It would seem that Rozalita is on something of a mission at the moment, and her work rate is on an exponential growth. But it is not only her work rate that is impressive, but the subject matter of her pieces that is changing dramatically, and this is all fantastic to see.
Rozlita, Greenbank, Bristol, February 2022
There is so much to like about Rozalita’s work, not only her compositions, but her paintwork itself which looks more like it has been applied with a brush than spray paint. Each component of this piece is wonderful, the portrait and horses in a blue monochrome style and the extraordinary pink orchid flowers framing the piece. Such a great surprise and yet another fine piece coming off the Rozalita conveyor belt lately.
Tack Jucker has tapped into a theme with this hand piece in Cumberland Basin, the second such piece in a short period from the artist. He is obviously enjoying the interaction between the hand and the tentacles and is pulling it off pretty well as far as I can see.
Tack Jucker, Cumberland Basin, Bristol, February 2022
Tack is an artist who is reasonably new to the Bristol street art scene, but right from the start he has been producing really interesting character pieces, and appears to have a strong element of ‘study’ in his works. The hand in this piece, for example, is very carefully thought out in terms of shape and aspect. Great work from Tack.
This is a rather special collaboration from a pair of Spanish artists who seem to like painting together, Varo and Zake. Their styles are rather different, but their collaborations seem to gel really well together, maybe thanks to a common background and slight interface.
Varo and Zake, Brunel Way, Bristol, February 2022
To the left are some rather nice and colourful letters spelling out VARO. The letters kind of start with a dragon figurehead to the left and a different colour for each letter. The grey 3D shading is really nicely worked and bordered with a fine red line.
Zake, Brunel Way, Bristol, February 2022
To the right is one of Zake’s familiar faces, although this time it is attached to a body with the classic spray paint theme going on. I love Zakes faces that major on shadings to create depth and contours around the features. A classy double act.
I don’t need to say too much about how good this piece is. The quality, confidence, detail and finishing of this wildstyle graffiti writing by Dibz is of the highest order and the artist just keeps setting the bar higher and higher. This one was painted while I was out of the country, but thankfully it was respected and left un-tagged and I was able to photograph it.
Dibz, Dean Lane, Bristol, February 2022
In common with many of the artists I have met, Dibz is so modest about his work, and just gets on with it in a very matter of fact kind of way. If I could produce something like this, I’d be leaping about like a mad man telling everyone about it. The letters are bisected with two perfect straight lines that divide the whole piece cleverly into three totally different colour schemes. I can’t imagine how hard this is to do, and would have loved to witness Dibz at work on this one. Another stunner from the man.
This is absolutely amazing. This column piece is by yet another new artist on the Bristol scene, Morag, and it absolutely ticks all my boxes. Beautifully executed, with a unique style and endearing expression. There are so many things it reminds me of… Barbara Hepworth’s sculptures and Thomas the tank engine faces, for example.
Morag, Brunel Way, Bristol, February 2022
This particular piece is the second one I have found in Bristol so far and I will be posting the other one very soon. I am not usually so fond of circular column pieces because they are so difficult to photograph, but this one can be forgiven because it is just so good and original. I am really looking to seeing from Morag this year – we need great creative stuff like this.
I met Enn Kay last week under Brunel Way down by the river for the first time, and what an absolute pleasure it was too. He was painting with his ‘brother’ at the time, and I wasn’t sure whether that meant his ‘brother’ or his actual brother – I am not really up with contemporary slang, being such an oldie.
Enn Kay, Dean Lane, Bristol, January 2022
Enn Kay has been absolutely smashing it lately, which is no small feat, given that he only started painting walls at the back end of last year. This is one of his octopus monsters, of which there are several knocking around. Beautifully painted and full of character, these pieces add so much to the vast array of styles and subjects in Bristol.
It feels like Maybe has slowed down just a tad with his frequency of work, but the quality has certainly improved since his early pieces first started appearing on the columns under Brunel Way.
Maybe, Brunel Way, Bristol, January 2021
This is a fine piece of two faces, one smoking a cigarette and the other a face in the smoke. The composition is thoughtful and tells a story, and the soft colours typical of the work of the artist. I recently published a gallery of Maybe’s work, so if you like this piece, the gallery is certainly worth a squint. One of the finds of 2021.
The best thing about photographing and chronicling street art in Bristol are the surprises, and they don’t come much bigger than this fabulous three way collaboration from Logoe, Sepr and Haka. Three old hands (I hope they won’t mind me calling them that) on the Bristol scene combining their talents on one wall.
Logoe, M32 Spot, Bristol, January 2022
To the left of the triptych is a truly fabulous piece of script graffiti writing from Logoe, who has been mad for it this winter. There really has been no stopping him, despite the fact he doesn’t even live in Bristol and blitzes our walls in short bursts.
Sepr, M32 Spot, Bristol, January 2022
The middle section is a superb character piece from Sepr, featuring a beautifully dresses satan balancing a flaming earth on his finger. Why would such a thing be happening?… oh yeah, the planet is being run by imbeciles and climate change is going to change everything. Satan surely has a hand in all of this somewhere.
Haka, M32 Spot, Bristol, January 2022
The right-hand section is a cheerful piece by Haka, that clearly demonstrates his ability when he puts his mind to it. Often his pieces have a rough-edge, grounded feel to them, but not this one. Here he has pulled-off some stylish writing and excellent fills that do the job nicely and round off the whole collaboration. Great work from these three.
Logoe, Sepr and Haka, M32 Spot, Bristol, January 2022
Life can be one hell of a battle, and certainly Turoe has had a battle on his hands in recent years. This piece is a perfect visualisation of that battle that he has been fighting.
Turoe, Sparke Evans Park, Bristol, January 2022
This is a stunning piece of writing in classical graffiti wildstyle style, in chrome with a nice looking blue outline that cleverly picks out the black 3D shading on a black background. The words ‘battle scars’ hint further at Turoe’s challenges.
If ever Altered Images wanted a new album cover for their outstanding LP Pinky Blue, this piece by Face 1st would definitely fit the bill. I know I have said it before, but I will never tire of Face 1st’s work, and although sometimes it is a little rough at the edges, it nearly always raises a smile.
Face 1st, M32 cycle path, Bristol, January 2021
This piece is perfect for the location and somehow just seems to have a great feel good factor about it. The colours set on the green background look fabulous and together with the 3D shading on the bottom of the letters lift the piece off the wall. More great stuff from Face 1st.