Month: May 2022

4447. Moon Street (93)

I photographed this piece on the day I first met Runaway Joey, or Asre as he signs himself. He was painting another face only yards away from this one. We stopped for quite a long chat, and I was touched to find out that he not only knew who I was but also had been chatting with his friends about me and what I do, later describing me as a ‘top bloke’ in an Instagram post later that day. It is so gratifying to know that that  some of the artists I write about have read this blog and appreciate what I do here. For the record, Asre is a really decent guy who made plenty of time for a chat about his work. I look forward to meeting him again.

Asre, Moon Street, Bristol, May 2022
Asre, Moon Street, Bristol, May 2022

This wall used to ‘belong’ to Laic217, and is one of my favourite walls in Bristol (definitely a candidate for my ‘one wall, many faces’ series of posts). The face from Asre is rather more elaborate than some that he paints, with rather scary teeth, a green face and a magnificent crown. There is something menacing and slightly evil about this piece, which also introduces some different elements to the typical format Asre uses for this series. There is so much more to post from Asre, I am struggling to know where to begin. I have some much better photographs of this and will try to replace these when I have a moment.

4446. Stokes Croft

Perhaps one of the most famous and ubiquitous artists of recent decades is Sweet Toof. Some of his iconic pieces in Bristol remain, but they are dwindling in number, so imagine my utter surprise when I saw this new (and very fresh) piece by Sweet Toof in Stokes Croft recently. To have known he had been in the area only a day before when he painted it is quite something. Even though I didn’t get to meet him I felt a little star-struck. I have seen pieces by Sweet Toof in London and New York as well as here in Bristol, and they just seem to fit in as part of the street art culture and history.

Sweet Toof, Stokes Croft, Bristol, May 2022
Sweet Toof, Stokes Croft, Bristol, May 2022

I sincerely hope this small piece remains intact and untagged, and is given the respect it deserves. I suspect that many of the people who sit enjoying a meal in the outdoor seating area of the eatery, probably have no idea of the significance of this small piece, although many of them might remember his most memorable skull from just up the road which alas has now gone. What luck to have found this so soon after being painted.

Rowdy and Sweet Toof, The Carriageworks, Bristol, December 2016
Rowdy and Sweet Toof, The Carriageworks, Bristol, December 2016

Eviction

.

Bathroom visitor

incy wincy in the sink

eviction looming

.

by Scooj

4445. M32 Cycle path (175)

Another artist who consistently turns out High-quality pieces time and time again is Claro_que_sssnoh, and this one is on one of his favoured walls on the M32 Cycle path.

Claro_que_sssnoh, M32 Cycle path, Bristol, April 2022
Claro_que_sssnoh, M32 Cycle path, Bristol, April 2022

All the ingredients are there, his intricate joined up writing, looking a little bit like pipework, set on a gorgeous red background with drips. The subtle blue fill patterns in the letters are really nicely worked and the whole thing looks strong and confident. Great writing from the Spanish artist.

4444. Dean Lane skate park (494)

On the curved wall at Dean Lane, Acer One painted this rather attractive piece, using his preferred rainbow writing that he has been working hard to perfect recently. The letters, in this case shapes, are slim and regular, and look as if they painted from a corporate font template. That sounds like a bad thing, but it really is not. Acer has designed up his lettering and shapes with thought and precision to create this font, and as ever his execution is faultless.

Acer, Dean Lane, Bristol, May 2022
Acer, Dean Lane, Bristol, May 2022

Painting the curved wall is always a risk, because turnover is quite high, so it was brave of Acer to paint here and in fairness, it did last quite a few days. The extra nice thing about this font is the double shadow, one black and the second grey. I am very much enjoying this reinvention of Acer’s style and look forward to seeing a whole lot more.

4443. Dean Lane skate park (493)

Cort is an intriguing artist. He is a quiet ever-present who just gets on with doing what he likes doing with the minimum of fuss, and then once in a while he produces what I would term ‘statement’ pieces like this one, which shout loud and clear to all who view them ‘I am Cort and I was here’.

Cort, Dean Lane, Bristol, April 2022
Cort, Dean Lane, Bristol, April 2022

This is the second highly memorable piece from Cort on this wall in the last few weeks and clearly demonstrates his talent. PAD is the crew he belongs to that includes Laic217 and Trafficity, and is given centre stage in this piece. The character is nicely done and is clean with great solid fills. I believe Cort’s modesty belies his talent, and his work is often overlooked on the Bristol scene, which is a pity.

Hunker down

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There is no good news

no light at the tunnel’s end

think positive thoughts

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by Scooj

4442. Cumberland Basin

Here is a piece for the iced biscuit lovers among you. It was painted by Nina Raines in what appears to have been a mini paint jam by the Bristol Womxn Mural Collective a couple of weeks ago. I’m glad I managed to get a picture of this piece, as some of the others had already been tagged, and all of them were painted over shortly afterwards. It’s a dog-eat-dog world out there.

Nina Raines, Cumberland Bain, Bristol, May 2022
Nina Raines, Cumberland Bain, Bristol, May 2022

I have enjoyed watching Nina Rains’ artwork over the years, because she seems to be able to turn her hand to pretty much anything, and her styles adapt to the work she is creating. If she didn’t sign her pieces, it could be difficult to identify her work. Not only is this beautifully designed and painted, but it fits the shape and texture of the wall perfectly. More great work from Nina.

4441. Brunel Way (158)

Nothing lasts long in Bristol these days, and even ‘high end’ pieces can have shorter lifespans than they deserve. A case in point is this wonderful collaborative wall under Brunel Way from Dibz and Acer. Rather more tragically, these two painted together again in the same spot last Friday/Saturday, and by Saturday afternoon it had been overpainted.

Dibz, Brunel Way, Bristol, May 2022
Dibz, Brunel Way, Bristol, May 2022

To the left is the Dibz contribution, but to add a little fun, each of the artists wrote the other’s name. So in this outstanding piece of wildstyle writing, Dibz has written ACER. I cannot put into words how good this writing is, so you can just judge for yourselves.

Acer One, Brunel Way, Bristol, May 2022
Acer One, Brunel Way, Bristol, May 2022

To the right, it is Acer One’s turn to play the game and adopting his favoured style of writing (at least recently) he has written DIBZ with care and precision, adding a little bit of interest behind the letters. The whole thing is a beautifully executed bit of fun from Dibz v Acer One.

Never enough time

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Too short the weekend

and a new week on the way

acceleration

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by Scooj