A gallery of outstanding geometric murals, collaborations and other pieces from Bristol’s brilliant Paul Monsters AKA Paul Roberts.
Instagram: @paulmonsters
Website: paulmonsters.com
all photographs by Scooj
Paul Monsters
Tag: Geometric
5826. Purdown (66)
Acer One struck gold with this concept of building a geometric design around an impossible triangle, and this is a sister piece to one he painted about a month or so back. The piece plays tricks with the eyes, because everything inside the concentric hexagonal stripes is three dimensional , which makes the centrepiece stand out from the wall.
There is a lot of skill to designing and painting geometric pieces like this and there is absolutely no room for error. Unfortunately there were some people sitting on top of the concrete block, and so I have tried to crop them out of the photographs, which is a pity, because it would have been nice to get a shot from a little more distance. These studies by Acer One are a rather fine direction of travel in my view.
5708. Old Park Road, Exeter
One of the last things I would have expected to see in my two-hour wander around Exeter back in October was a collaboration between Mister Samo and Paul Monsters, and yet here it was… a glorious piece of colour, design and creativity.
I have a feeling that the piece might be called ‘you are loved’, and there is a great deal of warmth and positivity about the piece, and the styles of the two artists although quite different complement each other perfectly.
I suspect that the two artists know each other through the Upfest festival in Bristol, at which both have painted in previous years, and Paul Monsters works in the Upfest shop and is heavily involved in the logistics of the paint festival. As ever, Paul Monsters’ geometric designs create depth and hard edges, against which the character forms by Mister Samo stand out.
I love Mister Samo’s work, which is highly designed but at the same time simple and clean. The characters in Mister Samo’s work look like sophisticated doodles, and even though simple, convey a lot of emotion and charm. A real treat and fabulous collaboration from these two excellent artists.
4080. M32 roundabout J3 (362)
Another Bristol artist who has been very busy over the last eighteen months or so is Acer. Whether collaborating or painting alone, his productivity has been on the up, and that is definitely a good thing.
This quick piece was painted alongside Benjimagnetic, way back in August this year, but inexplicably ended up in my archive. I have picked it up and posted it as part of my constant review of photographs languishing in archive folders. Here Acer is keeping it simple, spelling out his name with his familiar geometric design and technique.
3649. M32 roundabout J3 (315)
There are so many outstanding artists in Bristol, which is a bit of a contradiction in terms, because if there are lots of them, then by definition they are not outstanding, but I think you probably know what I mean. One of them who seems to be at the top of his game at the moment is Acer One.
This relatively recent piece (gone already) is in his two-tone 3D geometric lettering style and appears to spell out ‘CLEO 4PCC’ although I am not certain about that, nor what it means. These pieces create a dazzling effect, and to some passers-by may not be seen as letters, but simply shapes and patterns. So wonderfully distinctive. I need to catch him painting one of these so I can watch how he does it.
3541. Brunel Way bridge (94)
It is a great pity that Epok is a rare visitor to Bristol these days, preferring to paint in Gloucestershire, where I presume he must live. The upshot of this is that each of his pieces in the city is very precious, like this one as part of an ASK collaboration from a while back.
This wall is a nightmare to photograph due to the amount of glare streaming in from the left hand side. Even on overcast days it is tricky. This is a spectacular geometric piece from Epok, combining his straight lines and angles with circles and semi-circles, spelling out EPOK. Although part of a five-way collaboration, this section of the wall was shared by Epok and painting pal Piro who combined styles and colour schemes. Good to see a new Epok piece in town.
2645. Leonard Lane (23)
Well, well, well, this piece by Paul Monsters only goes to show that it is always worth making the effort to go off the beaten track from time to time, rather than only visit the ‘sure things’.
Last week I only had a short lunch break so rather than strolling off to Bedminster I took a quick butcher’s at Leonard Lane. This was my reward, a large colourful geometric design piece by Paul Monsters.
It is rare to see such large ‘commissiony’ type pieces in Leonard Lane, rather it is well known for tagging and practice pieces. I am guessing that it was permitted by Centrespace, the owners of the wall. What is most interesting about this excellent piece is that it is the first I have seen by Paul Monsters that is in such a narrow street. It works extremely well and seems to bring extra light to this dark and dingy place. A great find.
2509. Hillgrove Street (8)
Right in the heart of the Stokes Croft area, on the crossing of Jamaica Street and Hillgrove Street is this amazing new bright and shiny abstract piece by Emma Jayne Holloway and e5 Creatives. Using techniques and angular shapes in the style of artists like Annatomix or Paul Monsters.
The whole thing, I think, but don’t know, was designed by Emma Jayne Holloway and has this extraordinary effect which makes it look like it is standing out from the wall. It is not only the geometric shapes that make this piece so special, but also the butterfly and heart on the gold-painted utility box which make the piece complete. It is great to see new names and extra great to see a business, in this case e5 Creatives, getting involved in brightening up our streets.
1476. Millpond Street (3)
My understanding is that every now and again, Bristol Drain Services like to give their office building a makeover. They provide the paint and the artists crete something special. This wall which was previously occupied by Kid Crayon and SPZero76 has recently been given an abstract refresh by the fabulous Paul Monsters.
His colourful geometric designs are instantly recognisable and can lift any wall, no matter how bland, into the status of artwork. I hope to catch up with Paul in the run up to Upfest 2018, or at the very least at the festival itself, for which he is one of the central organisers.
1110. Upfest 2017 (91)
A truly awe-inspiring collaboration from Upfest this year was by the magnificent My Dog Sighs and Snub23. There is so much to like about this piece, starting with the wall itself, which played host to this fabulous piece by Sokar Uno in 2016.
The eye and the water drops which provide the focus for the piece is by My Dog Sighs, and there is a whole story going on in the reflected figure in the eye itself. I am a big fan of his work, and it just seems to be getting better and better.
Snub23 has been to Upfest for the last three years now, and his geometric patterns are becoming more of a feature of his work. You may recall he created similar patterns on the side of the bus at Upfest 2016.
This is an absolutely outstanding collaboration and one that will go down as a highlight of this year’s festival for many visitors, including myself.
Natural adventures 