Category: 5. Street Art

4669. Sparke Evans Park (53)

Rusk, Sparke Evans Park, Bristol, August 2022
Rusk, Sparke Evans Park, Bristol, August 2022

After what seems like a very long absence, Upfest apart, Rusk has been hitting Bristol pretty hard lately, perhaps encouraged by his pal Zesk, who has been visiting and with whom he has painted a couple of collaborative walls. Anything that gets Rusk out painting has to be good.

Rusk, Sparke Evans Park, Bristol, August 2022
Rusk, Sparke Evans Park, Bristol, August 2022

This is an unusual and really rather beautifully designed piece from the writer. Spelling our RUSK in ‘ribbon’ letters and augmented with an abstract pink accent line, there is a great sense of proportion, colour tones and overall freshness that makes this piece an absolute classic. Not edgy, not rough and ready, but intelligent, well-thought-out and artistic. This is a next-level piece from Rusk (in my view).

4668. Dean Lane skate park (522)

Andy Council, Dean Lane, Bristol, August 2022
Andy Council, Dean Lane, Bristol, August 2022

You have to be quick these days to photograph pieces before they get tagged. I decided to post this piece, by Andy Council, in spite of the tags, because most of it is intact. I completely missed another piece by Andy Council in collaboration with Ments in Cumberland Basin, which had been tagged and abused recently, after only a day or so. Furthermore, I get that it is a jungle out there and that there are ‘no rules’ but the toys who show so little respect are pathetic really, dissing artists whilst having zero talent of their own. Ever was it thus.

Andy Council, Dean Lane, Bristol, August 2022
Andy Council, Dean Lane, Bristol, August 2022

This is a lovely ‘quick one’, I imagine, from Andy Council with some trilobites and an ammonite – trademark creatures from the artist. I rather like the shot of the skater in the first photograph – Dean Lane at its best.

4667. M32 Cycle path (185)

Desi, M32 Cycle path, Bristol, August 2022
Desi, M32 Cycle path, Bristol, August 2022

I think that I have photographed far more pieces by Desi than I have posted, and in my mind think I have posted more than I have. I will have to address this, as I’d like to do a gallery of her work, which is becoming more and more prominent about the place.

Desi, M32 Cycle path, Bristol, August 2022
Desi, M32 Cycle path, Bristol, August 2022

Desi has recently taken to using a second form of letters ‘VEIL’ which demonstrated her increasing confidence and experimentation. In this piece we return to the more familiar letters in which she presents four horizontally arranged colours, with quite hard transitions and some bubble decoration. Always great to see Desi’s writing.

4666. M32 roundabout J3 (426)

Haka, M32 roundabout, Bristol, August 2022
Haka, M32 roundabout, Bristol, August 2022

Haka seems to be having the time of his life recreating characters from children’s picture books, in particular by the authors Janet and Allan Ahlberg. The writing CKone is a tribute to a long-lost friend and graffiti writer Dan Fenlon who passed away some years ago. Haka has been including his moniker on his work ever since.

Haka, M32 roundabout, Bristol, August 2022
Haka, M32 roundabout, Bristol, August 2022

I love the skeleton, from the ‘Funny Bones’ books by the Ahlbergs, and his speech bubble saying ‘let’s go painting’ is just perfect. I am thoroughly enjoying this rich vein of form that Haka is experiencing, and look forward to his next creation.

4665. Sparke Evans Park (52)

Laic217, Sparke Evans Park, Bristol, August 2022
Laic217, Sparke Evans Park, Bristol, August 2022

Laic217 is painting roughly every three to four weeks at the moment, which is great as it keeps a constant stream of his work in the limelight, and allows me to publish pretty much every piece I see.

Laic217, Sparke Evans Park, Bristol, August 2022
Laic217, Sparke Evans Park, Bristol, August 2022

This artistic piece features a chrome Satan Japanese Oni (thank you, Paul) crushing a spray can with his teeth, and some bronze paint/fumes wafting from the can in a rather stylised design. The chrome work is fantastic because it isn’t chrome at all, but looks like it. The colours used are actually black, grey, white and light blue, which used skilfully create an illusion of metal. Brilliant work from Laic217.

4664. Dean Lane

Pelmo, Dean Lane, Bristol, August 2022
Pelmo, Dean Lane, Bristol, August 2022

Pelmo has been experimenting for a little while with some fascinating studies of characters in orange and red doing unusual things. This fine piece, perfectly located in Dean Lane, is another climbing piece, this time with both climbers more obviously positioned and related to one another than the one in New Stadium Road.

Pelmo, Dean Lane, Bristol, August 2022
Pelmo, Dean Lane, Bristol, August 2022

This charming work shows two characters, one belaying the other as he carefully climbs a ‘chimney’ between a wall and telegraph pole.  There is a lot of thought and love shown by Pelmo in his pieces, and I always feel that he has a strong relationship and affection for his characters. This is a brilliant small piece that brings a smile to my face each time I see it.

4663. Moon Street (96)

Face 1st, Moon Street, Bristol, August 2022
Face 1st, Moon Street, Bristol, August 2022

Face 1st seems to be going through a joyous renaissance these days and has painted several wonderful character pieces that simply ooze happiness – maybe it is a reflection of the artist’s disposition, I certainly hope so When I think about Bristol street art, front of mind is always this combination of Face 1st and Moon Street, two factors that kindled my interest back in 2015.

Face 1st, Moon Street, Bristol, August 2022
Face 1st, Moon Street, Bristol, August 2022

This magnificent dancing girl, having a great time in her yellow dress and red shoes, simply oozes fun and joy, suggesting a great night out. Although I love pretty much everything Face 1st does, the freedom and expression in these large character pieces definitely brings out the best in him. An instant favourite.

4662. M32 cycle path (184)

The Mole, M32 Cycle path, Bristol, August2022
The Mole, M32 Cycle path, Bristol, August2022

The Mole (or to give him his full name, Inca the Mole) has been fairly busy lately with a few pieces in Bristol and elsewhere, which is always good to see. This lovely bit of graffiti writing is on the M32 cycle path, unseen by the motorway traffic above.

The Mole, M32 Cycle path, Bristol, August2022
The Mole, M32 Cycle path, Bristol, August2022

From what I have seen, The Mole likes to use softer tones in his work, and appears to be a fan of world peace, as much of his work is decorated with peace symbols incorporated into the colour schemes of his fills. This is very nice, tidy and clean writing, typical of  The Mole’s apparent conscientious approach.

4661. Brunel Way (169)

Maybe, Brunel Way, Bristol, August 2022
Maybe, Brunel Way, Bristol, August 2022

The creativity that is the signature of Maybe’s work continues to delight, with his constant flow of small stencil art pieces, most of which are painted under Brunel Way or the immediate area.

Maybe, Brunel Way, Bristol, August 2022
Maybe, Brunel Way, Bristol, August 2022

This recent piece depicts a woman contemplating the stars, made slightly weird by the ‘Mr Tickle’ hand curling in full circle. These atmospheric pieces feature planets and stars heavily, and Maybe has definitely refined his technique to create these beautiful space-scapes.

4660. M32 roundabout J3 (425)

Stivs, M32 roundabout, Bristol, August 2022
Stivs, M32 roundabout, Bristol, August 2022

Stivs has been knocking it out of the park lately, even more so than usual. Following on from his hugely impressive Sear tribute pieces he has created this wonderful birthday shout-out for a friend, Jane Barrow.

Stivs, M32 roundabout, Bristol, August 2022
Stivs, M32 roundabout, Bristol, August 2022

The beautifully colourful letters in calligraffiti style spell out POGE or PAGE, I think, but I don’t know the relevance of the letters. It matters not what they say, because the colours, design and overall composition are outstanding. Can Stivs attain a higher level yet? I expect so.