2013. As described by the Bristol Evening Post, the event is taking a sabbatical this year to take stock and make plans for (hopefully) next year. Taking a break is also the theme for a south Bristol street art event, called Upfest. Described as "Europe's largest urban arts festival," Upfest ran for six years until this year in the Southville area of Bristol.

Today is my last day in Bristol. On this summer trip I got to join the street art tour and visit St. Paul's Carnival for the first time in over a decade. Things are different, but, oddly, also remain the same in this laid back city. Definitely make a visit if you get the chance. 

The Bristol Sound: Bass Oddity....Dazed & Confused

Last month my home town of Bristol, UK was featured in one of five music documentaries broadcast on Channel 4 in the UK. Luckily, for the rest of us outside of the UK Dazed & Confused Digital has made it available online. Check it below.



This 22-minute program really captures the village-like cultural melting pot of '80s Bristol. The audio of the jam where M.C. Krissy Kriss (aka Kinsman) freestyles over the Bob James "Mardi Gras" beats is like a time capsule. Even today it sounds so fresh! Culture clash moments like this made Bristol so special for a teenage hip hop fan. The city's party scene was matched by the underground graffiti scene. It wasn't quite New York, but everything London had, Bristol had too. This allowed all hip hop fans to develop a true love of the culture. That has lasted 30 years to this day.

In the late '80s, the city was bustling with spontaneous parties all across the city - St. Paul's, Clifton, Bedminster. My crew - Plus One - had parties in student apartments, garages and warehouses. This was the blues club mentality. The official clubs were still raw with energy: Dug Out, The Rummer, The Thekla, Lakota and Moon Club!

Me DJing my first blues party, St. Pauls, Bristol. c. 1986. Felix Braun by my side!

Here's a great soundtrack for the Bristol scene from DJ Die.

If you want more Bristol history, check out this Tangent Books publications: Art & Sound by Chris Burton and Gary Thompson. On the cover is Krissy Kriss and Nick Walker. It captures the unique Bristol scene through party flyers and photos from that era and recognizes the main crews from that time in the city. It was a magical time!


Today, Bristol might be infamous for Banksy, but I know Banksy himself would say that the Bristol scene before him influenced him greatly!

London's Scratch bring us a hip hop Expo 17 - December 6th-16th

B-Sides

Back in 1996, London's Scratch club started a monthly gig in the Kings Cross area in the Scala theatre. In fact, Scratch was probably part of the rejuvenation of Kings Cross before the condos and rail link to Paris!

Founded by Matt Smooth, Rob Mac and DJ Lyley, Scratch blended hip hop culture into a live event with guest D.J.s, graffiti exhibitions and live acts from the U.K. and 'on import'. Scratch even travelled through the U.K. and Europe and ventured into Asia and Australia. In 2001, Scratch even caught the attention of New York's Rawkus Records (Mos Def; Talib Kweli) with the release of a compilation "Scratch Vol. 1!"

Scratch club hip hop events, 2010

Christmas comes early  The latest venture is labeled "SCRATCH EXPO 17." Think of it as a more formal audio/visual retrospective exhibition from 1996 and beyond. The Expo will divide the gallery venue into two spaces. On display will be new canvas works from international graffiti-inspired artists. Artists who have worked with Scratch in the past include Moneyless (Italy), EMA (France) and 123Klan (Canada). From the UK will be Remi Rough, Robi Walters, Kid Acne and Etch. Special mention to Stevio V.I.P.s: Inkie and Shok1.

Scratch Expo 17

6th-16th December, 2012

Londonewcastle Project Space

28 Redchurch Street

Shoreditch

London

E2 7DP

View map

Inkie and Insa

Shok-1 x-ray canvases, 2012

Elph, Many Styles crew

Etch

Remi Rough and Shok1

Robi Walters

Giftin' #3: New and Improved graffiti - "Children of the Can 2.0"

This past weekend, Bristol's Tangent Books turned up the heat on Bristol graffiti with the second edition of Felix "FLX" Braun's 2008 book, "Children of the Can: Bristol Graffiti and Street Art." This is officially Stevio's Christmas gift list item #3!

The original book Braun laid out Bristol's rich graffiti history and gave props to the old skool heroes, the celebrities (3D, Banksy) and the various hangouts. Click here to read my 2011 interview with Felix about the book project and how it came about.

There's not much information on Amazon.com, but Alibris (pronounced “uh-LEE-briss”), the leading independent bookselling website, even has first edition copies - which are no longer in print and have sold out - available for a reasonable price!

"Author Felix Braun has completed a monumental research project to unravel the thread that leads to the beginnings of Bristol's world renowned street art scene. Only somebody on the inside would be able to track down the leading figures from the early 80s and Felix was at the very heart of the movement which revolved around youth worker John Nation at the Barton Hill youth project. This book contains more than 40 interviews and traces the Bristol street art story from early protagonists such as 3D from Massive Attack to the new crop of young artists operating in the city." Alibris

The second edition of "Children of the Can..." adds an extra 70 pages, 30 new artists and 100s of new pictures as Bristol has become a destination for artists from around the country and even from abroad. Banksy's notoriety has put the city on the map, but also community efforts like the People's Republic of Stokes Croft, or PRSC for short, has become a safe haven for artists. Even, Bristol's municipal authorities have embraced the energy of the graffiti and street art movement by supporting several ground breaking events, including Banksy's takeover of the Bristol Museum and the recent multi-day "See No Evil" graffiti festival organized by Felix "FLX" Braun's long-time friend, Inkie.


The launch event on Saturday December 1st  featured some of Bristol’s finest graffiti and street artists painting in near freezing weather conditions in the ‘Children of the JAM’ in the People's Republic of Stokes Croft area which has become a hub for legal graffiti and street art.

Children of the Can: Bristol Graffiti and Street Art 352-page hard back book that "traces the roots of the city's graffiti and street art culture back to the 80s when 3D and the Z-Boys were the first to bring the street style of New York to Bristol. Felix profiles writers such as Cheo, Jody and Inkie from the early days at John Nation's Barton Hill Youth Club through to Banksy, Lokey and the Bad Appelz Crew and the current crop of Bristol wriiters."

Tangent Books Read more about the publisher of "Children of the Can" and the other graffiti books, including a great one on Banksy's work, on its blog.

KCET brings legit graffiti art to your TV screens

L.A. Free Walls (credit: KCET)

Later today is the second chance to see Niche.LA's graffiti documentary following "Art Battle LA." Tune into KCET at 1.30pm today (or on Weds 5th Sept. at 12am midnight) if you are in the Southern/Central California region.

The Los Angeles vs. London graffiti face-off took place in May 2012 and is brought to the TV screen by KCET’s "Open Call" TV arts and culture series. Read more about the battle in my earlier posts here and here.





The BritWeek sponsored competition is the subject of Eric Heights' documentary as he follows two of Los Angeles' graffiti pioneers, Mear One and Man One, during a week together painting murals all over the city. They are joined by Inkie and Eine, household names from England. The tour was organized by LA Freewalls to support Hollywood Arts, a nonprofit dedicated to helping emancipated foster children living in the streets by teaching them employable arts skills.

“I wanted this documentary to reflect the new generation of artists emerging through graffiti art culture with a compassionate narrative structure that brings exclusive discussions on modern street art to a new audience.” Eric Heights, director.

Art Battle LA premiered on August 30th, 2012 on KCET, but will be repeated Sept. 3rd at 1:30PM and Sept. 5th at 12AM PST.

Over-The Air 28.1
Charter 309
Time Warner 412
DirecTV 28
Dish Network 28
AT&T U-verse 1028

Los Angeles graffiti hits Bristol, UK for "See No Evil" graffiti Olympics

As Los Angeles boils under a 100°F / 37°C sun some LA artists have decamped to cooler climes of England in pursuit of graffiti walls.

Man One (Crewest, Couple of Indians,) Mear (CBS, WCA) and Vyal (Couple of Indians) are making the 5,600 mile journey from LA to Bristol to participate in the UK's largest street art permanent exhibition. The second annual "See No Evil" event will be held again in Bristol, UK, infamous for its slave trade history and for being Banksy's hometown.

"See No Evil" postcard set (credit: Mark Chilvers)  

The UK connection  Both Man One and Mear competed against "See No Evil" organizer, Inkie, and Ben Eine in the BritWeek art event in May 2012 as reported on this blog. So it was only right to extend an invite to paint in Bristol. The painting starts tomorrow, but the official public opening of the finished walls is on Thursday 16th, August.

Check out the videos below for a sampler of the Bristol music (drum and bass) and the Bristol accent (West country) :). I'm proud to call it my hometown...5,600 miles from Los Angeles.

Graffiti Olympics  There are 72 confirmed artists selected by an art steering group, including Conor Harrington, L’atlas, Nychos, Flying Fortress, Seize, M-City, Pixel Pancho, Mark Bode, CanTwo, Chu, Satone, Lyken, Mr Jago, China Mike, Sick Boy, TCF crew, KTF Crew, Limited Press, Lucy McLauchlan, Kashink, Kuildoosh and Nick Walker.

Last Chance If you're quick you can see last year's phenomenal paintings from U.S. household names like El Mac and Tats Cru alongside the Brit posse: Nick Walker, Inkie, Soker, Jago, MauMau, China Mike amongst others. A full map can be found here.

To fully appreciate the scale of this event you only have to look at the supporters: the Arts Council England, London 2012 Festival, Bristol City Council, Watershed and the prestigious, University of Bristol. There are six events: Mail, Maps and Motion, the free all-day Block Party, the Longplaya art event and a trio of club parties. For street art lovers, there is the main event: a three-day street art event, plus the See No Evil gallery show featuring 50 artists and over 100 artworks available for sale. Check out more here on the official website.

Now that's Love  The city has closed down a section of central Bristol for the weekend so visitors can enjoy "See No Evil" as a walking experience.

See No Evil Official Schedule - all times are BST.

• Thursday 16th - Saturday 18th August - See No Evil Nelson Street art walls, free
• Thursday 16th August - Resident Advisor a taste of Bristol with Livity Sound, Eats Everything, Young Echo and Outboxx, tickets £5 (10pm-4am)
• Friday 17th August - See No Evil Paintworks Art gallery, free entry (11am – 7pm)
• Friday 17th August - FutureBoogie Recordings presents Eric Duncan, Behling & Simpson, Christophe & Lukas, tickets £5 (10pm-4am)
• Saturday  18th August - See No Evil Block Party, free (12-9pm)
• Saturday 18th August - See No Evil: Sound Clash with Smith & Mighty, DJ Krust , tickets £5  (10pm-4am)
• Monday 21th August - See No Evil Paintworks Art gallery, free entry (11am – 7pm)
• Tues 22nd August - See No Evil Paintworks Art gallery, free entry (11am – 7pm)

Mear, Eine and Inkie paint West Hollywood (May 2012)

I saw this video on I Wuz Here (First's) blog. My man Inkie painting with Ben Eine and LA's finest, Mear One, back in May during BritWeek cultural events.

Mear One is currently part of the West Coast Artist's group show at the Mirror Films Gallery in Chinatown. The show runs until July 10th, 2012. See my earlier post for more info.

LA's West Coast Artist group show

Mirror Gallery, 2012

When I first arrived in Los Angeles I noticed some graffiti crew affiliations clearly marked in the graffiti stronghold of Melrose Avenue alleys.

They would read "CBS," "Seventh Letter"...but I didn't realize how many of my favorite artists were down with West Coast Artists, aka WCA...Cartoon, Cre8, Make, Mear, Kofie, Retna.

Once exception is Risk. At his Robert Bergman show in 2008 he dedicated one whole wall to his history with West Coast Artists crew, including the world graffiti championship trophy won in Bridlington, England in 1989! If you ever see Inkie from the UK - go ask him about that battle.

Risk solo show, Robert Bergman Gallery, 2008

Last Saturday's group show at The Mirror Films Gallery showed how strong the crew's ties are. Read this LA Weekly blog for a short, but interesting read up on the crew and the show.

For great info on the artists featured in the show check out Mirror's store. You can also see if anyone has bid for your favorite pieces...$10,000 for a Risk mixed media installation, anyone?

Snap, snap  Here are a selection of pictures I took from the opening night of the WCA show in Chinatown (which has had an injection of cool recently!)

West Coast Artists group show runs until July 10th, 2012.

Mirror Gallery, 963 Chung King Road, Chinatown.
Open Mon-Fri noon to 6 p.m., or by appointment

Round Up: Inkie US Tour

After the BritWeek art event in LA in May, Inkie went on to visit San Francisco and New York to paint some wildstyle!

 

Check out these pictures from his Facebook page...awesome!

 

Roll Call:

• San Francisco: 54 Crew, SF OG Cuba, K2, DNO, Spic, Seso in the Mission district
• New York: Tats Cru (Nicer, Bio) in the Boogie Down and 5 Pointz Hall of Fame

 

Mission, San Francisco (credit: Inkie)

 

5 Pointz, Long Island City (credit: Inkie)

Inkie painting with Bio and Nicer, Tats Cru (credit: Harriet Turney)

BritWeek: Eine and Inkie fly the Union Jack in LA (May 2012)

It took place last month, but it's still worth sharing these images of the painting action between LA and UK graffiti artists.

Mear One painting (credit: WeAreLovelyCreative)

 The "paint off" in downtown LA's at the Continental Gallery was part of the on-going British culture push to raise awareness of the Olympic Games this summer in London (and the recent HRH The Queen's Diamond Jubilee.) But what was special was this was PR event were the artists taking part: in the red corner was LA's Mear One and Man One (of Crewest Gallery) were painting live; and in the blue corner were UK's Eine (the man with the store shutter lettering and "Art in the Streets" credit) and man about town, Inkie, flexing their skills.

Inkie (UK) tags a fan's shirt

Eine (UK) paints a version of his "Worth More Than a Scion"

Mear One, Man One, Eine and Inkie painted on Jaguar carhoods (one of the sponsors) and recycled furniture pieces designed by Christopher Guy. I didn't stay for the judges winning votes, but the live painting experience from Mear One would've had my unanimous vote. Sorry UK! :)

Man One painting

Mear One live brush action

Check out more photos of the night here....

Tags to Riches...Bristol's #graffiti documentary

I spotted this documentary on a tweet from Bristol's Art-El Gallery. It's hard to believe that's Goldie narrating...sounds kinda posh ;)

Tags to Riches, as the title suggests, follows the rise of the previously frowned upon graffiti street art. It delves into commercial art world and the criminality of graffiti through interviews and commentary from all sides of the argument.

"It's quite safe to say we've gone beyond the point of no return for the urban movement...Urban art movement has become the new contemporary pop art." Acoris Andipa

Of particular interest to me was the interesting position that Bristol City Council finds itself in. On the one hand, it maintains its hardline on illegal vandalism, yet it has made exceptions for Banksy due to popular public opinion.

#EXCLUSIVE interview with #FLX, author of "Children of the Can" #graffiti book

"Children of the Can" is an ambitious project by veteran Bristol graffiti artist and an old friend of mine, Felix "FLX" Braun. The book documents 25 years' of Bristol graffiti history...That's from the 1980s until, well...you can count. It serves as a study of Bristol street art, its key players and its influences. It's like a masters degree in Bristol street art!

The world's most famous Bristol (and possibly the world!) street artist is undoubtably Banksy. He needs no introduction, after all he's had a solo show in the Bristol Museum! But ask him who his influences were back in the day and he may well mention some of the artists in this book. Get yourself a copy here on Amazon.

I managed to chat with FLX about the Bristol street art scene and how it has changed in recent times. Here's the interview...

Stevio: This past Christmas I saw the Lakota Club mural on Moon St. in Stokes Croft. Can you tell me how that huge wall painting came about?

Lakota Club mural, Moon St., Bristol, U.K.

FLX: "The club had been needing a repaint for some time, having previously been painted by Paris and Eko of TCF Crew, some ten years plus earlier. It was looking pretty tatty and the new proprietors jumped at the chance to have it redone. Well, in actual fact, the new proprietors approached Cheo, and independently the building's owners approached me. I've known them for many years. I basically made Cheo an offer he couldn't refuse. He's not really into the organisational side of painting, which I thrive on; so i said 'look, i'll round the boys up, you do your bit, and everyone's a winner.' And it came off really well, it still looks fresh a year and a half later."

Lakota Club artists

Stevio: Many artists contributed to wall. What can you share about them and how do they fit into the history of 25 years' of Bristol graffiti?

FLX: "Well Cheo, Jody and me all come from the first wave of writers in Bristol, and we all originally met at Barton Hill youth centre in the late 80s. It was the first proper, legal hall of fame in the city and was also the focus for a lot of large-scale bombin missions at the time. Mecca! Soker's from the second wave, but only just, he's also a grumpy old fucker like Cheo, Jody and me, and he just so happens to be one of the UK's best style writers, so he had to be down. And then 3Dom, Epok and Sepr are basically the best of the young bloods.



All really excellent in their own right, but more importantly they're team players, not afraid to muck in and also able to leave their egos at home for the benefit of creating a great wall. Because I have no crew affiliations as such it's easy for me to cherry pick a team that are suited to a particular job. Honourable mentions must go to Lokey, Haka and Cheba, who all painted round the far side of the building as well."

Lokey, Haka, Cheba, Lakota Club side wall (credit: Bristol Graffiti)

Stevio: Are there any artists from the first wave of writers who are still doing illegal pieces?

FLX: "A couple, but 'honour amongst thieves' and all that!"

Stevio: How did the "Children of the Can" project come about and how long did it take from conception to finding an interested publisher?

FLX: "It started as a dare, some friends and me were looking at a really rather poor attempt to document Bristol's contemporary graffiti and street art scene, and being the opinionated old sod that I am, I blurted old "this is shit, I could do much better than this!" To which came the collective reply "go on, then, we dare you!

"So i started talking to a few people about it, including a couple of local publishers, and literally the second one i spoke to was sold on the idea right away. Well, the first one was as well, but i didn't think they were quite right, really, for one reason or another. It took very little time from the initial idea to getting a publisher onboard, i just wrote a sample chapter, an introduction and a skeleton idea for the structure of the whole project, and that was it. I presented a slide show of a few photos and talked about it, and the next thing it was on.

Sepr, Soker, 3Dom, Epok and FLX, St.Werburgh's 2010

"Richard Jones, at Tangent, was really easy to work with, and totally open to my ideas; including my insistence that we don't have a big, gold sticker on the front saying "FEATURING BANKSY!!!" which would have ruined it. But, Banksy wrote his own little, low-key chapter and we got some exclusive, unseen material of his in there, so it was all good."

Stevio: What influence do you think Banksy has had for the street art scene and Bristol? Do you think he still regards himself as a Bristolian, even though he spends more time out of the city than living there?

FLX: "I'm sure he still thinks of himself as Bristolian, although to my knowledge he hasn't lived here for a very long time (allegedly!). But I know he has a lot of love for the place, I think the Bristol Museum show demonstrated that.

Credit: Thou Shall Not Covet

I'd say some of his influence has actually been quite negative. Through no fault of his own, there are far too many people that think stenciling is an aesthetic, rather than a medium. And that's a global thing, too. We don't need a thousand Banksy clones with less wit and none of his originality, thank you very much! But, that said, I'm sure in general he has had a very positive impact on people's attitudes towards the art form in the city. There are now a number of galleries, decriminalised zones for painting, graffiti supply stores, and so on. The scene's pretty rich here, and he's definitely played a part in that."

Stevio: Did you discover any surprising realizations or angles as you put the book together? What did you leave out and why?

FLX: "Not really. I made a lot of friend s and a few enemies, but that's inevitable; after all it's only my take on what happened. Most people were really cooperative, including the big names, and had a lot of help and support from the graffiti community. A few people were upset when it came out, especially those who were left out, obviously, but you can't include everyone and everything.

"I would have liked to have included a whole section on tagging and hand styles, since they're the skeleton of all style-writing, as every graffiti writer knows. Also a lot of the active illegal writers weren't exactly forthcoming with information and photos, for obvious reasons, and there were some things that i was told and shown that people got cold feet about. That was a real shame. Some of the best quotes about the contemporary bombing scene never made the final edit."

Sepr, Soker and FLX, University West of England 2009

Stevio: What ideas and images were some artists nervous about sharing? And why?

FLX: "Well, if I told you that I'd be breeching their trust, now, wouldn't I? In very general terms anything overtly incriminating, and individuals being unwilling to be quoted specifically on things. Pictures of people in train yards are always tricky, obviously."

Stevio: What do you think the next 25 years of Bristol graffiti will entail? And what do you think Bristol needs to do to nuture or control it?

FLX: "You can't control graffiti, that's the whole point! And i'd hate to see it happen. Heaven forbid! I think in the next 25 years people will be hitting the outside of 30-storey buildings whilst flying using jet packs, and using portable teleportation devices to hit the inside of 10 Downing Street and New Scotland Yard. Which will probably be called Old Scotland Yard, by then.

"Bristol Council are trying to get their heads around it, but in truth it's duality (legal vs illegal) is very troublesome for them. How do you sanction and promote what is obviously a huge part of the city's cultural heritage and appeal (especially to students) when you have whole departments solely dedicated to its eradication and continued criminalisation. It's tricky, right?"

3Dom, Epok, Soker, Sepr and FLX, 2010

Stevio: "Paris has always been a destination for old skool writers. Where do you think Bristol ranks in the graffiti cities of the UK and Europe? Do you ever think they'll be a day when New York old skool writers Seen or Sharp move to Bristol?

FLX: "Ha. Well, it wouldn't surprise me if they visited. That's one thing the future may well hold, more international links, a big annual jam would be nice, with some big names flying in to paint.

UK-wise it's right up there, a lot of people move here specifically to paint. Europe-wide it's not that bombed-out at all, not compared to, say, Berlin, or Lisbon. I was in Lisbon last year and it's incredible. The council are embracing there, too. Good on them."

Stevio: Thanks for the time FLX!

A walking tour of Bristol's street art scene #graffiti #banksy

I was in Bristol this past Christmas and documented my walking tour of the new (to me) street art centers. Weapon of Choice in St. Michael's Hill; King of Paint in the Bear Pit under the coach station; and Peoples' Republic of Stokes Croft (home to at least two Banksy murals) and some other parts of Bristol.

The Bristol street art scene has exploded in recent years and is even getting some local government support thanks to community organization via groups like the Peoples' Republic of Stokes Croft that cover Ashley Rd., Jamaica St. and Moon St. where art has been prevalent for years. I got to see some of the artists at work and to talk with Jake of the PRSC Gallery on Jamaica St.

Lakota Club, Moon St.

King of Paint, Bear Pit

Mack Daddy's salon, Colston St.

Teef  Although there's a lot of great work in my hometown, I did see a few derivatives that were stolen from well-publicized Californian artists. Notably, Sam Flores' figure clothed in animal costume and the infamous Rick Ordonez whose kitty cat graffiti got him locked up in L.A. It happens everywhere, but I was lil' surprised since the Internet reveals fakes pretty quickly. This was almost like when "Subway Art" first came to the UK and kids copied outlines!

Let your fingers do the walking  Here's an interactive map of my nearly 100 photos I created using C&B's *free* Mapaset application. Just click on the red dots or the photos. (Unfortunately, on this page the scrolling photo bar is hidden, but click on this version for the full experience!)

Catch Inkie's solo #graffiti show in #Bristol, ends January 9th

Inkie piece (credit: Strokeface)

Bristol-born, London-based graffiti artist, Inkie, has opened his first solo show in his home town. The Bank of Stokes Croft has a selection of his illustrative style graffiti canvases on show until Sunday and the show has been extended due to "popular demand" into the new year.

"Due to the outstanding public demand we will be restocking the 25 Years of Ink show with more graffiti based work as well as some classic Ink Nouveau ladies!

Please come and join us on Thursday 16th December from 6-9pm for free hot mulled cider and  mince pies the new show will run until Sunday the 9th January.

"I will also be launching 2 new prints. One based on my recent painting at Arnos Vale cemetery and the other a classic Inkie Wildstyle print..."

"The show is a look back at the 25-year career of Inkie, covering his graffiti work, his Ink Nouveau ladies (example below,) t-shirt graphics and selected old and new design and print works from the period 1985 to 2010." Bristol Culture

"Bristol is a beautiful Georgian city with a very creative outlook/attitude tucked away from the rest of UK and has a lot of good cider, weed and mushrooms. That helped.

"The styles used in graffiti are everywhere from street signs to plants to ancient temples. The key is to combine all of these mentally and freestyle your ideas out in your design." Inkie

Check out Bristol's Weapon of Choice.
Read an interview with Inkie at SomaSomaScene.