you know christmas is coming when every studio and empty shop in town has a street art exhibition. it’s fair to say that the graffiti world is not only the most popular form of art of the moment, but the most lucrative and it can appear that everyone is cutting out stencils and spraying canvases in an attempt to cash in on it, with well known names and aspiring newbies on the scene vieing for our attention and money. with such apparent saturation the enthusiast either needs to run around every show or select with care. one show in bristol that is guaranteed to be worth a visit is the 12 days of xmas, opposite pieminster at the bottom of stokes croft.

featuring the work of over 60 famous and infamous artists on the scene, it is undoubtedly the biggest graffiti show of the season. following on from the outstanding success of last year’s event at bridewell police station, the venue is perhaps not quite up to the same standard of subversiveness. the empty motorcycle shop has none of the glamour or charm that the other proposed sites for the show might have provided. sites earmarked for this year’s event included the old bank of england building and law courts, two appropriate venues for such a group of reprobates, but neither materialised for one reason or another. however, the space does provide ample wall space over two floors to show off not only a ton of artwork for sale, but an interesting collection of installations, likely to take your mind off the blandness of the surroundings.

the opening night was friday 12th december, appropriately 12 days before christmas, and despite the rain a throng of people bustled around to the tinkling of ivories and guzzling of beer. as might be expected, the show spilled out into the streets, with posters and pieces spreading in both directions, enticing the punters in. a rubbish piece by the dotmasters could almost get overlooked, it’s so apt for the area – that’s not a dis, it’s a compliment. sepr, one of the most prolific writers in town at the moment, has done a suitably festive central piece, but is notable by the fact that he has no work for sale. the same can be said for cheo, another of the city’s most active exponent of the artform, who was nowhere to be seen. not that you’d miss anyone in particular, there being plenty to feast the eyes on, from bristol and beyond.

it is pointless to simply run through a list of who is exhibiting, all that info can be found on the official 12 days of xmas website, but personal highlights include a welcome appearance of work by sickboy, gritty prints from m-city, a £3000 oil painting by sweet toof with an orange sticker next to it, prints by dolk, work by jeff aerosol, inexpensive motorboy posters, and two paintings by rowdy using an interesting palette. however, joint top of my pops is the work of mau mau, who has a great touch, my personal favourite being a piece called bling reaper, and the what collective, who have completely taken over the back rooms upstairs and sprayed them up, providing a fab backdrop for their artwork. richt has some lovely drawings on offer and sainty and 45rpm provide more treats for the eyes, but it’s especially refreshing to see work by sums on display.

on reflection, there are notable exceptions whose names appear on the website, but whose work does not seem to be displayed, namely that of cyclops, who is still one of my favourite artists on the scene. maybe i wasn’t looking hard enough. there’s certainly so much to see that it’s quite possible to miss this and that.

the exhibition runs until 23rd december, so there is still plenty of time to get down there and enjoy it in the relative quiet of the post-opening night mayhem and, who knows, you may still find that perfect gift for your home gallery…

further info:
graffiti badges flickr gallery
12 days of xmas website