Tag: Collaboration

6738. Unity Street

Bnie, Smak and Elvs, Unity Street, Bristol, January 2017
Bnie, Smak and Elvs, Unity Street, Bristol, January 2017

This is the third piece ‘rediscovered’ from dipping into my archive, and it is a fine collaboration from Bnie, Smak and Elvs. Once again, I am mystified by how it got left behind in the archive, but at least I am rectifying the situation by publishing it now.

Bnie, Unity Street, Bristol, January 2017
Bnie, Unity Street, Bristol, January 2017

Bnie’s work is always a joy. Her letters somehow work really well for graffiti writing – some combinations work much better than others. Here she has paid particular attention to some highly intricate fills, which I can only think were achieved using stencils. However they were realised, they are wonderfully technical and beautifully presented.

Smak, Unity Street, Bristol, January 2017
Smak, Unity Street, Bristol, January 2017

The middle piece is by Smak, whose work pretty much defines the ‘Bristol school’ of graffiti writing. Superb colours and a strong sense of flow through the piece, combining curves and straight lines skilfully. Simply an outstanding writer.

Elvs, Unity Street, Bristol, January 2017
Elvs, Unity Street, Bristol, January 2017

To the right is a fine piece by Elvs, whose work is so unique and distinct. He has worked so long and hard on his letters ELVS, that I would love to see what he could do with some other letters in his style – that would probably present a serious challenge and take him a little out of his comfort zone. Brilliant work from all three graffiti writers, demonstrating what their art form is all about.

6678. M32 roundabout J3 (651)

Desi and Lupa, M32 roundabout, Bristol, January 2025
Desi and Lupa, M32 roundabout, Bristol, January 2025

Ladies of the PWA crew have started the year with some real momentum, and have broadly had a busy period. This conflation piece from Desi and Lupa looks gorgeous in the evening sun. In my experience, it is quite unusual for two artists to merge their names and share a style in this way, and I have to say I rather like it. Within the crew, there are all sorts of combinations that would be fascinating to see, although I sense that this might be a bit of a one-off.

Desi and Lupa, M32 roundabout, Bristol, January 2025
Desi and Lupa, M32 roundabout, Bristol, January 2025

Desi has contributed the VEI, and probably L, and Lupa, the UPA. They have set the pink writing on a traditional purple brick wall background, and the Christmas hat from PWA’s Zake can still be seen behind the letters, providing some temporal context. A fine and true collaboration from Desi and Lupa.

6591. Brunel Way (305)

Face 1st and Zake, Brunel Way, Bristol, December 2024
Face 1st and Zake, Brunel Way, Bristol, December 2024

True to his word, Face 1st said that despite moving to Herefordshire, he would be back in Bristol to have a paint from time to time, and who better to team up with than his PWA partner in crime Zake, who thrives on collaborations. This is a combination piece, with Face 1st’s writing wrapped around an unusual portrait by Zake.

Face 1st and Zake, Brunel Way, Bristol, December 2024
Face 1st and Zake, Brunel Way, Bristol, December 2024

Face 1st has enjoyed using the block letters idea, which he has used quite a lot to good effect, and here, they frame a rather sinister portrait from Zake. Seeing Zake’s characters with hair always adds a little bit of weirdness, especially in this piece, where the face is green and the hair purple. Although I photographed this collaboration not long after it was painted, the dampness of the wall has caused some damage on the character’s nose. I am so glad to see Face 1st popping down to see us.

6310. Cumberland Basin

Esme Lower and Bloem
Esme Lower and Bloem

Some viewers/visitors may wonder what the numbering convention at the top of each street/graffiti art post on this blog is all about, and might legitimately question whether it is helpful or not. In my mind, it is quite simple. The first number is the sequential listing of the blog post, so, this is the six thousand three hundred and tenth post I have written about street/graffiti art on Natural Adventures. The following name is the spot or road where the piece can be found, and the number in brackets (unconventionally there isn’t one for Cumberland Bain (a quirk)) at the end relates to the number of posts from that spot or location. It might have been simpler to instead have the name of the artist included as well, but when I started doing this back in 2015, I didn’t know who most of the artists were and so a place-based approach seemed more sensible.

This is an absolutely gorgeous and rather unexpected collaboration from Esme Lower and Bloem.

Esme Lower and Bloem
Esme Lower and Bloem

The collaboration appears to be entitled ‘Strength in numbers’ which might be a reference to the ‘counterprotest marches’ against the far-right riots that were happening around Britain at the time this piece was painted.

It is what I would call a ‘true’ collaboration where the piece is a mash-up by both artists, and although some parts are identifiable as being by one artist or the other, the whole thing is an integrated mixture. The hands and chain are definitely by Bloem and the eyes and teeth by Esme Lower, the rest could be by either one of them. It is great to see these two artists stretching themselves, and it would be wonderful to see more co-creations like this one in the future.

5151. Elton Street (18)

Mudra and Peggy, Elton Street, Bristol, April 2023
Mudra and Peggy, Elton Street, Bristol, April 2023

Counterintuitively, sunny days are a bit of a nightmare for street art photographers. The nature of urban art is that much of it is surrounded by tall buildings, street and park trees, telegraph poles, lampposts and road signs, all of which cast dramatic shadows when the sun shines. I try not to post too many pictures with shadows, but sometimes it is inevitable, and my impatience to share a piece trumps my desire to return to the spot to re-photograph it when conditions are more favourable. That happened with this wonderful collaboration between Mudra and Peggy.

Mudra and Peggy, Elton Street, Bristol, April 2023
Mudra and Peggy, Elton Street, Bristol, April 2023

This is what I would term a true collaboration, where the whole piece is a mash-up of elements from both artists, and it becomes difficult to be certain who painted which bits. The highly designed piece has adopted the paint jam ‘house colour palette’ used by their fellow artists who painted other boards on the same day. The flower and eye elements are almost certainly by Peggy, and if you look closely you can see Mudra’s name split into two parts. This is a fine creative piece and very much in keeping with the Elton Street gallery.

5111. St Werburghs tunnel (363)

Benjimagnetic and Hemper, St Werburghs, Bristol, March 2023
Benjimagnetic and Hemper, St Werburghs, Bristol, March 2023

Now this is a proper mash-up collaboration, a conflation of two distinct styles from two outstanding artists, Benjimagnetic and Hemper. It is rare to find something of this nature where the artists fully collaborate so that the whole piece is one, and not two.

Benjimagnetic and Hemper, St Werburghs, Bristol, March 2023
Benjimagnetic and Hemper, St Werburghs, Bristol, March 2023

Although it is one combined piece, it is possible to disentangle which artist painted which bits. Broadly speaking the letters with straight bits and geometric elements are by Benjimagnetic, and the more curvy elements are likely to be by Hemper. It doesn’t really matter who painted what, because the end result is a wonderfully complex piece of writing that is jam-packed with great artistry.

4801. Cumberland Basin

Andy Council and Acer One, Cumberland Basin, Bristol, October 2022
Andy Council and Acer One, Cumberland Basin, Bristol, October 2022

There is something very comforting about the collaborative efforts from Andy Council and Acer One, particularly as their styles are so utterly different, and yet they find ways to combine them or create a read-across between them.

Andy Council, Cumberland Basin, Bristol, October 2022
Andy Council, Cumberland Basin, Bristol, October 2022

Andy Council’s contribution is an unusual piece, bilaterally symmetrical, that appears to have a skull at its centre. Everything else appears to be decorative, but there might be significance – I can only see wings, possible. As I mentioned before, the segue into Acer One’s work is the white line behind Andy Council’s piece.

Acer One, Cumberland Basin, Bristol, October 2022
Acer One, Cumberland Basin, Bristol, October 2022

In a temporary departure from geometric letters, Acer One gives us a rather pleasing geometric pattern with his current passion for using rainbow colours emanating out from the centre (Richard Of York Gave Battle In Vain). The collaboration is set to remain for a while, as this particular spot is rarely tagged or painted. Great work from the pair.

4226. Clift House Road (5)

There is a little bit of magic in this remarkable collaboration between Paul Monsters and Ments. The more obvious style is that of Paul Monsters with his colourful geometric patterns, but look a little closer and you can see some distortions in the patterns which are the work of Ments.

Paul Monsters and Ments, Clift House Road, Bristol, January 2022
Paul Monsters and Ments, Clift House Road, Bristol, January 2022

I’m not sure if I can remember these two collaborating before, but it seems to be a match made in heaven. This is what I would call a true collaboration, where the whole piece is seamless and complete and there is total fusion between the artists.

Paul Monsters and Ments, Clift House Road, Bristol, January 2022
Paul Monsters and Ments, Clift House Road, Bristol, January 2022

The effect of the regular patterns melting away in the middle works so well and plays to Ments’ strengths of creating fluid patterns that look at times like molten metal. I could look at this piece for hours, such it it’s mesmerising effect.

Paul Monsters and Ments, Clift House Road, Bristol, January 2022
Paul Monsters and Ments, Clift House Road, Bristol, January 2022

Paul Monsters building a reputation as something of a collaboration king, and I am aware of a new collaboration with Tom Miller that I will be hunting down over the next few days. An awesome piece.

4134. Dean Lane skate park (447)

You can never rule out anything in the world of street/graffiti art, and to do so would be to suck the surprise and joy out of it all. I would never have predicted a Flava136/Mudra collaboration, and yet down in the Deaner we have a near-perfect mash-up from these two superb artists.

Flava136 and Mudra, Dean Lane, Bristol, December 2021
Flava136 and Mudra, Dean Lane, Bristol, December 2021

This is a great example of a blended collaboration where it is difficult to be certain who painted what. There are of course the obvious bits that have all the hallmarks of the individual artists, but the bits in-between… A trained eye can tell them apart, but to most people you’d look at this piece and consider it to be by one artist.

Basically the central monster and smiley face are by Flava136, and the left and right hand elements (which spell out MUDRA (some creative imagination required)) are by Mudra. The whole thing is an absolute gem and I hopt that they will get together again sometime in the future.

4015. M32 Spot (121)

This is a joyous celebration of Pirate Wall Art (PWA) by Soap, Face 1st and Nightwayss alongside the slip road off the M32 J2 roundabout. In this piece the three friends have combined to fill the space with icons and tags that they use in their work. It is almost like a giant doodle, and a concept these three are having some fun with at the moment.

Face 1st, Soap and Nightwayss, M32 Spot, Bristol, October 2021
Face 1st, Soap and Nightwayss, M32 Spot, Bristol, October 2021

There are so many little bits to this collaboration, and it is one of those true collaborations where all the artists have combined to make the whole. The faces are by Face 1st, the mouthy skulls are by Soap and the monkeys by Nightwayss. The only mystery is the blue-faced character with the crown, top left, which I think is by Soap.

Face 1st, Soap and Nightwayss, M32 Spot, Bristol, October 2021
Face 1st, Soap and Nightwayss, M32 Spot, Bristol, October 2021

A whole bundle of fun.