From time to time I make assumptions on Natural Adventures. Sometimes they are right and at other times they are disastrously wrong, so I am a little nervous about sticking my neck out and suggesting that this piece is by Mutatee.
Mutatee, M32 Spot, Bristol, August 2020
My doubt is that I haven’t seen anything painted by Mutatee before, only little resin models, but the blue-faced character is the same as hers. I realise that the character is from some TV show, so it is possible that another artist painted this. All part of the confusing street art landscape. I shall attribute this fun little piece to Mutatee until told otherwise.
When I first saw this lovely piece I couldn’t place the artist. I was familiar with the style, but I don’t know, it was bothering me and I couldn’t immediately see the signature because of the skaters’ bags in front of it. A closer inspection revealed it is by Zake, but is quite unlike most of his other pieces that I have seen.
Zake, M32 Spot, Bristol, June 2020
This is a really classy and thoughtful piece that makes perfect use of the awkward column space. The green-faced girl has beautiful blue hair that turns into a waterfall. Her right hand is holding a spray can that is painting her purple hair that stretches over her head and transforms into a hand that is reaching down to her left hand. Personally I think this is a wonderfully composed piece and concept, beautifully carried out. I love it.
There is a name Diana Abdul at the bottom of the piece, but I don’t know what significance this holds.
Something good pretty much always results when these two PWA artists collaborate, which fortunately for us is often, this time under the M32. Soap and Face 1st seem to have a telepathic connection like Pires and Henry (I had to choose Arsenal players, but think of any deadly football partnership and you’ll know what I mean), and their collaborations feel so comfortable and easy if you know what I mean.
Soap, M32 Spot, Bristol, June 2020
I don’t quite get what the story is but there is consistency across the whole collaboration. On the left Soap is the writing of Soap which is filled with a sophisticated array of colours and techniques and is truly a thing of beauty. Soap’s fills just seem to get better and better.
Face 1st, M32 Spot, Bristol, June 2020
On the right we have a rather unusual Face 1st piece of a girl riding on the back of a cigarette-smoking frog waving a bee on the end of a stick in front. What?!? I must ask him what on earth is going on in this piece next time I see him. Wild, imaginative and wonderful.
It took two trips to this spot to be able to get any decent pictures. On my first visit, the sun was very bright indeed and a horizontal shadow was cast across the top half of the piece… my photographs were unusable.
3Dom, M32 Spot, Bristol, May 2020
This is a magnificent collaboration between 3Dom and Feek and one of the first to be painted since the lock down restrictions were slightly eased. On the left is an extraordinary character by 3Dom built up of five or six distinct elements: a raspberry head with a target, a geometric torso, wicker basket bottom, fractured legs and fabulous slippers. The character is balancing on a tightrope.
Feek, M32 Spot, Bristol, May 2020
Opposite is a character from Feek, wearing a barrel on his head riding a unicycle on the same tightrope, a parrot nervously hanging on to the seat of the unicycle. The whole piece is a celebration of circus in a burst of colour and surreal ideas, and is the kind of outstanding piece that doesn’t come around every day.
3Dom and Feek, M32 Spot, Bristol, May 2020
Between the two tightrope acts is a beautifully painted ASK (After School Klub) written in circus-style Block script, which holds the two halves together with great skill. This is a truly exceptional piece and one that has been well worth the wait.
I was familiar with the M32 Spot some time before I started photographing street art, because I used to drop my then 12 year old son off for wet-weather skateboarding. The M32 Spot DIY skatepark was pretty much the only (free) skate park option when it rained, and for a skating obsessed boy this was the destination of choice. That boy turns 18 next weekend. Where did that time go?
Feek, M32 Spot, Bristol, May 2020
This lovely piece by Feek, like so many pieces by the artist, really chimes with the skating community. The painting features a monster contributing to the DIY building of the skate park. My favourite bit… his signature in the teeth.
I love this for lots of reasons. Firstly because it is by John D’oh and secondly because it is a stencil, but mainly because it is overtly critical of the Wetherspoon owner Tim Martin, one of the most odious characters to have emerged from the Brexit debate. This man ranks as one of the supreme self-interested businessmen who puts making money for his business and for himself above the interests of the country. This attitude was exposed in the early days of lock down when Martin was calling for leniency for pubs and to allow them to remain open. Sod the virus eh?
John D’oh, M32 Spot, Bristol, May 2020
Neatly placed on one of the columns under the M32, this piece is a beacon of hope, in that in poking fun at Wetherspoon it reinforces the responsible approach to protecting ourselves from coronavirus. I applaud this political commentary piece.
What I love about John D’os work is that it lays down a historical (usually political) narrative of our time. This is the second version of this stencil in the area, I posted the other one a while back, and it records with an element of humour the madness of the run on loo paper at the start of lock down. As an additional note, you can’t move in supermarkets for bog roll at the moment, so what was the panic all about?
John D’oh, M32 Spot, Bristol, May 2020
I like the retro look of the piece and of course the setting in amongst an array of contemporary tagging. More to come from John D’oh who was a little busier than some other artists during full lock down, taking his allotted hour of exercise on the streets and walls we know so well.
Back in October 2019 I remember seeing this piece from Panskaribas and being rather pleased about it, because it was the first I had seen for several months while the artist had been out of Bristol.
Panskaribas, M32 Spot, Bristol, October 2019
It is a rather weird and wonderful piece which has taken me rather a long time to work out. I think it is a pair of trainers joined together by a single trousered leg… peculiar, yes, but oh so very Panskaribas. I think that since then he has painted a few more pieces about the place, but I have been very neglectful and I’m not sure I have posted any of them. I must rectify that.
Yes, I’m still working through my archives, unearthing some of the nice pieces that got left behind, which is inevitable when I can only post two new works a day. This is a rather nice column piece from Daz Cat back in July 2018.
Daz Cat, M32 Spot, Bristol, July 2018
Yesterday’s second post was by Kool Hand, and given that these two like to paint together, this might have been sprayed during the same session. Daz Kat usually, but not always, paints cat faces each of which has its own character and colours. The text reads ‘scum triumphant’ – I’m not too sure what it means but it is a good graffiti message. I like the work of Daz Cat, it has a gritty and slightly edgy feel to it, which is what this is all about.
This is another piece from a little while ago on a column under the M32 by Kool Hand. This artist has done a few pieces at this M32 spot in recent years, and often pairs up with Daz Cat for his sessions.
Kool Hand, M32 Spot, Bristol, July 2018
Kool Hand has created a rather dashing crocodile kitted out with hoodie and trainers and clasping a spray can in his tail. I like the way Kool Hand works, with strong outlines and clean solid fills. A nice piece.
Natural adventures 