6182. M32 roundabout J3 (597)

Hypo, M32 roundabout, Bristol, May 2024
Hypo, M32 roundabout, Bristol, May 2024

For the last year or two, Hypo has been turning out terrific pieces of a consistent high quality and on a pretty regular basis. His letters HYPO lending themselves to a certain degree of symmetry, which often comes across, which is well demonstrated here and can be spotted if you focus on the positions of the five light blue arrows.

Hypo, M32 roundabout, Bristol, May 2024
Hypo, M32 roundabout, Bristol, May 2024

The colours are nicely presented and transition well in the fills. There is also a lot of depth to the letters created with mid-lines, shading and accents. Hypo is a specialist at creating this kind of energy and effervescence in his writing, perhaps learned from and shared with his friend Hemper, who is a master of this kind of wildstyle graffiti writing.

6136. M32 Cycle path (269)

Hypo, M32 Cycle path, Bristol, June 2024
Hypo, M32 Cycle path, Bristol, June 2024

Hypo has been smashing it for a while now, and not only creating some outstanding graffiti writing pieces, but also switching things up a fair bit too, in terms of style and presentation. In this piece on the M32 Cycle path, he has framed his letters within quite a tight area, and pulled it off really well.

Hypo, M32 Cycle path, Bristol, June 2024
Hypo, M32 Cycle path, Bristol, June 2024

The gold and silver letters are nicely designed with a kind of post-industrial weight to them, there is chunkiness and brutalism about the letters, and the red border with big drips speaks of a kind of pain, a bloodletting that comes with industrialisation. My interpretation only of course. Something a little different and challenging but also well presented by Hypo.

6007. M32 roundabout J3 (572)

Hypo, M32 roundabout, Bristol, April 2024
Hypo, M32 roundabout, Bristol, April 2024

I have enjoyed immensely the vigour with which Hypo has upped his game over the last year or two, both in terms of the quality and quantity of his painting. Sticking with his HYPO letters, he has come up with a sequence of colourful and strong designs of which this is one of his more recent.

Hypo, M32 roundabout, Bristol, April 2024
Hypo, M32 roundabout, Bristol, April 2024

Unfortunately I captured this piece on a late sunny afternoon, and there is a bit of glare, but it doesn’t hide the excellence of the artwork. The colour palette is really good and the transitions through greens to yellows and oranges and blue are really well done. some spots are added for decoration, but it is the overall design of the letters and the clean finishing that I am particularly attracted to in this piece. Great work from Hypo.

5941. M32 roundabout J3 (563)

Hypo, M32 roundabout, Bristol, March 2024
Hypo, M32 roundabout, Bristol, March 2024

I think that Hypo and his friends are particularly partial to this spot on the M32 roundabout, and I say that because many of his pieces have been painted here. This one was painted alongside Hemper and Turoe, two legends of the Bristol graffiti writing scene.

Hypo, M32 roundabout, Bristol, March 2024
Hypo, M32 roundabout, Bristol, March 2024

Hypo hasn’t gone for the symmetry that we often see with his letters, or at least, not as obviously. There are some great colours in the vibrant piece, and some classic drips and spots by way of decoration. I am not fully convinced by the 3D drop shadow, which looks a little conflicted in one or two places. Overall though this is yet another cracker from Hypo.

5763. M32 roundabout J3 (548)

Hypo, M32 roundabout, Bristol, December 2023
Hypo, M32 roundabout, Bristol, December 2023

Ooh! The colours of this wonderful piece by Hypo burst out of the wall and immediately infect the viewer with a sense of optimism and wellbeing (results based on a survey of one!). A sensibly neutral buffed wall add to the sense of energy and excitement generated by this cornucopia of colour.

Hypo, M32 roundabout, Bristol, December 2023
Hypo, M32 roundabout, Bristol, December 2023

The letters spell out HYPO as you’d probably expect, with a couple of nice graffiti arrows incorporated. I really like the way that Hypo produces something utterly different with each of his pieces, although there is always an underlying style that seems to permeate through. A delightful piece from Hypo.

5758. St Werburghs tunnel (398)

Hypo, St Werburghs, Bristol, January 2024
Hypo, St Werburghs, Bristol, January 2024

One of the artists I have most enjoyed over the past 12 months or so has been Hypo, who has been out and about a lot during that period (in part due to poor health and recovery). I think that part of the secret to his success is his choice of letters, which are really playful, and allow a lot of flexibility. Some letters and combinations of letters simply don’t work as well as others.

Hypo, St Werburghs, Bristol, January 2024
Hypo, St Werburghs, Bristol, January 2024

I sense a little bit of a Hemper influence in this piece, which is quite elaborate and intricate. Hypo has selected some cheerful light colours that interlock, creating an integrated whole that is nice to look at. I’m not too sure that the copper outline quite works, but on the whole this is a fine piece of writing.

5672. M32 roundabout J3 (530)

Hypo, M32 roundabout, Bristol, November 2023
Hypo, M32 roundabout, Bristol, November 2023

Last week I posted a piece by Hypo that showed something of a development of his style into a more cryptic wildstyle approach. This piece on the other hand is the more familiar graffiti writing we expect to see from Hypo, and what a colour-burst it is too.

Hypo, M32 roundabout, Bristol, November 2023
Hypo, M32 roundabout, Bristol, November 2023

The letters are clear to read, and there is a real sense of joy and optimism about the piece. The colours come together as if they were sweets in a jar and the whole thing looks almost edible. I love the design, and the colour fades and decorations, I think though, and I know I am nit-picking, that the black shadow might have been a little tidier. Beautiful work from Hypo.

5661. M32 roundabout J3 (527)

Hypo, M32 roundabout, Bristol, November 2023
Hypo, M32 roundabout, Bristol, November 2023

I met Hypo for the very first time when he was painting a piece adjacent to this one, which I sadly never got to photograph, because it had been painted over by the time I returned. What a lovely and interesting person Hypo is. I mentioned to him that he has been smashing it lately not only in quality of his pieces but in the quantity of them that he was turning out. He explained that he had been seriously ill a little while back and that while he was unable to work he was painting as part of his rehabilitation. It was good to see him looking well. It is amazing how our health completely shapes out lives, our losses and our opportunities.

Hypo, M32 roundabout, Bristol, November 2023
Hypo, M32 roundabout, Bristol, November 2023

I would not describe this as a typical Hypo piece, being a little more cryptic and busy than his more typical work. The black and white letters have plenty of extra details and lines and have been filled sparingly with coloured spots and stars. There are some nice shout outs to Hemper, Ulow, Soker and Minto, which puts his peers into clear context. Hypo painted this piece alongside his LDub mates Dun Sum and Zeks. Nice transformative work.

5486. L Dub (45)

Hypo, L Dub, Bristol, August 2023
Hypo, L Dub, Bristol, August 2023

The last thing I expected to find on a recent trip to L Dub was this vibrant piece by Hypo. L Dub tends to be the province of artists like DJ Perks, Dun Sum, Donz, Laic217 and a raft of DBK artists, so it is always quite a surprise to find work from central Bristol artists adorning the walls there. This surprise was a pleasant one.

Hypo, L Dub, Bristol, August 2023
Hypo, L Dub, Bristol, August 2023

The bright green background immediately grabs one’s attention and the graffiti writing itself fits the typical Hypo model perfectly, with a horizon running through the middle of the letters, a mechanism he uses a lot, and the near bilateral symmetry of the letters HY|PO. Another lovely piece from the artist who is having a very productive 2023.

5376. M32 roundabout J3 (494)

Hypo, M32 roundabout, Bristol, July 2023
Hypo, M32 roundabout, Bristol, July 2023

Although his frequency of painting has slowed just a little since the spring, Hypo continues to have a sizeable presence in Bristol, which can only be good news. I will be brutally honest about this piece and say that I don’t think it is his best work. The concept and letters are all good, but the colour transitions through the piece feel a little lost and I am thinking that the grey background might not be helpful in this respect.

Hypo, M32 roundabout, Bristol, July 2023
Hypo, M32 roundabout, Bristol, July 2023

Don’t get me wrong, I think it is still a lovely piece of writing, but I know that Hypo has recently been smashing it and this one doesn’t quite make the bar IMO. I guess consistency can be difficult to maintain, but I know that he will be out and about again with another banger. I look forward to his next piece.