Long before Bristol became inundated with Nevergiveup’s jolly bunny rabbits, there were some rather more moody, sinister even, rabbits lurking in dark corners. They were the creation of fellow Polish artist Hire. A little while back, Hire sprayed a few of these at Dean Lane, and this one with those scary eyes was, in my view the pick of the bunch.
Hire, Dean Lane, Bristol, October 2018
I haven’t seen any of his work for a little while now, but that is the name of the game… artists, just like the rest of us have peaks and troughs in the spare time they have, and maybe Hire is in one of those troughs. I really do like his rabbits, they have an edge to them.
In Bristol we have a sizeable community of Polish street artists that between them manage to brighten up the city no end. Two of these, Hire and Nevergiveup have a thing for painting bunnies, and here is a reasonably recent one from Hire at Dean Lane. Recently Nevergiveup has opened an Instagram account called @followmyrabbits, and upped his game – I wonder if Hire is responding as this was one of three or four new ones by Hire.
Hire, Dean Lane, Bristol, October 2018
These rabbits by Hire are always a little bit edgy or menacing and there is definitely a dark side to their characters. Nonetheless, I love coming across them, and they are a brilliant foil to his fabulous graffiti writing.
Ok, so I have been doing a little bit of a trawl through my archives to let a few overlooked pieces see the light of day. This one by Hire I managed to photograph moments before it was buffed over, I forget who by (I think it was Dibz), but you can see the paint can at the ready in the bottom left of the picture.
Hire, Dean Lane, Bristol, April 2018
Hire is one of several Polish artists in Bristol, adding an international feel to the work we see here. His writing tends to be very cryptic and his lettering angular and sharp, looking like shards of metal. Normally his writing spells out his name, but I’m not so sure that it does in this piece. It is quite a ‘dark’ piece, which is often the case with his work, even his bunnies are touched with menace or melancholy.
Yeah, the bunny is back, not the NEVERGIVEUP bunny, but the Hire bunny. This rather dark bunny carries all the hallmarks of a Hire piece. The massive buck teeth and the angular Gothic shapes that make up the fur – much of his writing also uses this sharp-edged style.
Hire, Dean Lane, Bristol, September 2018
I have a very soft spot for Hire’s work, both his rabbits and his writing – there is a seriousness and melancholy about them. I’d like to know what the speech bubble says, it is probably a Polish reference. Nice little tribute to CKone as well.
Well, who might this gothic wildstyle writing be by? There is a clue in the writing, but it is so cryptic that you probably need to know what you are looking for to be able to see it. The writing says HIRE, and it is indeed the work of this naturalised Bristolian of Polish origin.
Hire, St Werburghs, Bristol, August 2018
His work is so distinctive, with its long, sharp and jagged lines – his pieces always remind me of medieval battle scenes, with swords, axes and lances crashing in all directions – maybe that is just me, but I say what I see. I am really pleased with the picture above, because the light in the tunnel plays havoc with my camera and the poor lighting in the tunnel meets with bright light outside where this piece is situated. Nice work from Hire.
I have always been rather fond of Hire’s work, it is wildstyle writing with a gothic twist. In this piece I am not certain, but it looks like he might have written HIRE in reverse, more likely though is that he has written something else altogether – writing can be very tough to read at times.
Hire, Dean Lane, Bristol, January 2018
I like the colours he has selected and the depth of shading on his spiky letters. He’s also created a nice background, although it ends rather abruptly on the left hand side. Maybe he ran out of paint? A nice one from January.
I haven’t posted much from Hire for a while, and sadly I got to this one just a few moments too late it looks like. It is a real shame that some idiot has run a white line through this piece, and the beautiful Sikoh and Dibz piece next to it. Arturo has little to be proud of in my view.
Hire, Dean Lane, Bristol, May 2018
The amazing thing about this piece is that it is not a collaboration, the whole thing is by Hire, the Gothic influenced writing on the left and the dayglo bunny on the right. I like the way he has put these pieces side by side with their contrasting backgrounds. The colours used for the writing would make Decay very happy (he uses exactly this palette form most of his work). And, just in case you weren’t sure, the bunny helps us out with the location of the piece. Fine work.
Sprayed either at the end of December or beginning of January this is another wonderful rabbit from Hire. This artist consistently churns out good work like this or his wildstyle writing throughout the year, and although I haven’t bumped into him for a while it is great to see his works making an appearance.
Hire, Dean Lane, Bristol, January 2018
When I first became aware of Hire’s work, it was mostly in The Bearpit, however he seems to base himself almost entirely in Dean Lane these days. I am not sure what the writing says, but I would like to think it says something like happy new year. And would’nt you know it, I just typed ‘happy new year Polish’ into Google and it wasn’t this, so I changed Polish to Russian and guess what…I was right. Nice one Hire.
Another one from back in July last year, this time from Hire, who seems very much at home in Dean Lane. With a contrasting yellow background, this fabulous piece of gothic wildstyle writing stands out brilliantly.
Hire, Dean Lane, Bristol, July 2017
Hire is a highly talented graffiti writer, who I can’t help feeling is slightly overlooked in the Bristol scene, so I am certainly playing my part in ‘bigging him up’. I cannot be sure, but I think this piece says HIRE. I think it is classy.
I would never have expected to see this line up in a collaboration, but this is the great thing about the Bristol scene, you should never expect anything, just get out there and take a look. It is a full wall at Deaners by Hire, Drew Copus and Jee See.
Hire, Dean Lane, Bristol, December 2017
On the left we seen the jaggedy gothic style of writing we expect from Hire. I am not too sure, but I think the symmetrical looking writing says HIRE. The piece almost looks like is has caught fire and on the right it blends into the second part of this collaboration.
Drew Copus, Dean Lane, Bristol, December 2017
The middle piece is by Drew Copus, who lives near Hastings, but seems to come to Bristol once or twice a year to spray some of his stencils. In this collaboration he has sprayed three bright female stencil figures, each rather peculiar, which is what makes them rather interesting. It would be nice to know a little more about these figures.
Jee See, Dean Lane, Bristol, December 2017
On the right hand end of the collaboration is a huge SEISMIC piece from our very own Jee See. It is always great to see his work in Bristol, and I have several pictures of his work sitting in my files waiting to be published. As I said before this seems like quite an unlikely threesome. Maybe they know each other, or maybe they all just turned up in Dean Lane skate park on the same day.
Natural adventures 