Turoe is nowhere near as productive as he has been at certain times in the past, so it is always great to come across a new piece. Although the frequency has dipped, the quality of his writing hasn’t diminished one iota.
Turoe, St Werburghs, Bristol, May 2024
This is a lovely chrome piece in the tunnel, which is really brought to life with the steel blue border, without which the writing would disappear on the wall, and struggle to be noticed. Small things like this come so easily to experienced writers, and the thought that goes into design, colours and site location contribute to the final outcome. A fine piece of graffiti writing from one of the best.
Here we have some more calligraffiti writing from Stivs, who appears to have had a bit of a rebirth lately and is painting furiously all over the place. I use the word ‘furiously’ deliberately because the words he is choosing to write recently are on the bluer end of the scale and play into the passive-aggressive arena, contrasting the beautiful writing with the potty mouth language.
Stivs, M32 roundabout, Bristol, May 2024
I believe this piece says KLAPE or KLAPY, which I think is just another way of saying CRAP, although I might be mistaken. The writing is, as ever, very neat and tidy, and has a sparkle about it, helped along with the little starbursts at the top of each letter. Much more to come from Stivs, and I am struggling to keep up as it is.
The little passage alongside the swimming pool wall in Dean Lane is often full of surprises, and I was thrilled to find this lovely floral piece by Peggy, especially as she has been reasonably quiet over the winter.
Peggy, Dean Lane, Bristol, May 2024
Peggy, who I guess has been busy with her tattooing, managed to find some time to create this display of leaves and, of course, a flower including an eye in the centre. Lots of symbolism tied up with the eye, but I am not too sure what it might mean. Peggy has chosen a nice palette of colours and finished the piece neatly. Perhaps this is a sign of more activity over the summer – fingers crossed.
It took me rather a long while to photograph this magnificent writing/character combination piece by Kid Krishna, but parking near this spot is a real issue, so I waited until I walked in to work (a reasonably rare occurrence since Covid) before snapping it up. Fortunately it has been respected and remained untagged since it was painted.
Kid Krishna, Stokes Croft, Bristol, May 2024
The Tribute piece almost looks like it has been created by two different artists, and it brings out the artistically ‘bipolar’ aspects of Kid Krishna’s skill sets. The character, which looks like a beetle-mole mash up is detailed, sharp and clean, whereas the writing looks much more fluid and spontaneous. This is a really classy combination piece from an artist who is red-hot at the moment.
Awkward, Dean Lane, Bristol, May 2024Fade, Dibz, Noise and and Awkward, Dean Lane, Bristol, April 2024Fade and Awkward, Dean Lane, Bristol, April 2024Noise and Awkward, Dean Lane, Bristol, April 2024Awkward, Dean Lane, Bristol, April 2024Awkward, Dean Lane, Bristol, April 2024Awkward, Dean Lane, Bristol, November 2023Dibz, Awkward and Fade, Dean Lane, Bristol, October 2023Awkward, Dean Lane, Bristol, July 2023Awkward, Dean Lane, Bristol, March 2022Awkward, Dean Lane, Bristol, March 2022Awkward, Dean Lane, Bristol, March 2022Awkward, Dean Lane, Bristol, March 2022Awkward and Benjimagnetic, Dean Lane, Bristol, December 2020Awkward and Acer One, Dean Lane, Bristol, December 2020Awkward and Benjimagnetic, St Werburghs, Bristol, February 2020
Turbo takes an awful lot of punishment. This little corner of Stokes Croft represents the heart of Bristol rebellion. Occupied at various points by the homeless, addicts, drunks, revellers, artists, tourists, the curious even. It is a spot impacted by footfall, fires and tagging. For many years, a beautiful Sepr scarecrow mural loomed large on the end wall but over time it has degraded, so up steps the hero of the day, Sepr, ably accompanied by 3Dom to refresh the wall.
Sepr and 3Dom, Turbo Island, Bristol, May 2024
Sepr has stuck quite close to his original piece, sticking with the literal scare crow idea painted in a clever contrasting black and yellow two-tone colour scheme. A troupe of performing mice accompany the crow, who is drinking out of a ‘Bob’ mug.
Sepr and 3Dom, Turbo Island, Bristol, May 2024
3Dom has done all of us a great service in painting the utility box with one of his magnificent symmetrical radiating, organic pattern pieces. This utility box is usually festooned with hundreds of peeling fly-posters that add to the general untidiness of the spot. I’m sure it won’t be long before we can no longer see this beautiful splash of colour. Beautiful, witty, charming and just what the spot needs.
Dibz, Jody and Fade, Brunel Way, Bristol, May 2024
This extraordinary collaboration from Dibz, Jody and Fade, in my view, approaches graffiti/character combination perfection, and I feel that the more I say about it, the more I risk devaluing it. This piece, is adjacent to an earlier collaboration by these three which I haven’t yet had the space to post…
Dibz, Brunel Way, Bristol, May 2024
The classic triptych begins with some stunning writing from Dibz with an outstanding deep 3D drop shadow, full of shades creating loads of depth. There are some nice dark highlights in the corner of some of the letters too.
Fade, Brunel Way, Bristol, May 2024
Bookending the central character on the other side is some writing from Fade which closely mirrors Dibz’ writing. The main difference between the two is the colour of the drop shadow. Their work is deliberately merged into one.
Jody, Brunel Way, Bristol, May 2024
Arguably, the star of the show is the portrait piece from Jody in the centre. I don’t know what it is that makes this one so special, maybe it is the colours, maybe it is the writing either side, I just don’t know, but it is truly outstanding and captivating. The portrait is full of mystery and power, with the flowing hair and wispy flowers providing plenty of movement. This is really great work from the three. How often have I said that over the last year or two?
I had to return to this spot to get some decent photographs of this unusual piece by Taboo, as the first lot were covered in shadows, but that is how it works. I work on the principle of always taking pictures of a new piece, whatever the light conditions, because it could be tagged or overpainted within hours. If I get a second chance to take better pictures, then that is a bonus.
Taboo, M32 cycle path, Bristol, May 2024
Taboo has had quite a quiet period over the last six months or so, so it was good to find this one on the Cycle path. In his unique antistyle graffiti writing, Taboo manages to combine his unusual letters with characters, in this case a kind of grinning pig. I suspect the pig reference relates to the police, because he has included the words “No good cops. (Sorry)” which I guess is a polite way of saying ACAB. Looking forward to seeing more from Taboo as the summer unfolds.
This container, behind the Watershed, is one of the more curious spots in Bristol. I am not sure who owns the container, nor do I understand quite why the council has given permission for it to be sited here, but here it is and fortunately for us, it has played host to a series of high-end commissions over the years. Inkie replaced the Paul Monsters piece that had been here before a little while back, but I have only recently photographed it.
Inkie, Anchor Road, Bristol, May 2024
There are several Inkie elements that have come together in perfect harmony in this combination piece. The print background runs through the whole piece and sets a regular patterned backdrop. Of course the distinctive writing in very Inkie colours is as good as you’ll see and to the right is one of his beautiful Art Nouveau style characters. The only board of the piece that leaves me scratching my head is the cartoon-style spray can, which doesn’t look like an Inkie piece at all and doesn’t quite fit with the rest of it.
Natural adventures 