There is so much to like about Bloem’s work at the moment, and more than that, she is a really lovely person and talented artist and jewellery craftswomen. Her pieces are becoming more confident with each trip out, and she is spreading her wings, improving all the time.
Bloem, M32 roundabout, Bristol, March 2024
This piece on the roundabout contains a few themes that she specialises in, for example the hand with sharp nails and the old-style brick mobile phone, with keypad. Springing from the phone display is a tangled growth of flowers, complete with personalities. The whole piece is set on a glorious red backdrop softened with a few patterns. This is truly stunning work from Bloem.
Klashwhensober, M32 roundabout, Bristol, March 2024
There is a lot of truth and honesty about Klashwhensober’s work. Sometimes his work can be a little scruffy and rushed, and sometimes it can be glorious, clean tidy and creative. This piece falls into the latter category, and s a general observation, his trajectory is upward and he is producing quite a lot of classy pieces at the moment.
Klashwhensober, M32 roundabout, Bristol, March 2024
The black letters on a blue background, spelling SOBER, are nicely done and complemented with a fine blue drop-shadow and tidy accents and starbursts. The inclusion of a character in the middle of the piece definitely improves the overall look and balances out the piece well. Great work from a still-productive Klashwhensober.
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 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.
Elvs and Rusk, M32 roundabout, Bristol, March 2024
This is a wonderful collaboration from two brilliant artists, Elvs and Rusk. I’m not sure I have seen these two painting together since Upfest 22, so this came as a very nice surprise indeed. Elvs has had quite a quiet year painting in Bristol and I would like to think (hope) that this piece signals a few more visits for 2024. Elvs’ writing is so incredibly unique and recognisable – I don’t think that I know of anyone that writes large block letters etched out with thin black lines in this way. Fine writing.
Elvs and Rusk, M32 roundabout, Bristol, March 2024
I would say that Rusk is better known for his writing or writing/character combination pieces, so this ghetto blaster hip-hop character is something of a rarity. The old-school style character has all the hallmarks of street art/hip hop culture and Rusk carries it off brilliantly. A rather nice silhouette of an urban skyline polished the collaboration off nicely. Great collaboration.
Sub and Bloem, M32 roundabout, Bristol, March 2024
It took me a little while to work out, but should have been obvious from the start that Sub and Bloem usually paint together, and this collaborative space on the roundabout was adjacent to another that they were painting as I photographed this one. It is great to see two young artists out there pushing boundaries and practicing their skills.
Sub and Bloem, M32 roundabout, Bristol, March 2024
To the left, Sub has painted another of his distinctive pieces with very large letters, lifted with a thick drop shadow and accompanied by some wispy smoke, in the Mr Klue style. On the right, Bloem has painted a hand, as she likes to do, holding a pair of her trademark cherry devils (with smiley faces). Although the two pieces are discrete, they share a cloudy background, and there is a suggestion that the hand emanates from Sub’s ‘B’. Always good to find their work.
We don’t get to see Turoe’s work all that often these days, so when a new piece does appear it is always worth celebrating. This beauty was painted with his friends Hemper and Hypo on the M32 roundabout at the beginning of the month.
Turoe, M32 roundasbout, Bristol, March 2024
Turoe has painted his letters in old school style, filled with subtle colours and patches, but it is the drop shadow that makes the piece. The very deep shadow extends to the floor in a soft pink with black borders, and is very nicely executed. Shadows like this are quite unusual, but very effective, and I am a little surprised we don’t see it more often. A nice reminder of the exceptional talent of Truro.
I think it’s safe to say he’s back. Slakarts has been knocking out a few pieces lately, perhaps making up for lost time over the last couple of years, during which he has been reasonably quiet. With this quick one, he is maintaining his ‘mega-tag’ presence, reminding us that he is out and about.
Slakarts, M32 roundabout, Bristol February 2024
Slakarts hasn’t buffed the wall for this piece, and ordinarily that might lead to it being a little bit lost, but his colour selection and precise spray can work are strong enough to help it stand out over the mess. More to come from the resurgent Slakarts soon.
It was great to catch up with Stivs while he was painting this piece, and it gave me the opportunity to tell him how much I admired his incredible technical skills with creating these amazing calligraffiti letters. Stivs has made a deliberate choice to move back to writing words he used to write before writing Stivs, namely the word KRAP and variants of it. In this case he has written KRAPSTER.
Stivs, M32 roundabout, Bristol, February 2024
The letters are not only beautifully crafted and proportioned, but they also incorporate four shades of yellow, one for each elevation, which together create the appearance of gold letters and a three-dimensional effect. The letters are set on a contrasting matrix of pink lines and squiggles, which rounds off the whole production nicely. Great piece by Stivs.
Oh my! This is Kosc at his very best, and even by his high standards, he has excelled himself. It is obvious that Kosc works very hard to develop his skills and looks to improve from piece to piece, stretching his repertoire and pushing boundaries. When you strive and work hard, you get your returns and this feels like a landmark piece to me.
Kosc, M32 roundabout, Bristol, February 2024
From the background I would guess that this is an oriental scene and portrait, featuring a beautiful woman with flowers in her hair. The greyscale portrait has a softness of touch about it, accentuated by the solid chunky letters either side. I am not too sure why the ‘C’ melts away, but there must be a reason behind it.
Kosc, M32 roundabout, Bristol, February 2024
To me, what absolutely makes the piece perfect, is the stunning landscape setting featuring mountains and trees and old buildings, painted in subtle shades of blue. Whether it is deliberate or not, the spilt paint on the ground draws the piece out towards the viewer and adds to the overall impression. Brilliant work from an artist at the top of his game.
Kool Hand, Face 1st, Soap and Zake, M32 roundabout, Bristol, February 2024
This collaboration from the Pirate Wall Art (PWA) crew is a little different in one key respect, and it doesn’t take too long to figure out what that is, but to spell it out, Soap and Face First’s writing resembles throw-up style graff quite unlike their usual individual styles.
Kool Hand, M32 roundabout, Bristol, February 2024
To the left Kool Hand, an occasional PWA collaborator, has painted a blue leopard wearing a yellow bucket hat, and why not, pointing, I would like to think, in admiration of his friends’ writing. Kool Hand is perhaps an underrated street artist in Bristol, whose work often goes under the radar, particularly on social media.
Face 1st and Soap, M32 roundabout, Bristol, February 2024
Unusually for a triptych collaboration, the centrepiece here is writing, and a very fine combination from Face 1st on top and Soap underneath. The writing designs are quite old-school and in themselves nothing to write home about, but the fills elevate this central panel to a different level altogether. The pink fill is decorated with a whole bunch of squiggly designs, but the clever bit is how the fills transition seamlessly between the two pieces of writing. Great stuff.
Zake, M32 roundabout, Bristol, February 2024
I said in a post a couple of days ago, that Zake has been smashing it for a long time. He is a machine, turning out creative and fun pieces at a rate of at least one a week, This piece on close inspection is a little grotesque, as the main character is putting an arm into a mincing machine. The stuff of horror nightmares. Perhaps it is a representation of Sweeny Todd, the demon barber of Fleet Street. Who ever it is, there is a story here. All in all this is a fine February collaboration from the PWA boys.
