See No Evil is a collection of works of public art by multiple graffiti artists, located around Nelson Street in Bristol, England. The artwork was first created in an event in August 2011 that was Europe's largest street art festival at the time. It culminated with a block party. The street was mostly repainted in a repeat event in 2012. The artworks comprise murals of various sizes, in different styles, some painted on tower blocks, including the 12-storey St Lawrence House on Broad Street. The works were created under a road closure, using scaffolding and aerial work platforms.
See No Evil 2011 See No Evil 2011, was a week-long graffiti art event, that claimed to be the largest street art event of its kind in the UK, reaffirmed Bristol's high position in the UK's urban art movement, and supports the claim, that Bristol may be the current international center of this urban art movement. The city has a well established and thriving urban art scene, with many walls around the city decorated over the years by artistic graffiti, notably around the Stokes Croft area, often by local but international respected urban artists like Inkie and Banksy. "Urban and street art are widely felt to be an important part of the city's creative DNA" (Bennet). The event was organised by respected Bristol street artist Inkie (Tom Bingle) who emerged (like Banksy) out of Bristol's 1980s graffiti scene. Inkie said that the inspiration for the event arose partly from witnessing similarly grand street art projects in Lisbon and Melbourne: "I thought it was about time Bristol, home of urban art in the UK had an installation of this scale." "Nothing of this size and scale has ever taken place in the UK and it's an event that has captured the minds of some the world's most respected street artists. It's a major coupé that we've managed to pull this off in Bristol."
The event was coordinated by Inkie, along with Mike Bennett - Bristol City Council, Bristol based music promoter Team Love (made up of music producers Dave Harvey and Tom Payne) and Sam Brandt, director of Weapon of Choice Gallery. The Council contributed to the project, on the assumption of attracting tourists, with place-making director Mike Bennett paying for half of the project through his salary. The was to be matched by private donations. The organizers spent a year planning the project, with full support from the street's residents, businesses and building owners. Team Love (TL) organised the music festival and street party.
Before 20 August 2011, the chosen location, Nelson Street, was "one of the most depressing, ugly and run down streets in Bristol" (Mike Bennet). A dreary '1960's urban nightmare. Decaying and decrepit' (Inkie). "Bristol's Nelson Street was nothing but empty shells of grey buildings built by tasteless architects that stank of piss," a nondescript corridor of bleak, grey buildings between Broadmead and Colston Square in the city centre "It needs something big development-wise.... with the economy as it is, the prospect of any serious development here in the next five years is almost nonexistent." A spokesperson of one of the buildings said "anything that would revitalise the street and increase footfall for a minimal cost – then all the better."
The council viewed the project as a platform to revitalize the street and encourage its regeneration. The councils Executive member for culture Simon Cook said: "This project is very exciting for Bristol. ...this will put us on the map internationally" as a cultural and tourist attraction. Two years previously Banksy show at the City Museum and Art Gallery had attracted large crowds. The organisers also looked towards Melbourne, Australia, were a street project attracted almost half a million visitors a year as an example of how street art could help regenerate urban area.
The name 'See No Evil', Bennett explained, is from the three wise monkeys who see no evil, hear no evil and speak no evil. "It sort of works on the artistic element, and because it has a musical element to it as well. And of course because we're taking over the old magistrates' courts" and Police station. The irony of Inkie being invited to paint the very courts he was sentenced in after Operation Anderson years before, as the ringleader of 75 plus artists in the UK's largest graffiti-related arrest, was not lost. "Half the early graffiti artists in Bristol must have been taken to that police station or through the magistrates' courts at one time or another" . "I mean, we've legally painted the old juvenile and magistrates' courts where a few of these artists have been processed and charged. It was quite a surreal thing to see."
List of 2011 See No Evil artists A total of 72 graffiti artists were invited to take part, including twenty of the world's leading artists. Writing in The Independent, Louisa McGillicuddy noted that only two of the artists were women.
Sources for the table below unless otherwise stated.
Artist and artistsFromNotesInkie*London based, originally from BristolInfluences: Mayan architecture, William Morris, Mouse & Kelly, Alphonse Mucha, The Arts & Crafts movement and Islamic geometry, punk rock album graphics, 2000AD comics and early New York people such as Dondi, Seen & T-Kid. Bio: Inkie, started out painting alongside 3D, Banksy, Goldie, The Chrome Angels and Nick Walker in 1983. For See No Evil he painted a four-floor high female art nouveau, using about 70-80 cans.Kashink*ParisBio: Moustache wearing Kashink is one of the few very active female artists in the graffiti/street art world. Style: Her multicoloured psychedelic style of painting is characterised by huge four eyed characters, with thick lines and vivid colours. Kashink only paints men, that often appear to be fat, hairy old school mobsters. Influences: inspired by Gilbert and George, Keith Haring, Frida Kahlo, Charles Burns and comic books. Tats CrewNew YorkBio: a Bronx-based trio of (now) professional graffiti artists whose work is said to have "changed the perception of graffiti as art". They started by creating subway graffiti in the late 1980s, by 2001 their work was chosen to represent New York City muralists at the Smithsonian Institution 35th Annual Folklife Festival. Their work legally adorns several New York City public schools and hospitals.El MacLos Angeles Bio: Miles 'Mac' MacGregor, born in 1980, by the late 1990s he was painting technicolor aerosol versions of classic paintings by old European masters. This led to him being commissioned in 2003 by the Groeninge Museum in Bruges, Belgium to paint his interpretations of their collection of classic Flemish Primitive paintings. He works primarily in Phoenix and Los Angeles but also across every continent. Style: Photorealistic renderings of both the sublime and the humble.Shoe Amsterdam Bio: Born in 1967, Niels Meulman is an artist, designer, and art director whose designs and artwork are in the permanent collections of the Stedelijk Museum in Amsterdam and The San Francisco Museum of Modern Art. He began tagging at age 12, and was well known by the time he was 18. Style: Meulman introduced Calligraffiti, via a successful solo exhibition in Amsterdam in 2007. It is a form of lettering that fuses calligraphy and graffiti. Aryz Barcelona Style: He works with spray paint and paint rollers for his huge colourful works. For See No Evil he painted "a wolf in a lumberjack shirt with braces, up the side of a whole building, which looks stunning. He's only 22 and he just came and did it in a day and a half with rollers, didn't even project it" (Inkie)Nick WalkerBristol Bio: Born in 1969, Walker emerged from the Bristol graffiti scene of the early 1980s. Style: he uses both spray can and very controlled, intricate stencilling. His style and humour have gained him a worldwide reputation.Mr Jago*Bristol Style: A formerly Abstract Futurist style and commercial illustrator his current work focuses on layers of colour and shade with obscured, just-out-of-view figures.Andy Council*BristolStyle: detailed compositions of imagined creatures made from iconic objects, architecture, structures and characters.sheOne*London basedStyle: sheOne strokes are an abstract style that is rooted in the new wave graffiti era of early eighties New York.Chu*Walsall born, Bristol-basedStyle: using computer-aided technologies, he produces anamorphic 3D graffiti which appears to burst out of the 2D surface when viewed from certain angles.China Mike*born in Bedford, BristolStyle: photo-realistic painting. His work has evolved into more abstracted figurative work.Sickboy *BristolStyle: Often produces humorous pieces, he is deemed by the financial press as one of the movement's most bankable artists.Mr Wany Brindisi Bio: Andrea Sergio, born in 1978, at the age of 12, he was already known as Wany. In 1994 he won his first regional contest in Puglia. From 1997 to 2000, he specialised at the "International School of Comics" in Rome. He is a link between the academic art gallery circuit and hip-hop culture and street art in Italy. Otto Schnade Chile Revert France Smug Australia
Other Artists included: Kid Acne, Swanski, Ben Slow, Best Ever, Bonzai, Cosmo Sarsen, Dicey, Feek, GMC, Hit + Run, Maumau, Mr Wany, Mysterious Al, Pinky, Ponk, SEPR, Wow 123, Xenz, Zeus, Solo One, and Goldie
Who's Lenny? A 16-minute long short film about See No Evil 2011, Who's Lenny?, was commissioned by the council. It was produced by Bristol-based production company Hurricane Media. The film was made using a range of techniques including wirecam technology – a first in a UK urban environment - as well as time-lapse photography and 24-hour live coverage.
See No Evil: Who's Lenny explains how once outlawed graffiti artists have now come to critical acclaim, and how one group in particular were invited to paint the courts of law in which they were once convicted for their art. The video aims to present street art as a vibrant and contemporary art form. The documentary includes interviews with some of the 72 artists involved including Inkie, Tats Cru, El Mac, Nick Walker, Shoe, Xenz, China Mike and Paris. Focusing on the See No Evil event, the film also explores how street art has a natural home in Bristol, capturing the spirit of Bristol graffiti scene.
The film went on to win Royal Television Society (RTS) Awards for Best Short Film and Best Community Media in February 2012.
See No Evil 2012 Arrangements were made by Inkie for the repainting of the street in August 2012, as part of the 2012 Cultural Olympiad accompanying the Summer Olympics and Paralympics, with support from Bristol City Council, the Arts Council and London 2012 Festival as part of the 2012 Cultural Olympiad and Bristol University. See No Evil 2012 began on 13 August when 45 selected (both local and international) artists, with 3,500 cans of spray paint and 700 litres of paint.
The event took place on Nelson Street again, a one-way bus and taxi lane known for its grey concrete walls (including the 12-storey St Lawrence House and a police station) over the course of 7 days– with the permission of the owners. Three works from the 2011 event's 72 pieces were saved by the public vote, via an internet poll allowing people to voice their opinions on preferred works, those being the suited man pouring a tin of red paint, the wolf boy, and the woman and child; painted by Nick Walker, Aryz and El Mac respectively.
It is intended that See No Evil at Nelson Street will remain Europe's largest open air street art gallery, with huge murals until the following summer. Some of the artists (including ManOne and Vyal One, FLX One and Dones and Limited Press) in the same week also created work on hoardings around the Bristol Temple Quarter Enterprise Zone.
List of 2012 See No Evil artists Sources unless otherwise stated.