You’ll have cottoned on by now that Minto’s birthday paint jam in St Werburghs tunnel was very well attended indeed. This piece is a fine tribute by Hypo, who often paints alongside Minto these days, so it has extra relevance and potency.
Hypo, St Werburghs, Bristol, November 2025
Hypo has painted the letters MINTO, but entirely in his recognisable style. What is interesting is that, while HYPO is a word that can have some bilateral symmetry, MINTO is not, so this Hypo piece does look quite different in shape from his customary pieces. There is lots to admire in this graffiti writing, and we see the continuation of using little spheres to help decorate the work, something Hypo appears to be enjoying these days. A lovely piece from a friend to a friend.
As if I didn’t have enough complimentary words for Hypo in my last post of his work, I guess I’ll be heaping on some more here, simply because his efforts at the moment are at such a high level. Hypo also seems to be at the heart of the Bristol street art scene currently, and last weekend was heavily involved in a 50th birthday celebration paint jam here in the tunnel for Minto.
Hypo, St Werburghs, Bristol, October 2025
This piece, in wonderful flame colours, mirrors some of his other recent pieces, including the letter shapes and the decorative spheres. There is so much to like about this piece as his constant development continues.
There is not a lot more I can say about Hypo that I haven’t said in numerous previous posts. He has upped his game considerably over the last two years or so, both in terms of quality and quantity of pieces. During that time he has jumped up a couple of levels, which you can see if you take a glance at this revised gallery of his work.
Hypo, M32 roundabout, Bristol, September 2025
In this piece, Hypo uses loads of colours, indicating that it could be a ‘dregs’ piece (one which uses up what is left in spray cans) although, Hypo typically does like to use a wide range of colours. Some of his recent pieces have incorporated small spheres for decoration, and they do a great job of adding something a little extra in this work. More magnificent graffiti writing from Hypo.
I don’t think I have too much to add to all the words I have already written about Hypo this year. He has been simply sublime, turning out piece after piece of such high quality, and all the time improving too.
Hypo, M32 roundabout, Bristol, August 2025
This is a stunner, painted in the vibrant colours of fire; red orange and yellow. The hot piece is filled with these colours blended in different horizontal sequences through the HYPO letters. Adding to the base layer of shape and colours, Hypo has added white highlights and starbursts that create depth to the letters, added some bubbles for interest and bordered the whole thing with an ice cold line which includes some wonderful dips. A masterful piece.
Another quick couple of posts today… too busy with the dying embers of our holiday. This is a lovely piece celebrating Ulow’s birthday, and part of a sensational paint jam. Hypo has abandoned his letters in favour of ULOW.
Hypo, M32 roundabout, Bristol, August 2025
When artists change their letters, I am left wondering if it is more of a challenge, or whether they can transpose their skills seamlessly. Lots of things to like about this piece, great colours, lots of fill decorations, and effective white highlights providing depth. A nice birthday gift.
Minto, Cheo, Hypo, Ulow, Dibz, Soker, Rusk, Shade One and Turoe, M32 roundabout, Bristol, August 2025
Hemper, Dun Sum and Hypo, M32 roundabout, Bristol, July 2025
What a wonderful collaboration from Hemper, Dun Sum and Hypo, one that slipped a little under the radar and didn’t perhaps receive quite the fanfare it merited. Three rather different pieces, each making an individual visual impact.
Hemper, M32 roundabout, Bristol, July 2025
To the left is one of Hemper’s shortened ‘HEMS’ pieces, where the overlapping letters are compressed laterally. This is a pattern he has been following for the last month or so, perhaps marking a quieter phase after his expansive work earlier in the summer. As ever, the piece, which has some lovely fill patterns and expert white highlights, is oozing with class.
Dun Sum, M32 roundabout, Bristol, July 2025
It is impossible not to be drawn to the cat character by Dun Sum. Although I have (and love) a dog, I have always been a cat person at heart. I have to say that there is something that creeps me out a little bit about this cat, perhaps it is the smile or maybe the eyes, but the overall effect bis a little intimidating, but isn’t that cats all over? It is really nicely painted and a great focal point for the graffiti writing either side of it.
Hypo, M32 roundabout, Bristol, July 2025
To the right is another fine piece from Hypo – I say another, because he has been turning out so many great works with alarming regularity this summer. The aquamarine colours used for the fills of this piece have a tranquility about them, and with all the bubbles and spots has a distinctly aquatic feel. As I said before, three distinct individual styles coming together in this great collaboration.
Hypo and Minto, St Werburghs, Bristol, August 2025
This is another fabulous collaboration from Hypo and Minto, who seem to team up reasonably regularly and clearly enjoy painting together. The little tag – ‘Hypo Minto combo’ captures the friendship really well.
Hypo and Minto, St Werburghs, Bristol, August 2025
Hypo has smashed it with his writing. The colours are magnificent and transition through the piece with grace and style. The shading, and in particular the white highlights, help the piece to pop and create a superb 3D effect. Truly outstanding. Alongside the letters, Minto has painted a contrasting greyscale character portrait, and a tribute to Dave I guess. The combination piece just works – a classy collaboration.
It seems today that it is all about Hypo – the previous post was a birthday tribute to Hypo from Subtle, Ulow and Minto, and this is one of his very own pieces from L Dub. Hypo has had a purple patch that has been continuous for about two years now and shows no signs of abating.
Hypo, L Dub, Bristol, June 2025
The letter blocks in this piece are each assigned a different colour, and have a lot of strong graffiti writing motifs, such as the arrows and little double bars, stitching the letters together. It is interesting to note how different the ‘H’ and the ‘O’ chrome letters look quite different due to the different colour drop-shadows. Another nice piece from Hypo.
Subtle, Ulow and Minto, M32 roundabout, Bristol, May 2025
This fine trio of pieces was painted as part of Hypo’s birthday celebrations, and brings together Subtle, Ulow and Minto – quite a line-up. There is a whole lot of colour and talent on display, marking out this section of wall as being a bit special.
Subtle, M32 roundabout, Bristol, May 2025
To the left, Subtle has created a masterclass of colour and design, with some wicked letters spelling HYPO, set on a fabulous red background with pink spots, looking like wrapping paper around the writing. Outstanding stuff.
Ulow, M32 roundabout, Bristol, May 2025
We don’t get to see Ulow’s work all that often, so it is always a great pleasure to come across one of his characters. The superb presentation of different tones and shades create a wonderful 3-dimensional effect as if the character is walking straight out of the wall. A combination of simplicity and complexity all in one character piece.
Minto, M32 roundabout, Bristol, May 2025
Rounding off the trio is this busy piece of writing from Minto. The style here has as much to do with what is absent as it does with what is present, a little bit like Benjimagnetic’s writing. Lots of colourful splashes and unfilled spaces combine to spell out MINTO, in a complex arrangement. Altogether an outstanding collaboration. Bravo!
Hypo, Cheo and Hemper, M32 roundabout, Bristol, May 2025
Birthday paint jams have definitely become more of a thing since I started writing about street art (about ten years now). This was a well attended birthday celebration for Hypo, which turned out some superb pieces. This is a triptych from the birthday boy, Cheo and Hemper.
Hypo, M32 roundabout, Bristol, May 2025
I’ve pretty much said all there is to say about Hypo’s work in so many posts over the last couple of years, and this is another fine example of his wildstyle writing, perhaps more cryptic than some of his pieces. What an accolade that so many great artists came out to celebrate with him.
Cheo, M32 roundabout, Bristol, May 2025
Cheo is one of the ‘godfathers’ of character work in Bristol, and this is a superb cartoon-style piece featuring an artist (is it Hypo?) pondering whether he should be using red or yellow paint. The animation is so full of humour and movement, it almost feels like watching a film clip. Of course, a signature bee is in attendance.
Hemper, M32 roundabout, Bristol, May 2025
Hemper always, always turns out outstanding pieces. This one is as creative as ever, and spells out Hems in blue and white dappled letters set on a red splash. Everything in on point, and it is easy to see that this is the work of a graffiti writing genius. Three great pieces coming together in this birthday collaboration.