Conrico – Page 3 – Natural adventures

6249. Purdown (75)

One of the great pleasures of my trip to Cheltenham two weekends ago for the Cheltenham Paint Festival was catching up with Conrico while he was painting a wide piece spanning a bridge. We chatted for quite a while, and I came away with the impression of a really decent man who so utterly enjoys his craft. We talked about all sorts of things like where his name comes from and what his connection with Japan is and so on. Fascinating stuff.

This is a gorgeous Japanese scene with a pathway leading up to a small building and a lantern lighting the way. There are ghostly figures sitting on the roof of the structure and nearby, giving the whole thing quite a spiritual feel. Maybe the figures are ancestors. As with much of his work, Conrico has constructed a story and illustrated it beautiful, bringing a tiny little bit of Japan to Bristol.

6212. Greenbank (127)

Conrico has been super-busy lately both painting on the street, and in his studio. He has a fabulous imagination, and much of his art is influenced by the culture of the Far East, in particular Japan. I don’t know what the connection is, but it adds an exotic flavour to many of his pieces.

This is quite an unusual portrait piece, that in contrast to what I have said in the previous paragraph, appears to be of a Central/South American person wearing face paint and with feathers in their hair. Once again, Conrico’s unique can-work gives the impression that the piece has been painted with brushes, and doesn’t have that ‘clinical tight finish that so much street art tends to have. More still to come from Conrico.

6202. M32 roundabout J3 (601)

Conrico, M32 roundabout, Bristol, June 2024

I love Conrico’s work. He has the most incredible capacity for telling stories through his art. Rarely is there a static portrait or lettering that does nothing more than look good. The other thing that I admire in his work is his spray style that looks more like brush strokes than spray – clever stuff indeed.

This piece was painted during the paint jam to celebrate Wispa’s birthday (in absentia). I am guessing, but can’t be sure, that Conrico has painted a portrait of Wispa in honour of her birthday, which would make sense. He has included some writing, which I think might be Japanese, which I cannot read. A nice piece that is so typical of his unique style.

5933. Cumberland Basin

Conrico, Cumberland Basin, Bristol, March 2024

Conrico has been turning out some sensational pieces lately, and what is interesting about this one is that he posted on his Instagram feed some sketches of the animated Chinese lantern before painting this wall, which goes to show how much thought goes into the pieces that artists paint.

The letters CONRICO are superimposed on what looks like an afternoon landscape with the lantern on the left and a building on the right. As ever, Conrico’s artwork looks like it is painted with a brush rather than a spray can, and I imagine he paints with lots of short controlled sprays to achieve this effect. There is character writing on the side of the building, hinting at an East Asian scene. Wonderful stylised clouds finish off this fine combination piece from Conrico.

5856. Devon Road (20)

Conrico, Devon Road, Bristol, February 2024

A week or so ago I decided to visit the Devon Road area of Bristol, which I have neglected for quite a long while but where turnover tends to be rather slow. I was rewarded with this magnificent piece at the end of Devon Road, by Conrico. I might be pushing the boat a little, but I think that this could be the best piece I have seen from Conrico, and that is saying something.

There is a wonderful story of an oriental flavour unfolding. Our central character is a fox wearing a fabulous blue robe, tossing a spray can in his right hand and clutching a roller in his left. Is there something autobiographical going on here? The fox is standing in a scene that could so easily have been inspired by the willow pattern. Each of the elements of this piece , the pond, the building the trees and the cloudy sky, combine to create a truly fantastic whole. Bravo!

5823. St Mark’s Avenue (10)

Conrico, St Mark's Avenue, Bristol, January 2024 — Conrico, St Mark’s Avenue, Bristol, January 2024

There is a convention in the world of street art, that is rarely followed, which suggests that when you paint over a piece by other artists, you tag them in your piece, and it is great to see that Conrico has followed that convention, with his piece on a garage door in St Mark’s Avenue, acknowledging Soap and Face 1st whose old piece he overpainted.

Conrico has a style all of his own, often looking like brush work, rather than painting from a spray can. This piece features a snail in a horrible dam setting, with a shell that presents an altogether more inviting scene. The contrast between the two parts of this piece tells a wonderful story of hope and possibilities. This is a really nice piece from Conrico.

5439. Cumberland Basin

Conrico, Cumberland Basin, Bristol, August 2023

Conrico has been very present on the streets of Bristol lately, which is great news for people like me who appreciate the incredible, ever-changing gallery of free art in the city. His unique ‘painted’ style is unlike anything else around, and has a comforting, organic feel to it.

This piece was painted as part of the birthday celebration paint jam for Werm, and shows a girl sitting on some giant petals (or she is a very small person). The piece has a mysterious ethereal quality to it and conveys a sense of calm. Very nice stuff indeed from Conrico.

5429. Brunel Way (223)

This piece from Conrico is the second in a long wall paint jam collaboration with a dystopian future theme. The first piece was a ‘Terminator-style’ crocodile but Kool Hand. Conrico, who has a wonderful natural style, has painted a female figure handling a futuristic gun and standing in front of a four-wheel drive vehicle with its headlights on.

There is tons of atmosphere in this piece, and in common with other Conrico pieces, there is a great story going on here. The dark buildings in the background and rubble to the left of the piece, speak of a war zone, in the narrative of many films in this genre. I can’t help thinking that there is a little bit of Sarah Connor (The Terminator) in the character, which intentional or not is a good thing. A nice touch is a shout out to Dibz and Fade whose epic piece was painted over during this paint jam.

Kool Hand, Conrico, Werm, Korbe and Daz Cat, Brunel Way, Bristol, July 2023

5324. Greenbank (84)

I have been making a little bit more space in Natural Adventures to accommodate the prolific writings of Werm, I am also rather enjoying his recent stylistic direction of travel in which he writes rather small WERM letters at the centre of the piece with embellishment extending out in all directions.

This is a nice piece painted in darker tones and in keeping with the background decoration supplied courtesy of Conrico. The starry sky is picked up with the accent stars on the letters, and the whole thing feels calm and portrays night time so well. Another great piece in something of a purple patch from Werm.

5204. M32 Cycle path (214)

Kool Hand, Conrico and Daz Cat M32 Cycle path, Bristol, April 2023

I’m not sure that I will ever work out this wall properly. Sometimes pieces will stay on it for months and turnover will be practically zero, other times it can change twice within a week, and I believe that this recent charming triptych by Kool Hand, Conrico and Daz Cat has already been painted over.

Kool Hand, M32 Cycle path, Bristol, April 2023

The left-hand panel is a wonderful leopard character from Kool Hand, wearing a floppy bucket hat. The fingers appear to be magically zapping the letters KH, and the blue/purple feline is set on a fantasy woodland backdrop, painted by Conrico I would guess.

Conrico, M32 Cycle path, Bristol, April 2023

In the middle is a rather shady looking character shrouded in a cloak and holding a spray can, probably preparing to do a spot of illegal spraying by the look of it. This is a really nicely worked piece by Cobnrico, with some great attention to detail in the creases and folds in the cloak and hat. A classy character.

Daz Cat, M32 Cycle path, Bristol, April 2023

On the right-hand panel, Daz Cat has departed from his customary cat characters to give us this woodland sprite holding a couple of frogs, one of which is holding a toadstool. I’m not too sure what the smoking head is all about, but this section, in fact the whole thing, definitely has a bit of a dreamy fantasy feel about it. An unusual and entertaining collaboration from three fine graffiti artists.

	corastillwrites on London bound
	skat on London bound
	Cethru Cellophane (a… on 7489. St Werburghs tunnel…
	paulh121 on London bound
	paulh121 on 7487. St Werburghs tunnel…

	corastillwrites on London bound
	skat on London bound
	Cethru Cellophane (a… on 7489. St Werburghs tunnel…
	paulh121 on London bound
	paulh121 on 7487. St Werburghs tunnel…

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