Over the past four months or so, some seriously epic pieces have started to appear on the ceilings under the M32 and Brunel Way. These magnificent statements are by Risco, and artist I was not familiar with before August this year.
Risco, Brunel Way, Bristol, December 2020
This piece under Brunel Way is a full skeleton in partial foetal position and was painted round about 21 November. I suspect it’ll be here for many years to come, I mean who else is going to go to such effort to tag or over-paint it? I think that Risco must use rollers on long poles to do this and it must be back-breaking work which makes this all the more impressive. Well worth a look.
Angry Face is so definitely back on the scene and that is great news. For me he represents the rather more edgy side of Bristol street/graffiti art, and his mega-tag comes in both rough tag and finessed forms.
Angry Face, Brunel Way, Bristol, December 2020
This column piece under Brunel Way is nicely done, and the characteristic face with spiky and cracked teeth is nicely decorated with little white bubbles on the two shades of blue face. It is always nice to find new pieces by Angry Face, especially when you know they are out there from the social media postings of others.
I managed to catch up very briefly with Mr Klue as he and Mr Sleven were just finishing off this new piece in St Werburghs tunnel. The turnover of art in this end spot is relatively high because it has a good amount of daylight, and it is always worth photographing something new, because you just can’t be sure how long it will last.
Mr Sleven and Mr Klue, St Werburghs, Bristol, November 2020
This is a true collaboration with the work and styles of both artists blending well together. The character with a TV head and outstretched arms is by Mr Sleven and the wispy orange and red abstract patterning by Mr Klue. These two collaborate quite often together and along with DNT and others form part of COM.64.
The two styles come together really well in this piece and the colours are striking. I like this one a lot.
Pekoe has been a very busy lady lately, with a flush of small portraits dotted around the city, which is very good news indeed. After years of writing about her work I finally got to meet her at a paint jam last weekend. Although this piece was photographed before I met her, I was able to tell her how much I liked it.
Pekoe, M32 Spot, Bristol, November 2020
Sometimes ‘street furniture’ interferes with taking photographs of street art, but in this instance I think it somehow adds to the ambience and environment. The bin, bike and coffee cup complement the scene, but the star here is definitely the outstanding yellow-faced portrait. I really like this piece, she has managed to create something special in quite a tight space and I like the way she has separated the portrait from the wall with a thick gold outline. A classy piece from the lovely Pekoe.
Last weekend, a chance meeting with Sam Spade (a street art hunter) in St Werburghs tunnel, led to one of those perfect moments for photographing street art and meeting artists. He told me that there was a lot of activity on the M32 cycle path, behind the Black Swan and that I ought to get myself over there. I was heading in that direction anyway, but the light was fading and I might just as easily have headed home. Luckily I went to take a look and there was a paint jam of about seven or eight artists just coming to an end, many of whom I hadn’t met before (more on that in posts to come).
Sled One, M32 cycle path, Bristol, November 2020
This piece from Sled One had already been completed, and he was just hanging around watching the other artists as they completed their work. Sled One is one of the most gifted artists I know, and he seems to be able to create stunning work, graffiti writing or character pieces, with consummate ease. Here the letters spell out SLED (although it almost looks like he has slipped in an extra D) in a selection of letter shapes and colour shadings. The red and blue cloud clumps add an extra dimension to this fine piece of writing.
Resembling one of the giant stone head statues of Easter Island is this rather nice and low-key piece by Zace. This is only the second piece I have posted by Zace, and it illustrates the diversity of artists in Bristol at the moment and the rate at which new ones are joining the already sizeable cohort.
Zace, St Werburghs, Bristol, November 2020
There is something about this piece that I really like, maybe its modesty or the simplicity. The expression is difficult to read – an enigmatic smile perhaps? There is a lot to like and enjoy in a piece like this one and I really look forward to finding more work from Zace.
Natural adventures 