It is always good to find DFC1848 pieces in Bristol, and he left behind two or three pieces on his last visit, of which this is one. This character is the one that DFC1848 first used to really establish himself as a street artist, and although he has improved immeasurably in both technique and creativity, it is nice to see this old friend again.
DFC1848, Greenbank, Bristol, April 2024
The letters DFC from his name can be found in this tag-character The ‘D’ is in the ear, the ‘F’ is on the character’s cheek and the ‘C’ I think is represented by the mouth or possibly the eye. I must try and seek out and photograph the other pieces he painted on this visit.
Doors 264 – Doors from Highgate, London, November 2023 (Part IV)
This week I am incredibly pressed for time, so this will be a very short entry. My late afternoon doorscursion back in November 2023 through my old ‘manor’, Highgate village, continues in this penultimate collection from North London.
I really wanted to talk about all the pubs in Highgate, because when I was a teenager, all the talk was that Highgate had more pubs on the main street than anywhere else in the country. I have no idea if this was true, but the following is a list of them (all within a few hundred yards), starting halfway down Highgate Hill:
Brendan the Navigator, used to be called The Old Crown Inn – it has obviously gone up-market.
The Duke’s Head
The Angel
The Prince of Wales
The Crown
The Gatehouse (featured below)
The Flask (featured below)
The Red Lion and Sun
The Wrestlers
The Bull
I hope you enjoy this week’s selection:
The Gatehouse entrance door and lamp, Highgate , London, November 2023The Flask entrance (please use other door), Highgate , London, November 2023Blue door with fine columns and portico, Highgate, London, November 2023Triple panelled black door, Highgate, London, November 2023Chesterfield door and fine scalloped awning, Highgate, London, November 2023The Old Hall gate and door, Highgate, London, November 2023
If you have made it this far, you probably like doors, and you really ought to take a look at the No Facilities blog by Dan Anton who has taken over the hosting of Thursday Doors from Norm 2.0 blog. Links to more doorscursions can be found in the comments section of Dan Anton’s Thursday Doors post.
Mind 49 and Wxttsart, M32 Cycle path, Bristol, April 2024
Regular readers may be experiencing ‘déjà vu’ on seeing this fine collaboration from Wxttsart and Mind 49, as they have overwritten and incorporated elements of their last collaboration on this exact spot, and the unobservant might have missed the ‘update’ altogether.
Mind 49 and Wxttsart, M32 Cycle path, Bristol, April 2024
The ‘old’ work is the purple and cream script by Wxttsart running through the middle of the piece which has a clever ‘ripped wallpaper’ look to it and has been augmented with fresh writing at the top and bottom of the piece that appears to spell out MYLK, (milk being Wxttsart’s moniker). The portrait, by Mind 49, is rather larger than its predecessor and beautifully executed. Mind 49 manages to paint informal portraits in a photorealistic style while retaining a softness about them, and this is a prime example. Both artists have combined (again) perfectly to create this striking collaboration piece.
Wxttsart and Mind 49, M32 Cycle path, Bristol, January 2024
Minto keeps his work ticking over nicely with a fairly regular weekly/fortnightly contribution, and each and every piece is a cracker. Minto has a distinctive style and creative streak that makes for outstanding graffiti writing – character combinations and mash-ups.
Minto, M32 Cycle path, Bristol, April 2024
This piece, on the Cycle path behind the Black Swan, looks like a bit of a quick one and features trainers, something of a theme for the artist at the moment… that and camper vans – perhaps we can read into that a profile of his lifestyle. The letters, which spell out Minto, are nicely rounded off with a yellow and orange border. So good to have him back in Bristol.
It looks like Acesartworld has found some inspiration from somewhere and some time to start decorating Bristol walls with his Transformer robot-style portrait pieces, of which this is the second of three recent works that I currently know about.
Acesartworld, M32 roundabout, Bristol, April 2024
Acesartworld has certainly gone for it with the buffing the wall bit, taking his red splash all the way to the top of the wall, perhaps following the example of Kosc, just to his right. A squarer buff would have sufficed for the piece in question. When Acesartworld creates these masks, he uses a long straight piece of wood, similar to pieces of passim by Acer One, to achieve the geometry he is looking for. This is an interesting development from the artist, and I fully expect to see more of these as the summer unfolds.
Werm is producing, in my view, some of his best writing work at the moment, having pulled back a little from his highly technical and complex pieces. There is something a little more accessible about his graffiti writing now, that hasn’t always been the case.
Werm, Dean Lane, Bristol, April 2024
The colours in this piece spelling out WERM are certainly eye-catching and benefit from the buffed black wall, which enhances the impact of the writing. I suspect, consciously or otherwise, that the selection of purple and yellow for the letters might be related to the colour wheel, where they are complementary colours – they do work well together. I wonder if we’ll get to see Werm incorporating characters in his work, he would be more than capable of doing it and has done so once or twice in the past. I’ll ask him next time I see him.
‘Wanted – dead or alive – Leggy O’Lootin’ so says the ‘poster’ by Roo. This sepia tinted piece is a clever and really rather touching portrait of a giraffe that has obviously been up to no good. The way Roo has painted him makes me feel rather sorry and sympathetic for him.
Roo, Greenbank, Bristol, April 2024
Roo has been active in Bristol so far this year, and long may it last. Her strong cartoon pieces are pretty much always respected and can remain intact for a very long time, which is testimony to the respect other artists have for her work. This piece is so original as well as being great fun.
Another Mote monster to add to the ever-growing back-catalogue. Mote’s work tends to go through themed phases where he will produce a sting of monsters with a particular design idea, such as monster birds and monster fish and recently, monsters with one white eye and another heavily lidded eye.
Mote, River Avon, Bristol, April 2024
Because Mote themes his work in these ‘periods’, it can be possible to date his work to within say a six month time-frame. This monster is clean and tidy with a solid purple fill and pleasing ‘ribbon’ of green running through. And those teeth!
I would say that over the last two years or so, the intake of ‘new’ artists in Bristol has far outweighed any losses, and we have a ‘net gain’ of talent. This is great news, although it makes things a little troublesome for me, as there is so much more art to photograph and catalogue than ever before, and it is difficult to give artists the exposure they deserve.
Grimes, Frome Side, Bristol, April 2024
One of the newer artists to Bristol (at least on my radar) is Grimes, whose characteristically colourful and busy pieces have been brightening up spots all over the city. This piece underneath the M32 is typical of his work, full of letters and symbols, beautifully crafted and filled. I have loads of his pieces in my folders and will try to dig them out, as he has added something a little special to the Bristol mix.
Natural adventures 