Gang Gallery of Tags and Graffiti
The Gang gallery is made up of photos taken by my husband and myself of tags and graffiti in Bristol UK 2009. Most of them are current adornments on walls and spaces up Gloucester Road, the Waterfront and Bedminster. They make for an interesting walk-about, as they lead a person up alley ways and side roads that would otherwise not be noticed. I now find myself peeking around corners and narrow city walkways and because of this I and my untiring hero and 'hugsband' have come to see Bristol from an altogether different side than the average Bristolian and tourist. The art is quite inspiring on a grey day as colour really pops against cement grey skies and often dingy buildings. Keep an eye on the Gang Gallery and Grafitti gallerys as we will be adding more as we find them. We also have a South-African Gallery coming up soon featuring some of the Grafitti found in Johannesburg, Gaugteng.
You have to love the girls, they for me are enchanting and definitely deserve a hanging space on this wall of the Gang Gallery. Jody appears to be a Tag of the Grafitti artist. Most grafitti artists prefer to remain an enigma these days, following in the foot steps of Banksy and in some instances, to remain out of trouble. Sadly the Banksy showing in Bristol this year 2009 has caused a rash of vandalism aimed at his works in and around Bristol. Hopefully this blight will take a back seat soon and the real artists will keep amusing us and uplifting dull walls and building sites. I hope the new addition to the Gang Gallery will add to your day where ever y'all maybe. 
I love this piece of cheeky art above of a little girl holding a club behind her back and the little boy facing her with flowers behind his back! If this can't make someone smile on a grey damp day then I guess nothing will. Definitely a favourite of mine for Gang Gallery of tags and graffiti.
Another street meandered by myself and my husband. Another surprise and another photo taken for Gang Gallery! This street wanders off from Bedminster Bristol down into Ashton Gate. My compass aint that good so maybe it was up! On this trail we were searching for something very different from Graffiti for the Gang Gallery, and were not very successful. I was about at the limit of my walking capabilities and the street had started to get rather boring. Old dirty buildings and pavements were just running one into the other when these lovely girls lit up the side walk and the walls of a particularly grubby building. I hope you enjoy them as much as we did! Perhaps they are thanks to Art Tart, and Hush, 'tags' found on the girls.
It is my intention to show that there is art and humour within some graffiti, and therefore more areas that look derelict, are unused, or boarded over, should be sanctioned by local authorities for legal graffiti. The bright colours and wit, lift not only grey, dirty buildings and streets but the soul as well. I hope to show this in Gang Gallery and perhaps encourage young artists to respect the work of others when they are exploring their own talents.
As a contrast, I have included some gang tags and what can only be described as vandalism. These are the kids that need to be rescued by channeling that destructive energy into something more positive. This means parents and communities getting involved. This means firstly, getting these kids off of the streets and into other activities that are less destructive and more social. See my page on Grafitti Art and Tags for links to ideas on Grafitti and free uploads of your own Grafitti Tag! 
Some of the grafitti in the slide show below are very old and some are new. Jody is a tag of one of the artists who does the beautiful black and white portraits.
The fragility of grafitti is in it's fleeting appearance and disappearance. Already much of the art along the waterfront in Bristol has been painted over with new works of art. I suspect that these images and colours will help in getting us all through the winter days here, being that they are often a monotenous leaden grey. I hope that they will inspire and lift all who get to see them. For those who cannot see them upfront, Gang Gallery will keep adding these great pieces of art. Take a peek in the Twit Tweet Gallery.
The hand under the latch was taken in the Bedminster area and the eye is another new piece of wonderful grafitti by Jody. This is only a part of the whole piece as seen above but as can be seen it deserves it's own space in Gang Gallery.
Grafitti is a story board and I cannot always get the message intended by the artist if there is one. I have no doubt that it has particular meaning to the artist but some are more inscrutable than others. But then this is what makes them so appealing. The techniques used in creating graffiti differ from artist to artist. Some are done using airbrush, spray paints and stencils. whilst others are created with a paint brush and water soluble paint. Still others make use of textured paint and of course the obiquitous spray cans most often used for Gang tags and quick get aways.
Photographs for Gang Gallery: by author and lover; L.& M. Warner 2009
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