Bristol paintings

Between 1989 and 1993, Liam Yeates created a series of painted backdrops for bands and club nights across Bristol. Most have been lost. Opening image shows the backdrops in use by The Moonflowers, Gloucester Town Hall, 1990 (photo: Jim Cemlyn Jones).

Ranging from 1 metre x 2.5 meters to 2.5 x 7 metre pieces, these works were painted in squats, stairwells, and cramped city rooms. Using salvaged fabrics, bedsheets and leftover paint, Yeates developed a raw, intuitive style rooted in Outsider art.

Often part of immersive live sets with film projections and slideshows, these backdrops captured portraits of friends and scenes from Bristol’s social landscape.

The final six were made for the band Nautical William; the last four served as posters for gigs and techno nights in 1989 and 1991.