Art / Stokes Croft
Artist documents Bristol’s rapidly changing urban landscape
Bristol’s urban landscape of colourful graffiti and abandoned buildings awaiting redevelopment form much of the work of artist John Curtis.
Curtis, who lives in Weston-super-Mare, takes photographs of scenes that catch his eye, working from these scenes as reference and often making his finished paintings more abstract than the original views.
Often focusing on Stokes Croft and the surrounding area, Curtis has also created artwork featuring the vans in which dozens of people live in Easton and St Werburgh’s.
is needed now More than ever
With much of Bristol changing rapidly, 43-year-old Curtis’ work has become a unique snapshot of a specific moment in time.
Westmoreland House with its distinctive street art is now no more
A police raid on the squat known as Telepathic Heights on Cheltenham Road was one of the causes of the Stokes Croft riots of April 2011
Plans for the future of the Carriageworks and Westmoreland House include flats and shops
People often turn to living in vans after being priced out of Bristol’s rental market
“My favourite area of Bristol is Stokes Croft and Montpelier because it has an ever-changing landscape, with graffiti and street art in the area always changing,” Curtis told Bristol24/7.
“Also the area has changed over the past few years with the gentrification of Stokes Croft which I have documented in some of my paintings.”
Curtis said that one of his favourite buildings in Bristol to paint was Westmorland House on Stokes Croft, with its graffiti by artists such as Rowdy and Sweet Toof.
Demolition of the abandoned building began in December 2018, with the Stokes Croft skyline now noticeably different without the familiar landmark.
Originally Palmer’s ironmongers, this building on Stokes Croft was most recently Putterills kitchen and bedroom showroom, but has been empty for more than a decade
Opened as a cinema in 1914, this building on Cheltenham Road has also been used as a bar, chapel and comedy club
The corner of Turbo Island and Jamaica Street, as seen from what is now the restaurant and bar Jamaica Street Stores
“The gentrification theme feature strongly in lots of my artwork and I document the changes which can occur in an area when it is regenerated and changes over several years,” Curtis said.
“Some of my paintings feature the same area, in different stages of redevelopment.
“Some people see the gentrification process changing areas for the better, giving better facilities and making once ‘no-go’ areas a more desirable place to live.
“But there are other sides to it which can drive out residents who may have lived in the areas all of their life, due to increasing rent prices or housing prices, which in turn can break up whole communities, and families, as well as driving out small business. There are winners and losers in the whole process.”
Montpelier railway station has long been a popular location for graffiti artists
Dean Lane skatepark in Bedminster is also a popular spot for street artists
The underpass underneath the Old Market roundabout takes pedestrians and cyclists from Pip n Jay church to the Bristol Post building close to the former Printers Devil pub
Vauxhall Bridge crosses the New Cut and the chocolate path from Coronation Road to Cumberland Road
Plans are afoot to transform the Cumberland Basin with thousands of new homes
Read more: Bristol is gentrifying faster than any other UK city outside London
Our top newsletters emailed directly to you
