6614. Cumberland Basin

Lee Roy, Cumberland Basin, Bristol, December 2024
Lee Roy, Cumberland Basin, Bristol, December 2024

Not long ago, I met Lee Roy, whilst walking our respective dogs, and he informed me that he was hanging up his spray cans for a while, which was disappointing to hear, because I like his work and the way he expresses himself through it. However, this piece might signify a return for the anti-style(ish) writer.

Lee Roy, Cumberland Basin, Bristol, December 2024
Lee Roy, Cumberland Basin, Bristol, December 2024

During his ‘lay-off’, he hasn’t lost his touch in the slightest, indeed, this is a rather sharp piece, beautifully presented and with an array of his favourite fill patterns and shapes. The purples and greys work well against the blight blue background, and this is a very fine ‘come back’ piece. Hoping this is more than a splash in the pan.

6411. Dove Lane

Taboo, Dove Lane, Bristol, September 2024
Taboo, Dove Lane, Bristol, September 2024

A couple of weeks ago, before we drove our daughter to her new university adventure, I had to drop the dog off with a dog-sitter which took me to a part of town I don’t go to all that often. While I wouldn’t describe the area of Redfield as a graffiti/street art hotspot, there are a few pieces knocking about the place and it is always worth having a little explore. I got lucky and found this Taboo piece, which might have been there for some time, but it was a discovery for me nonetheless.

Taboo, Dove Lane, Bristol, September 2024
Taboo, Dove Lane, Bristol, September 2024

This is a fabulous anti-style graffiti writing/character combination piece that Taboo is so good at, full of innovation and charm as well as being a little bit surreal. The letters spell out TABOO, with the last ‘O’ represented by a bricky busily building a wall. This is a wonderful piece that demonstrates the rare and extraordinary talents of Taboo.

6288. Lower Ashley Road (9)

Taboo, Lower Ashley Road, Bristol, August 2024
Taboo, Lower Ashley Road, Bristol, August 2024

It is rare for new hoardings to remain unpainted or untagged in Bristol, and no sooner had these gone up around a new development site, than they were decorated with several throw ups including this fine anti-style graffiti writing and character combination piece by Taboo.

Taboo, Lower Ashley Road, Bristol, August 2024
Taboo, Lower Ashley Road, Bristol, August 2024

Taboo has been reasonably quiet lately, so this piece came as a very welcome surprise. As you can see it is a birthday tribute piece to Ffion, and includes a cute portrait of Simba from the Lion King Disney film. The writing, which is really on-point, spells out TABOO, of which the lion cub makes up the first ‘O’. I love the pink inside the second ‘O’, adding just another layer of interest.

6286. New Stadium Road (57)

Whysayit, New Stadium Road, Bristol, August 2024
Whysayit, New Stadium Road, Bristol, August 2024

This is rather a special piece from Whysayit, because it is unusual to see anything by him quite as big and bold as this one, and to see his work on a (partially) buffed background. The anti-style letters spell out YSAE (why say), which stand out really well.

Whysayit, New Stadium Road, Bristol, August 2024
Whysayit, New Stadium Road, Bristol, August 2024

Although nicely finished, there is something quite raw about this piece, especially in the translucency of the orange colour, a colour, along with yellow, that can (depending on the brand of paint) be rather thin. I don’t know if he was running out of paint, or whether it is a feature, but the tail of the letter ‘E’ is finished off in white, in throw up style zigzags. The letters are finished off with a rather nice 3D drop shadow in dark blue with vertical green stripes and a clean white border. A very nice example of Whysayit’s work.

6167. Cumberland Basin

Alos, Cumberland Basin, Bristol, June 2024
Alos, Cumberland Basin, Bristol, June 2024

I don’t think I have posted anything from Alos for rather a long time, so it was nice to encounter this small piece at the end of the long wall at Cumberland Basin. His rather loose anti-style writing appears to have been superimposed on another piece, and it looks like the fills in his letters are from that previous piece.

Alos, Cumberland Basin, Bristol, June 2024
Alos, Cumberland Basin, Bristol, June 2024

One could view this technique as lazy, but I prefer to think of it as opportunistic and illustrative of the perennial layering on the walls we know and love. The skill has been in how to make his letters ALOS rise above from the surrounding chaos, and I think he has succeeded.

6141. Montpelier Park

j9449j and Solar, Montpelier Park, Bristol, June 2024
j9449j and Solar, Montpelier Park, Bristol, June 2024

More and more these days, writers are stacking their graffiti writing, one piece on top of the other. I am not sure why they do this, perhaps it is all about proportions and wall space. Ultimately what it means is that you get two pieces for the price of one, and this double header is by j9449j (who keeps changing his handle on Instagram, so this will have to do) and Solar.

j9449j and Solar, Montpelier Park, Bristol, June 2024
j9449j and Solar, Montpelier Park, Bristol, June 2024

This spot is one I don’t get to all that often, but it is always worth it, because every time I have been recently, there has been something different on display. j9449j has painted some letters, which I struggle to decipher, but his organic and unique fills give away his identity. Solar, was recently the subject of a gallery I pulled together, and this anti-style writing flows beautifully, so typical of his work. A nice duo to stumble across.

6117. Cumberland Basin

Solar, Cumberland Basin, Bristol, June 2024
Solar, Cumberland Basin, Bristol, June 2024

Although I have been featuring Solar on Natural Adventures since 2021, it wasn’t until May this year that I actually got to meet him while he was painting this piece. As with pretty much all the artists I meet he is a really nice person and managed to instantly dispel some of my imagined preconceptions of members of the PLB crew, which were largely based around not having met any of them.

Solar, Cumberland Basin, Bristol, June 2024
Solar, Cumberland Basin, Bristol, June 2024

I would categorise Solar’s writing style as soft anti-style, meaning that while he bucks the trend of conventional graffiti writing, there is some order and consistency to his letters, nothing too chaotic or anarchic. The letters are nicely done but the star of the show is the ‘implied’ drop shadow in blue and black, which is a very clever mechanism I haven’t seen deployed before. You’d think that the colour scheme wouldn’t work, and at first that was my impression, but actually it seems to work remarkably well.

Solar

A gallery of fabulous anti-style graffiti writing from Bristol artist Solar.

Crew PLB (Placebo)

All photographs by Scooj

Solar and Nice One, Sparke Evans Park, Bristol, June 2024
Solar and Nice One, Sparke Evans Park, Bristol, June 2024
Solar, New Stadium Road, Bristol, August 2024
Solar, New Stadium Road, Bristol, August 2024
j9449j and Solar, Montpelier Park, Bristol, June 2024
j9449j and Solar, Montpelier Park, Bristol, June 2024
Solar, Cumberland Basin, Bristol, June 2024
Solar, Cumberland Basin, Bristol, June 2024
Solar, Brunel Way, Bristol, September 2023
Solar, Brunel Way, Bristol, September 2023
Solar, Sparke Evans Park, Bristol, July 2023
Solar, Sparke Evans Park, Bristol, July 2023
Solar, Peel Street Green, Bristol, June 2023
Solar, Peel Street Green, Bristol, June 2023
Solar, M32 Cycle path, Bristol, May 2023
Solar, M32 Cycle path, Bristol, May 2023
Solar, Cumberland Basin, Bristol, January 2023
Solar, Cumberland Basin, Bristol, January 2023
Solar, M32 roundabout, Bristol, November 2022
Solar, M32 roundabout, Bristol, November 2022
Solar, Frome side, Bristol, October 2022
Solar, Frome side, Bristol, October 2022
Solar, Cumberland Basin, Bristol, April 2022
Solar, Cumberland Basin, Bristol, April 2022
Solar, New Stadium Road, Bristol, April 2021
Solar, New Stadium Road, Bristol, April 2021

6065. Cumberland Basin

Lee Roy, Cumberland Basin, Bristol, May 2024
Lee Roy, Cumberland Basin, Bristol, May 2024

Lee Roy is another artist who has gone a little quiet lately, and when I do find pieces by him, I am not sure whether they are old ones or new ones, because they tend to be in spots I don’t visit all that frequently, like this on the warehouse building on the north side of the river opposite the garden centre.

Lee Roy, Cumberland Basin, Bristol, May 2024
Lee Roy, Cumberland Basin, Bristol, May 2024

VLAD appears to be the letters/word that Lee Roy is enjoying at the moment, and he is continuing with his flowing anti-style approach. I would say that his work, which might look untidy to casual viewers, is actually highly regarded by his peers and photographers alike. It is a very ‘street’ style of graffiti writing. I would love to see him out more this summer, although I do occasionally see him out walking his dog.

Whysayit

A gallery of anti-style graffiti writing from Bristol’s fabulous Whysayit (YSAE).

Crew: PLB

All photographs by Scooj

Whysayit, M32 Spot, Bristol, January 2023
Whysayit, M32 Spot, Bristol, January 2023
Whysayit, Cumberland Basin, Bristol, November 2022
Whysayit, Cumberland Basin, Bristol, November 2022
Whysayit, Frome side, Bristol October 2022
Whysayit, Frome side, Bristol October 2022
Whysayit, Greenbank, Bristol, June 2022
Whysayit, Greenbank, Bristol, June 2022
Whysayit, Cumberland Basin, Bristol, June 2022
Whysayit, Cumberland Basin, Bristol, June 2022
Whysayit, Thomas Street, Bristol, February 2018
Whysayit, Thomas Street, Bristol, February 2018
Whysayit, New Stadium Road, Bristol, February 2018
Whysayit, New Stadium Road, Bristol, February 2018
Kleiner Shames and Whysayit, New Stadium Road, Bristol, February 2018
Kleiner Shames and Whysayit, New Stadium Road, Bristol, February 2018
Whysayit, St Werburghs tunnel, Bristol, January 2018
Whysayit, St Werburghs tunnel, Bristol, January 2018
Whysayit, Moon Street, Bristol, January 2018
Whysayit, Moon Street, Bristol, January 2018
Whysayit, M32 roundabout, Bristol, November 2017
Whysayit, M32 roundabout, Bristol, November 2017
Whysayit, Upfest, Bristol, July 2017
Whysayit, Upfest, Bristol, July 2017
Whysayit, Moon Street, Bristol, July 2017
Whysayit, Moon Street, Bristol, July 2017
Whysayit, M32, Bristol, June 2017
Whysayit, M32, Bristol, June 2017
Whysayit, Dean Lane, Bristol, April 2017
Whysayit, Dean Lane, Bristol, April 2017
Whysayit, Moon Street, Bristol, July 2016
Whysayit, Moon Street, Bristol, July 2016
Whysayit and Kleiner Shames, Moon Street, Bristol, July 2016
Whysayit and Kleiner Shames, Moon Street, Bristol, July 2016
Whysayit, Horfield skate park, Bristol, April 2017
Whysayit, Horfield skate park, Bristol, April 2017
Whysayit, St Werburghs tunnel, Bristol, March 2017
Whysayit, St Werburghs tunnel, Bristol, March 2017
Whysayit, Upper York Street, Bristol, January 2016
Whysayit, Upper York Street, Bristol, January 2016
Whysayit, Unity Street, Bristol, February 2017
Whysayit, Unity Street, Bristol, February 2017
Whysayit, Moon Street, Bristol, January 2017
Whysayit, Moon Street, Bristol, January 2017
Whysayit, Armada Place, Bristol, December 2016
Whysayit, Armada Place, Bristol, December 2016
Whysayit, Upper York Street, Bristol, September 2016
Whysayit, Upper York Street, Bristol, September 2016