In have recently taken a couple of excursions into my archive (I have so much unposted material from earlier this year it is insane) and on one such search I found this lovely piece by Stivs at Dean Lane skatepark on the swimming pool wall.
Stivs, Dean Lane, Bristol, August 22020
At this particular spot, the high railings make taking front-on photographs rather tricky, but it is possible to get pictures from the side. This lovely piece from Stivs adopts his calligraphy style but in this case with fatter letters that have been filled with horizontal colour stripes and a silhouetted landscape/cityscape running through the middle. A very nice piece.
It seems that most places I look I find a piece by Pl8o, and they are usually superb too. He fits into a category alongside Phour of artists that I have only relatively recently posted on Natural Adventures, but whose work I have been photographing for quite a long while… a visit to the archives may well be on the cards.
Pl8o, Brunel Way, Bristol, August 2020
Pl8o would appear to favour this spot and area of Bristol for his work although I have seen his writing elsewhere. This looks like a bit of a ‘quick one’ painted over at least two older pieces of writing – time to buff the wall I say. Even though the background is a bit messy and distracting, the shape and form of Pl8o’s letters is great – he has chosen some excellent letters/number to work with. I like this throw up, there is a sense of joy about it.
When I think about it, Daz Cat has been one of the most prolific artists in Bristol this year. Mostly in the North Bristol area he seems to be churning out cats at about the rate of one a fortnight or less. This is one of his recent ones in St Werburghs tunnel.
Daz Cat, St Werburghs, Bristol, November 2020
The tunnel is a frustrating place for photography, but a great place for wet-weather spray-painting. This particular cat is quite large, even though it doesn’t look like it, and stands out from what is mostly graffiti writing in the tunnel. The thing about Daz Cat is that his cats are getting technically better and better with more detail creeping in to each new piece. Much more to come.
Always tight, always pretty near perfect. I can’t think of a Dibz piece that hasn’t been meticulous in both design and execution, and if there are any I’ve yet to see them. This is yet another superb piece from Dibz in Dean Lane (his favourite spot) from a week or two back.
Dibz, Dean Lane, Bristol, November 2020
In most cases, Dibz buffs the wall first to ensure there is a focus on his wildstyle writing. The day glow green and pink colours stand out on the blue wall, and the design is simply outstanding. Dibz is an artist with a plan and he paints his plan and he does it well. A fine work.
I have a lot of photographs of graffiti writing by Mest, but have only posted a couple so far. He is an artist who sticks to a fairly strict formula in that his letter shapes are usually pretty similar, but it is his fills and colours that change from piece to piece.
Mest, M32 cycle path, Bristol, November 2020
In this one he treats us with a chrome, grey and green colour palette that works really well, and for good measure he has painted a few bubbles too. There is a lot more to come from Mest, so watch this space.
Following hot on the heels of the brand new artist gallery featuring Zake that I published yesterday is this Halloween piece that he painted during Face 1st’s birthday paint jam recently.
Zake, Brunel Way, Bristol, November 2020
This might be the largest piece by Zake that I have seen and it is an absolute belter. The complementary colours and shadows in purple create a fantastic atmosphere with amazing expressions on each of the faces. I love his round faces with arms hanging off them, something of a speciality from Zake.
The biggest news of the last two weeks has been the US election and a deep sigh of relief around the world as the Trump experiment seems to have run out of steam. It is incalculable how much damage that man has done to his own country let alone the rest of the world, all in the name of capitalism, selfishness, power, greed, hate, mistrust, vanity. The biggest things missing from his persona are any sense of dignity, empathy or compassion. How did his rise to become POTUS ever happen? What has happened to our world?
Sled One, M32 roundabout, Bristol, November 2020
Trump has been a rich source of inspiration and material for street artists over the last four years, and this glorious piece from Sled One may be one of the last Trump pieces we get to see. Entitled ‘Dump Trump’ it shows the President in a less than flattering light with a poo coiled on his head.
On one of my favourite and rather tatty doors alongside the M32 is this newish piece from Slakarts in his newly perfected style of a three-quarter portrait in cartoon style. This particular version has a kind of melting head effect to the right-hand side.
Slakarts, M32 Cycle path, Bristol, October 2020
I think that Slakarts had a long weekend with a little bit of time on his hands and a new concept he wanted to try out, because four or five of these characters appeared around Bristol at about the same time. It is a pity that some idiot got to the piece before I did and inserted a K on each eye, but in this game, you snooze, you lose.
Sometimes artists tend to come into view with increasing frequency. Now I don’t know whether that is because I am noticing them more but that they have always been there or whether they are actually painting walls more often. Whatever the reason, I am definitely seeing work from CD.TC these days and that is a good thing.
CD.TC, M32 Spot, Bristol, October 2020
This column piece at the M32 Spot is very nicely done and it has to be said that his portrait orientation style suits columns very well, a bit like Zake. The monster face contains many of the elements that we see in CD.TC’s work including great big teeth and swirly eyes. The monster appears to be consuming city buildings and smoking a cigarette. So much going on in this fun piece.