Tag: Face 1st

5237. Armada Place (21)

Soap, Face 1st and Zake, Armada Place, Bristol, April 2023
Soap, Face 1st and Zake, Armada Place, Bristol, April 2023

I haven’t posted much from this hoarding for quite a long time, mainly because the stuff that gets painted there is rarely up to scratch, but also because I don’t pass by this way as frequently as I used to. How nice it was to fins a PWA collaboration here a short while ago.

Soap, Armada Place, Bristol, April 2023
Soap, Armada Place, Bristol, April 2023

The pool of artists in the PWA crew numbers about five or six, but pretty much ever-presents are Soap and Face 1st. The left hand side of the triptych is by Soap and contains both of the icons he likes to use at the moment, the Ice King and a Face 1st girl. The whole thing hangs together well and there are rather nice floral bursts throughout.

Face 1st, Armada Place, Bristol, April 2023
Face 1st, Armada Place, Bristol, April 2023

Face 1st has written Face with some nice deep block letters and a dismembered leg running through it, with gloopy blood dripping from the holes. Face 1st certainly enjoys painting splats and dripping, oozing gunge in his pieces, but this one is a little bloodthirsty.

Zake, Armada Place, Bristol, April 2023
Zake, Armada Place, Bristol, April 2023

To the right, the collaboration is rounded off with a portrait and upper torso piece by Zake. The face is full of character and depth, created with light and dark – a Zake speciality. All three pieces are set on a sky blue background decorated with spots, squiggles, clouds and bubbles. It is great to see some decent work on these panels.

5227. M32 Cycle path (216)

Face 1st, M32 Cycle path, Bristol, May 2023
Face 1st, M32 Cycle path, Bristol, May 2023

One of my life’s great pleasures has been finding and cataloguing graffiti art pieces by Face 1st. For the duration of this blog, Face 1st has been a constant presence, gently evolving his style and boundaries, but sticking fairly rigidly to his basic concept of a smiling girl’s face. I try to post as many of his pieces as I can, but inevitably some get left behind. I might have to do a trawl through my archives and write an ‘amnesty’ post with all the pieces that never made it.

Face 1st, M32 Cycle path, Bristol, May 2023
Face 1st, M32 Cycle path, Bristol, May 2023

In this vibrant piece, Face 1st has painted four laughing girls, appearing to have lots of fun, there is also quite a lot of stickiness on their faces. I would like to think that each of the faces is a letter of the word FACE, but I think that is probably stretching things a little. Face 1st continues to spread joy.

5187. Hepburn Road (20)

The colourful nature of the Stokes Croft area is perhaps best represented by this little alleyway, known locally as ‘Crack Alley’. Although the drug dealing that used to be the USP of this corner of Bristol has moved on, the graffitied walls continue to be a feature, and every now and again an absolute beauty appears. This collaboration from PWA artists Face 1st and Zake is just such a beauty.

Face 1st, Hepburn Road, Bristol, April 2023
Face 1st, Hepburn Road, Bristol, April 2023

The PWA writing is by Face 1st, and is quite a rarity, as he usually writes FACE. The orange is really striking in this dark alley, and the depth to the letters really helps them to pop out from the wall. There are some nice shout-outs to Nightwayss, Soap and Chill too.

Zake, Hepburn Road, Bristol, April 2023
Zake, Hepburn Road, Bristol, April 2023

The character piece from Zake is brilliant and seems to portray a young tagger looking rather upset – maybe he got caught spraying walls. The shorts and t-shirt are a stroke of genius, and the body position suggests a lot of forward movement from the character. I absolutely love this, it makes me laugh, a lot. Altogether a superb collaboration from this pair.

5138. M32 roundabout J3 (461)

Face 1st, M32 roundabout, Bristol, March 2023
Face 1st, M32 roundabout, Bristol, March 2023

When I first encountered Face 1st’s work, his pieces were more commonly painted solo, with occasional PWA paint jams, particularly with Soap, but more recently he has rarely painted without some of his buddies, this piece on the M32 roundabout being an exception. Maybe all his PWA mates were busy that day.

Face 1st, M32 roundabout, Bristol, March 2023
Face 1st, M32 roundabout, Bristol, March 2023

I love the way that Face 1st constantly plays with new ideas and themes, and then adds them to his repertoire. This is a traditional Face 1st idea, a face with hair spelling FACE, but the letters are deep 3D block letters which he has been including more often recently, and there is a lot of gloopy dripping going on, something he started to include in his work about two years ago. This is a fun and eye-catching piece from the prolific Face 1st.

5101. Dean Lane skate park (577)

Zake, Chill and Face 1st, Dean Lane, Bristol, March 2023
Zake, Chill and Face 1st, Dean Lane, Bristol, March 2023

The Pirate Wall Art (PWA) crew have already produced some outstanding collaborations this year, but this surely has to be the most striking so far. Zake, Chill and Face 1st have teamed up to produce this triptych of stylised faces.

Zake, Dean Lane, Bristol, March 2023
Zake, Dean Lane, Bristol, March 2023

To the left is a curious pair of faces which feel like they are symbolic of something, but I am not quite sure what – sun and moon or light and dark? Who knows. The flower face is something new that I haven’t seen from Zake before, but he carries it off really well.

Chill, Dean Lane, Bristol, March 2023
Chill, Dean Lane, Bristol, March 2023

In the middle of the triptych is a cartoon face by Chill. When Chill moved away from his black and white pieces, I wasn’t sure how long it would last, but I am pleased to say that his inclusion of several colours once again might indicate that this is a new direction of travel for the artist. I love the inclusion of some greenery and flowers in most of his pieces, showing a sensitive connection with nature.

Face 1st, Dean Lane, Bristol, March 2023
Face 1st, Dean Lane, Bristol, March 2023

To the right, Face first has painted another group of faces, in which he continues to explore ways of peeling back the layers of our facades to reveal what lies beneath. In this case, the face with yellow hair has been split open to reveal a laughing girl emerging from inside. Some might see these pieces as gory or grotesque, I see them as a joyful exploration of emotions unearthed in a rather surgical, but playful way.

Plenty to think and enjoy about in this fine PWA collaboration.

5091. Sparke Evans Park (65)

Face 1st and Soap, Sparke Evans Park, Bristol, February 2023
Face 1st and Soap, Sparke Evans Park, Bristol, February 2023

Not many artists are painting the long wall at Sparke Evans Park these days, since the arrest of an artist about six or seven months ago. Slowly but surely people are drifting back to the wall, but unusually for Bristol, having to keep their eyes peeled and wits about them at all times. This is a great pity, because this would be a perfect candidate for a legal wall. There is no tagging here, and the colourful wall is an added attraction for people who use the park for recreation. It has become a bit of a ‘wall of fame’, well respected and curated in a self-policing manner.

Face 1st, Sparke Evans Park, Bristol, February 2023
Face 1st, Sparke Evans Park, Bristol, February 2023

This far end of the wall was recently painted by Face 1st and Soap in one of their PWA pairings. To the left, Face 1st continues to explore different ways in which he can slice a face up. Very rarely for the artist, he has not tried to work in the letters FACE into the piece, rather he is focussed on the task in hand, the slicing.

Soap, Sparke Evans Park, Bristol, February 2023
Soap, Sparke Evans Park, Bristol, February 2023

Soap too continues to explore a theme he has been enjoying recently, spelling out his name with the ICE King for an ‘A’ and a Face 1st face for the ‘A’. Although the colours the artists have chosen are a little muted on a dull day, they are nonetheless attractive and have been beautifully worked into both pieces. Great to see something new on this wall.

5045. M32 roundabout J3 (453)

Face 1st, M32 roundabout, Bristol, February 2023
Face 1st, M32 roundabout, Bristol, February 2023

Face 1st has come up with this belter during this PWA paint jam on the M32 roundabout recently. Not one laughing girl, but three, and of course, one of them has an exploding head.

Face 1st, M32 roundabout, Bristol, February 2023
Face 1st, M32 roundabout, Bristol, February 2023

It would appear that Face 1st has been experimenting recently with finding ways of breaking up his heads, with explosions or slices. I’m not too sure what his unconscious mind is doing here, but it certainly makes for a creative display that is never presented in a gory way, more as a passing interest. Face 1st continues to delight.

5037. Greenbank (73)

Erika 0007 9-11 Feb 2023_edited
Erika 0007 9-11 Feb 2023_edited

The PWA crew have had a few joyful paint jams this year, and this wonderful piece from Face 1st is part of a collaboration on the Greenbank hoardings. I cannot express how much pleasure it gives me to chronicle the work of Face 1st, and since I first started writing about street art in 2015, Face 1st has been an ever-present, growing and adapting his style.

Face 1st, Greenbank, Bristol, February 2023
Face 1st, Greenbank, Bristol, February 2023

I have no idea what the ‘spicy beef’ thing is all about, but it made me smile. Face 1st’s cheeky girl is having a lot of fun, and like so many of his pieces in the last year or two, her face is covered in mess, but it doesn’t seem to bother her. There is so much to enjoy in this piece.

4962. Dean Lane skate park (599)

Face 1st, Dean Lane, Bristol, January 2022
Face 1st, Dean Lane, Bristol, January 2022

I had a great catch up with Face 1st as he was assessing where to paint this stunning little design. He had thought about using one of the flat walls on the buildings, but instead chose this curved wall instead, and what a great choice he made.

Face 1st, Dean Lane, Bristol, January 2022
Face 1st, Dean Lane, Bristol, January 2022

Any piece on the ramps of a skate park get scuffed up pretty quickly, naturally, and when I photographed this it was only a day old, and you can see immediately how worn parts of it have become. Face 1st has painted a laughing girl’s face sliced through vertically, exposing the letters F, A and E, with the C sitting proudly on the girl’s pink bow. A wonderful piece from a lovely artist.

4939. M32 roundabout J3 (445)

Face 1st, M32 roundabout, Bristol, February 2022
Face 1st, M32 roundabout, Bristol, February 2022

I simply fail to understand how I managed not to post this absolute cracker by Face 1st back in February 2022. It has been lurking in my archive, screaming to be released and shared, and now at last is liberated, and just look at how happy those girls are.

Face 1st, M32 roundabout, Bristol, February 2022
Face 1st, M32 roundabout, Bristol, February 2022

I definitely noticed that nearly all Face 1st’s work last year was overflowing with joy, and this piece early on in the year certainly set the tone. To me this is brilliant, and one of my favourite Face 1st pieces ever. The colours are sensational, and the positive and mischievous energy flying off the wall is a pleasure to observe. What an absolute blast!