5013. M32 roundabout J3 (450)

Hypo and Hemper, M32 roundabout, Bristol, February 2023
Hypo and Hemper, M32 roundabout, Bristol, February 2023

It has been a joy to watch some recent collaborations from Hypo and Hemper, and this is the most recent on the M32 roundabout. What is immediately apparent is that their styles are quite different, and that this is less a collaboration and more a painting together, and that is part of the gig, knowing that friends paint together having fun.

Hypo, M32 roundabout, Bristol, February 2023
Hypo, M32 roundabout, Bristol, February 2023

The Hypo piece is a rhapsody in green, accompanied by four graffiti arrows, adding a bit of dynamism to the letters. Due to the recent burst of activity by Hypo, I feel I now have enough of his pieces to post a gallery of his work, so watch this space.

Hemper, M32 roundabout, Bristol, February 2023
Hemper, M32 roundabout, Bristol, February 2023

Hemper has absolutely smashed it again with this outstanding HEMS piece, which is technically (and visually) brilliant. The burst of colours cross-faded through the lettering is masterful, and filling in the gaps between the letters with little green spheres in genius. Hemper has a knack of creating perfectly unique graffiti writing pieces every time he splashes paint on a wall. Love it.

4898. M32 roundabout J3 (439)

Hemper and Hypo, M32 roundabout, Bristol, December 2022
Hemper and Hypo, M32 roundabout, Bristol, December 2022

This collaboration by Hemper and Hypo was painted at least a month ago, and I photographed it is November, I also photographed it this month as a way of reminding me to post it. It would appear that these two have been encouraging each other to get out more often lately, as they have painted together a few times in the latter part of the year.

Hemper, M32 roundabout, Bristol, December 2022
Hemper, M32 roundabout, Bristol, December 2022

Hemper’s writing is never, ever duplicated. Every piece is a spanking brand new and creative design, way too complex to ever be repeated. This piece is a joy to behold, crazily explosive, with so much happening on each of his HEMS letters, and the graduated fills are simply perfect. Incredible writing from one of Bristol’s masters.

Hypo, M32 roundabout, Bristol, December 2022
Hypo, M32 roundabout, Bristol, December 2022

To the right, we have a rather calmer piece by Hypo, whose neat letters contain an interesting fill colour selection, not exactly what I would call natural bedfellows. It almost feels like two independent colour selections have been squished together and I’m not too sure it works as well as it might have done with other selections. But then again, what do I know? The letters are nicely crafted and this modest piece by Hypo is the perfect counterbalance to Hemper’s energetic piece.

4878. St Werburghs tunnel (328)

Hypo, St Werburghs, Bristol, November 2022
Hypo, St Werburghs, Bristol, November 2022

I think that I have posted more Hypo pieces in the last couple of months than I had for the last few years before. He seems to be going through a very productive phase, finding time to paint with his friends. I imagine that there has been a change in life circumstances that has led to this liberation.

Hypo, St Werburghs, Bristol, November 2022
Hypo, St Werburghs, Bristol, November 2022

This modest piece in gentle colours was painted alongside Benjimagnetic, and perhaps reflects the winter weather, with its blues and greys and drips. This is another piece to add to the collection, which is pretty much big enough for a gallery – watch this space.

 

 

4749. St Werburghs tunnel (532)

Hypo, St Werburghs, Bristol, October 2022
Hypo, St Werburghs, Bristol, October 2022

Hypo has started to paint a little more frequently lately, and one might describe him as becoming Hypo-active (see what I did there?). This is another fine example of his work in the tunnel, a venue that he appears to favour.

Hypo, St Werburghs, Bristol, October 2022
Hypo, St Werburghs, Bristol, October 2022

On a light blue background, the letters, spelling HYPO, are nicely filled with a horizontal transition grading from, dark red at the bottom to sky blue at the top. The whole piece stands out from the wall thanks to a 3D drop shadow with horizontal lines adding depth. All in all a satisfying piece.

4713. St Werburghs tunnel (310)

Hypo, St Werburghs, Bristol, September 2022
Hypo, St Werburghs, Bristol, September 2022

I am pretty sure that when I last posted a Hypo piece I said that his work was somewhat underrepresented on Natural Adventures, so I hope this post is in some small way addressing this.

Hypo, St Werburghs, Bristol, September 2022
Hypo, St Werburghs, Bristol, September 2022

Painted in the tunnel alongside his friends, this piece is a real beauty and pretty much on point. The letters spell Hypo, and have four tones of red making up the fills. There are some nice details and accent flashes, and a 3D drop-shadow with a disappearing point in the middle of the piece, something that Hypo certainly seems to favour. This is a really decent piece of writing from the artist.

4640. St Werburghs tunnel (304)

Hypo, St Werburghs, Bristol, August 2022
Hypo, St Werburghs, Bristol, August 2022

Yet another hugely underrepresented writer on Natural Adventures is Hypo. There is no logical explanation, but he has painted a few pieces recently and perhaps I can address this imbalance, soon, I might even have enough pieces for a hypo gallery.

Hypo, St Werburghs, Bristol, August 2022
Hypo, St Werburghs, Bristol, August 2022

This piece, was painted alongside a Benjimagnetic piece in the tunnel, and is a superb design, both in colour selections and in the incorporation of a bilaterally symmetrical lower portion in brown. I can’t quite make out whether it spells a second word under HYPO. Excellent work from an excellent writer.

2595. Upfest 2018 (166)

The curious thing about Upfest is that one is exposed to so many pieces in the space of such a short time that it can be overwhelming, and my coping mechanism is to take as many pictures as I can so that recall is enhanced when it comes to posting some time after the event.

Hypo, Upfest, Bristol, July 2018
Hypo, Upfest, Bristol, July 2018

This fabulous piece from Bristol-based Hypo passed be by on the day I took this picture. I kind of remember seeing a piece by him, but I didn’t commit it to my deep memory – thank goodness for my archive. This is a clean and sharp piece with interesting and legible letter shapes and that central fill is rather special. Always great to (re)discover work by Hypo.

2573. M32 Cycle path (38)

Down on the M32 cycle path is thisrather nice quick one from Hypo that rather cleverly brings about some symmetry to his letters HYPO. I suggest that this is a quick one because although creative and imaginative, it is not perhaps as clean and crisp as it might be. This might sound like harsh criticism, but it is not, it is an observation only. Added to that, even pieces with a few ragged edges are hugely difficult to do and I always doff my cap in the direction of these artists.

Hypo, M32 cycle path, Bristol, October 2019
Hypo, M32 cycle path, Bristol, October 2019

Hypo, although not a regular on Natural Adventures does appear once in a while and as far as I can make out is one of the more established Bristol artists. I’m reasonably pleased with these pictures because with the overhang, the top half of pieces painted here are often in shade and I seem to have overcome that on this occasion. More nice work from Hypo.

2494. M32 roundabout J3 (172)

Grrrr. Dappled shade. It drives me bonkers.

This great piece, if you can see it, is by Hypo, whose work pops up every now and again, and although not the most prolific of Bristol artists, his work is always worth waiting for.

Hypo, M32 roundabout, Bristol, September 2019
Hypo, M32 roundabout, Bristol, September 2019

This ‘HYPO’ has an icy feel to it, which is perhaps exaggerated by what look like icicles hanging off some of the letters, and the red and yellow fills have a translucent look to them like ice lollies or stained glass. A fun piece wallowing in late summer sun.

2420. St Werburghs tunnel (96)

Here are two artists we don’t get to see nearly enough of. Both are established artists on the Bristol scene, but neither of them is out painting walls every week so what a pleasant surprise to come across this collaboration from Hemper and Hypo in the tunnel last week.

Hemper, St Werburghs, Bristol, August 2019
Hemper, St Werburghs, Bristol, August 2019

Hemper has been painting walls in Bristol for a long time and is highly regarded by his peers, and it is easy to understand why. Here he writes HEMP in shades of blue set on a painted brick wall from which the render has broken off. There are so many things to admire asbout this piece of work, and as if that weren’t enough he also adds in a message about the roll-out of 5G in Bristol “I never asked for 5G”.

Hypo, St Werburghs, Bristol, August 2019
Hypo, St Werburghs, Bristol, August 2019

Hypo, on the left, continues with the blue theme and spells out his name with 3D block lettering emanating from two vanishing points. I have noticed that in most of his work Hypo is very keen on using vanishing points and it is a common thread that appears to be the basis of much of his work. The piece is beautifully presented and the accessories work really well, such as the stars, drips and the spotty background. Overall a very pleasing collaborative piece.