Proud to present an interview with the experimental and well-known artist John D’oh.
Who are you and what do you do?
My Name is John D’oh and I am a street artist based in Bristol. I do a mixture of art but am best known for my stencil work and wacky wooden artwork /street installations.
How do you feel about Street Art in your current city/environment?
To me Bristol used to be arguably the top City in the UK for Street Art but the City is saturated with Street artists which isn’t a bad thing but does mean that wall space is a premium. We are currently in negotiation with Bristol City Council who would like to enforce a blanket ban on street art/graffiti to create some legal areas for artists to paint on so this may in the future affect the local street art scene/environment dramatically.
At the moment I don’t personally think the future is as bright for Bristol as it is for other Cities in regards to street art but only time will tell.
There is lots of Street art in Bristol how does yours stand out from the rest?
Hmmm I suppose it stands out for a few reasons. Not many artists these days seem to paint political street art so anything political that is painted often gets associated with me. Also I tend to do some really wacky street art installations which seem to have caught the attention of the general public and fellow artists alike and my art is featured heavily in the media because of this.
However I do see my influences creeping up in other artist work and my friends often say things like “ look who’s done a D’oh” so it’s nice that when I do put down my jigsaw and spray cans that I have added something to the scene in my own little way.
What are the good and bad things about painting in Bristol?
Bristol is one of the top attractions in the UK for street art and regularly attracts tourists from all over the world and therefore it is pretty easy to get your work seen all over the world with the popularity of social media. We have a great mixture of Street art and Graff which I think is fantastic as personally I love the mixture as some Cities or Towns often have just one or the other.
On the down side often what you put up on the street of Bristol may not last long as the walls are regularly refreshed. So often I tailor my art to the location, for example why put up an eight layer stencil in the Bear Pit when you can often say what you are trying to say in one and it probably has a life expectancy of twenty four hours if you are lucky.
Who is your favourite Street Artist?
I have loads and couldn’t name just one, There are so many fantastic Artists out there and different styles. I love the cartoon styles of Cheo and SPzero but I’m equally amazed by the realism of Smug and Irony and that’s just to name but a few.
How important do you think it is to be creative?
I don’t think everybody is creative but I would encourage everyone to give it a go. Everyone has to start somewhere and I love watching peoples art improve on social media.
It’s about enjoying yourself and freedom of expression to me and not comparing yourself to other artists as then I think you are doomed to fail, Not everyone is capable of painting the Sistine chapel ceiling but art is down to individual taste, one person’s Tracy Emin’s unmade bed is another’s Rembrandt.
To find out more information and art work on John D’oh please see links below:
Street Art Blog 
Nice interview.
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