6038. St Werburghs tunnel (426)

Stivs, St Werburghs, Bristol, May 2024
Stivs, St Werburghs, Bristol, May 2024

So here we have, in this piece from Stivs, the coming together of outstanding writing style with subversion. Every time I look at this piece, which is kind of two pieces joined together, I begin to wonder whether Stivs has issues… he certainly seems to be letting it all out in his work at the moment, and there is an almost obsessive trait appearing on this wall.

Stivs, St Werburghs, Bristol, May 2024
Stivs, St Werburghs, Bristol, May 2024

As well as his customary calligraffiti, beautifully produced here, Stivs reminds us that he is a very talented character artist as well. The demonic character is depicted in shades of purple, and contains a lot of detailing. Of course, the elephant in the room is the outrageously sweary backdrops. I would suggest that we could name this as Stivs’ ‘blue period’.

5316. Upfest 2022 (74)

Wee Nuls, Upfest 22, Bristol, Upfest 2022
Wee Nuls, Upfest 22, Bristol, Upfest 2022

Another visiting artist to Upfest 22 was Wee Nuls from Belfast, although she has visited Bristol at least once before, and left a rather nice piece underneath the M32, if my memory serves me correctly. I’ll try to dig it out and add it to the end of this post.

Wee Nuls, Upfest 22, Bristol, Upfest 2022
Wee Nuls, Upfest 22, Bristol, Upfest 2022

This is a rather delightful, demonic piece from Wee Nuls, that comes across as a highly designed and polished work. It is the kind of thing you might expect to see in a gallery or as a framed contemporary picture, but here it is as a piece of street art, wonderful.

Wee Nuls, Upfest 22, Bristol, Upfest 2022
Wee Nuls, Upfest 22, Bristol, Upfest 2022

The piece is really nicely finished and sharp, using up the space on the square board really well, giving a polished and professional appearance. Great work from Wee Nuls.

Wee Nuls, Frome side, Bristol, June 2021
Wee Nuls, Frome side, Bristol, June 2021

4049. St Werburghs tunnel (265)

I have a feeling that this mask-like face may have been a Halloween piece from Laic217, at least it was certainly painted around that period at the end of October. The piece is far from typical of Laic’s work but contains his recognisable style.

Laic217, St Werburghs, Bristol, November 2021
Laic217, St Werburghs, Bristol, November 2021

Set on a vibrant pink background the grey scale demon stares out from the wall menacingly. The mask-like structure is rather static and fixed, which is different to most of his other work which tends to be full of animation and movement. Great to see something a little bit different.

3327. Brunel Way bridge (73)

I have to confess that when I photographed this piece I couldn’t work out who it was by and it wasn’t until I saw Paul H’s Instagram post that I found out, and then of course it was blindingly obvious. It is funny how sometimes you can’t see the wood for the trees. It is of course by Mr Sleven.

Mr Sleven, Brunel Way, Bristol, November 2020

Mr Sleven, Brunel Way, Bristol, November 2020The piece is entitled ‘the devil wears khakis’ and is a fairly dark portrayal of a demon or the devil. I love the way the piece kind of blends into its surroundings and the end spot on this concrete wall is the perfect space for it. Mr Sleven conveys a strong sense of menace and horror – a fine piece.