5871. Manchester, Northern Quarter

C215, Northern Quarter, Manchester, February 2024
C215, Northern Quarter, Manchester, February 2024

When randomly walking the streets of a town or city I am unfamiliar with, I am reminded of the iconic line from the film Forrest Gump “Life is like a box of chocolates, you never know what you’re going to get”, and that is pretty much how my recent stroll in Manchester unfolded.

C215, Northern Quarter, Manchester, February 2024
C215, Northern Quarter, Manchester, February 2024

I turned a corner and found this incredible stencil portrait piece by C215 staring out at me. He is an artist who has made a couple of appearances on this blog before, but I don’t think that he has ever painted anything in Bristol, surely it is time to change that (Upfest?). The stencils that C215 uses range from very small up to this kind of size, and he achieves this scaling without compromising his style at all. A memorable piece from my recent trip.

Biomass

Bivalves at Sand Bay, Somerset, March 2024
Bivalves at Sand Bay, Somerset, Marc

.

A billion billion

buried in our sandy shores

bivalve biomass

.

by Scooj

#DFTE

A gallery of short philosophical musings from the creative mind of Bristol’s #DFTE

Instagram: @d.f.t.e

all photographs by Scooj

#DFTE, Dean Lane, Upfest 24, Bristol, May 2024
#DFTE, Dean Lane, Upfest 24, Bristol, May 2024

#DFTE, Cheltenham Paint Festival, Cheltenham, July 2023
#DFTE, Cheltenham Paint Festival, Cheltenham, July 2023

#DFTE, Dean Lane, Bristol, June 2023
#DFTE, Dean Lane, Bristol, June 2023

#DFTE, Weston Wallz,Weston-super-Mare, May 2023
#DFTE, Weston Wallz,Weston-super-Mare, May 2023

#DFTE and Fishlock, Dean Lane, Bristol, June 2023
#DFTE and Fishlock, Dean Lane, Bristol, June 2023

Dave Sharp and #DFTE, Cumberland Basin, Bristol, July 2022
Dave Sharp and #DFTE, Cumberland Basin, Bristol, July 2022

#DFTE, Stokes Croft, Bristol, April 2019
#DFTE, Stokes Croft, Bristol, April 2019

#DFTE, Christmas Steps, Bristol, March 2020
#DFTE, Christmas Steps, Bristol, March 2020

#DFTE, Christmas Steps, Bristol, February 2020
#DFTE, Christmas Steps, Bristol, February 2020

#DFTE, Leonard Lane, Bristol, Jnuary 2020
#DFTE, Leonard Lane, Bristol, Jnuary 2020

#DFTE, Town, Bristol, March 2019
#DFTE, Town, Bristol, March 2019

#DFTE, Town, Bristol, March 2019
#DFTE, Town, Bristol, March 2019

#DFTE, Cumberland Road, Bristol, November 2019
#DFTE, Cumberland Road, Bristol, November 2019

#DFTE, Cumberland Road, Bristol, November 2019
#DFTE, Cumberland Road, Bristol, November 2019

#DFTE, Welshback, Bristol, September 2019
#DFTE, Welshback, Bristol, September 2019

#DFTE, North Street, Bristol, June 2019
#DFTE, North Street, Bristol, June 2019

#DFTE, St Werburghs, Bristol, March 2019
#DFTE, St Werburghs, Bristol, March 2019

#DFTE, St Werburghs, Bristol, March 2019
#DFTE, St Werburghs, Bristol, March 2019

5870. Manchester, Northern Quarter

Liam Bononi, Northern Quarter, Manchester, February 2024
Liam Bononi, Northern Quarter, Manchester, February 2024

Natural Adventures is a blog with three or four strands, the most dominant of which is the street/graffiti art of Bristol. I am finding it increasingly difficult to feature art from other cities and countries, that I would like to share, but without compromising Bristol posts. I have been pondering this conundrum for a little while and decided that my posts from other places will more likely be galleries, which makes sense because I don’t know very much about the artists in other places, This way I get to share a whole load more pieces. Having said that there are some pieces that simply deserve their own post, and this awesome portrait piece by Liam Bononi is one of those.

Liam Bononi, Northern Quarter, Manchester, February 2024
Liam Bononi, Northern Quarter, Manchester, February 2024

One of my Favourite ever Upfest pieces is by Liam Bononi, and I have posted a different piece from a previous visit to Manchester where the artist is based. His incredible photorealistic portraits are disrupted by fractures and cracks, creating distortions, which I would guess are metaphors for disrupted and fractured minds behind the faces. The artwork is meticulous and beautifully presented. This piece was tucked away in a street with low foot fall, and you’d certainly have to go out of your way to find it. I only found it, because I was conducting a forensic tour of the streets of the Northern Quarter in Manchester. Another piece in my favourites folder (which incidentally doesn’t actually exist anywhere other than in my mind).

5869. M32 cycle path (254)

Soap, Zake and Face 1st, M32 Cycle path, Bristol, February 2024
Soap, Zake and Face 1st, M32 Cycle path, Bristol, February 2024

Although street art and graffiti can be and is painted at any time of day and on any day, there is definitely a strong pulse of activity on weekends. At times, it can be more difficult for me to get out at the weekend than during he week, which might seem counterintuitive, but there is no rhythm to the weekends, and there is always so much to do. This fabulous PWA collaboration was painted at a weekend, but I didn’t get to see it until the following week on my rounds.

Soap, M32 Cycle path, Bristol, February 2024
Soap, M32 Cycle path, Bristol, February 2024

This one is a triptych with Soap on the left, Zake in the middle and Face 1st on the right, in the letters – character – letters format so commonly used in collaborations. Soap has painted a beauty, with big letters spelling out his name and a character from the cartoon series Adventure Time (I think) replacing the letter ‘O’. I m not too sure about the the bleeding heart, but I guess there is a story there, conscious or unconscious, somewhere.

Zake, M32 Cycle path, Bristol, February 2024
Zake, M32 Cycle path, Bristol, February 2024

In the middle is something rather different from Zake. We are used to seeing cartoon-style portraits, full of depth, so this bullet comes as a bit of a surprise. I am guessing that it is the bullet that is causing such carnage running through the whole collaboration.

Face 1st, M32 Cycle path, Bristol, February 2024
Face 1st, M32 Cycle path, Bristol, February 2024

On the right, Face 1st has painted one of his blocky FACE pieces of graffiti writing, with very deep drop shadows and a rather distressed face peering through the ‘A’. There is an indication of trauma here too, continuing the collaboration theme. The crew are carrying on in 2024, where they left off in 2023, and that can only be good news.

5868. Dean Lane skate park (693)

Fade, Dean Lane, Bristol, February 2024
Fade, Dean Lane, Bristol, February 2024

It is rare to find a Fade piece these days that is not immediately associated with a piece by Dibz and at times his work can be eclipsed by the overall collaborations they create, so it is great to see a fabulous standalone piece of graffiti writing from Fade, and this is a beauty.

Fade, Dean Lane, Bristol, February 2024
Fade, Dean Lane, Bristol, February 2024

Painted in greyscale on a black background, the impact of the letters has to be really strong, and it is. Spelling out FADE in  letters that pop out from the wall, especially along the bottom edge. A nice touch is the little black ‘ink’ trail all around the outside of the piece. All in all, a fabulous and rather special piece of graffiti writing.

5867. St Werburghs tunnel (409)

Kid Krishna, St Werburghs, Bristol, February 2024
Kid Krishna, St Werburghs, Bristol, February 2024

A little earlier in the year, Kid Krishna announced his return to the streets after a bit of a quiet period. Since January, he has been super-active and smashing it on walls all over the city, so much so that I am having to consider bunching a few of them together into a single post.

Kid Krishna, St Werburghs, Bristol, February 2024
Kid Krishna, St Werburghs, Bristol, February 2024

One of the things that Kid Krishna brings to his pieces is an incredible sense of colour, sometimes subtle and other times overt, but always carefully matched and incorporated. I have been puzzling over the character, and feel like I should know who it is, more than that, he was on some posters which I spotted in Nottingham, or something very similar. It will remain a mystery. This is a lovely fresh piece from Kid Krishna in the tunnel.

5866. M32 roundabout J3 (558)

Stivs, M32 roundabout, Bristol, February 2024
Stivs, M32 roundabout, Bristol, February 2024

It was great to catch up with Stivs while he was painting this piece, and it gave me the opportunity to tell him how much I admired his incredible technical skills with creating these amazing calligraffiti letters. Stivs has made a deliberate choice to move back to writing words he used to write before writing Stivs, namely the word KRAP and variants of it. In this case he has written KRAPSTER.

Stivs, M32 roundabout, Bristol, February 2024
Stivs, M32 roundabout, Bristol, February 2024

The letters are not only beautifully crafted and proportioned, but they also incorporate four shades of yellow, one for each elevation, which together create the appearance of gold letters and a three-dimensional effect. The letters are set on a contrasting matrix of pink lines and squiggles, which rounds off the whole production nicely. Great piece by Stivs.

5865. Church Road

Mind 49, Church Road, Bristol, February 2024
Mind 49, Church Road, Bristol, February 2024

Hoardings are irresistible to street artists, graffiti writers and taggers alike. They provide a safe and clean canvas, temporary in nature, for spray paint creativity, and Mind 49 has grabbed the opportunity to decorate this hoarding in Church Road with both hands. Mind 49 is making a big impact on the street art scene in Bristol, and his portrait pieces in particular are turning heads all over the city. I am guessing from the frequency of his new work that he must have moved to the city, or in the neighbouring area.

Mind Control, Church Road, Bristol, February 2024
Mind Control, Church Road, Bristol, February 2024

The portrait is really striking, and his style is fascinating. It is not photorealistic, but is representative. His can control though has a paint brush quality that is softer than the harsh crispness of photorealism. This is a really great piece, and he appears to improve each time he hits a wall. I am looking forward to seeing where he takes us in 2024.

5864. Sparke Evans Park (88)

Pekoe, Sparke Evans Park, Bristol, February 2024
Pekoe, Sparke Evans Park, Bristol, February 2024

It is really good to see how Pekoe’s writing is improving at a terrific rate. I will admit that I was a little sceptical when she started turning her attention to letters, and wasn’t sure that she would be able to pull it off, and I was also worried that it might compromise her wonderful portraits. I needn’t have worried, her writing is great and she is still painting her portrait pieces.

Pekoe, Sparke Evans Park, Bristol, February 2024
Pekoe, Sparke Evans Park, Bristol, February 2024

This piece, part of a birthday paint jam for Evey and Desi, picks up on the day’s theme which was Pokémon, and a ball features in her letters. Pekoe has included a character from the series/game/cards which I believe is Phantump, and she has included a graffiti crown for good measure. This is a lovely colourful piece which really gets into the spirit of the paint jam.