Tag: M32

2721. M32 roundabout J3 (193)

The tunnels around the M32 roundabout are a fabulous place to find graffiti art, especially some of the more rough or edgy stuff, but are a real pain to photograph. The tunnels are narrow, and the light conditions can be absolutely terrible, especially on a bright day, because of the variability of very light to very dark in only a few paces.

Face 1st, M32 roundabout, Bristol, January 2020
Face 1st, M32 roundabout, Bristol, January 2020

It is all worth it though when you come across a piece like this one by Face 1st. The feature picture is the only one that has the piece in its totality and you can see the letters PWA mad up of a pencil, some paint and an ‘A’ on the spray can. PWA is the crew, Pirate Wall Art, that Face 1st, Soap and Sikoh belong to. There may be other members that I am less familiar with.

Face 1st, M32 roundabout, Bristol, January 2020
Face 1st, M32 roundabout, Bristol, January 2020

The whole piece is a joyous celebration of street art and painted in an area where there is pretty much always a piece from this artist on display – a bit like the 24/7 screening of Star Trek somewhere around the globe. Nice work.

2712. M32 roundabout J3 (192)

I am beginning to form the opinion that EAT crew are becoming something of a collaborative force in Bristol. EAT are of course SPZero76 and Kid Crayon and the pairing, whose styles are light years apart, seem to be able to create great work together like these two characters playing conkers (remember that?).

SPZero76, M32 roundabout, Bristol, January 2020
SPZero76, M32 roundabout, Bristol, January 2020

SPZero76 is an extraordinary character artist and has an amazing ability to create an insane amount of detail in his pieces, and his style is quite sharp and pointy, if that makes any sense at all.

Kid Crayon, M32 roundabout, Bristol, January 2020
Kid Crayon, M32 roundabout, Bristol, January 2020

On the other hand, Kid Crayon has a much softer style with plenty of curves and roundness about it. Stitch the two together and you have a complementary mix that somehow works very well indeed, better than you might expect.

SPZero76 and Kid Crayon, M32 roundabout, Bristol, January 2020
SPZero76 and Kid Crayon, M32 roundabout, Bristol, January 2020

Kid Crayon, in particular has been very busy this year already, and that is music to my eyes, because he pretty much tops my list of Bristol artists and I have been enjoying watching him grow as an artist over the last six years or so.

SPZero76 and Kid Crayon, M32 roundabout, Bristol, January 2020
SPZero76 and Kid Crayon, M32 roundabout, Bristol, January 2020

In addition to the fabulous collaboration, these two have signed the piece by commandeering a waste bin and leaving two little self-portraits. Creative, imaginative and fun. Looking forward to seeing more eat collabs in 2020.

Kid Crayon and SPZero, Dean Lane, Bristol, June 2017
Kid Crayon and SPZero, Dean Lane, Bristol, June 2017

2711. M32 roundabout J3 (191)

Well this is an absolutely cracking piece of writing from visiting Australian artist Lens. Spelling out LENS, I consider this to be pretty much perfect. The whole thing is so easy on the eye and it is hard to believe it has been created with spray paints.

Lens, M32 roundaboout, Bristol, January 2020
Lens, M32 roundaboout, Bristol, January 2020

The design of the letters is outstanding and the circle around the ‘e’ is very clever indeed in that it draws the eye to that part of the piece. There are lines that break up the letters which also delineate different colour regimes. The fills are awesome and the spots both inside and outside the letters add interest and fun. This is what great graffiti writing looks like – you can come back anytime Lens and will always be welcome in Bristol.

2706. M32 roundabout J3 (190)

I love this. An old signboard, neglected and unloved, brought back to life through the skill of a talented artist. The artist in question is Kid Crayon, and he did this little ‘extra’ piece while painting a collaboration with SPZero76 on the wall opposite (coming soon).

Kid Crayon, M32 roundabout, Bristol, January 2020
Kid Crayon, M32 roundabout, Bristol, January 2020

I love the idea of inanimate objects being given personalities, a little bit like the engines in Thomas the Tank Engine stories. It doesn’t happen nearly enough in Bristol. Perhaps this could be the start of something new although finding the objects in the first place could be problematic. The simple face was probably spray painted pretty quickly and although a bit ‘rough and ready’ is absolutely perfect. More of these please KC.

2705. M32 roundabout J3 (189)

Another rather lovely piece from Decay. It is funny how you can look at things and yet not see them. It wasn’t until I was preparing this post that I noticed the big DECAY in black on red in the background of this piece. I saw what I wanted to see, but not what was actually in front of me.

Decay, M32 roundabout, Bristol, January 2020
Decay, M32 roundabout, Bristol, January 2020

I do like the ephemeral nature of this piece of writing, almost as though it is made out of a mist or fog, with a very bright yellow ‘Chuck’ character the ‘e’ of Decay. Another nice one chalked up for 2020.

 

 

2698. M32 Cycle path (50)

Bnie is a reasonably regular visitor to Bristol who I think comes from Wales, possibly Swansea, I think that because she often paints with Smak, although not on this occasion. I do like it that graffiti/street artists make the trip to Bristol to paint because it all adds to the amazing diversity of work we see here. Bristol is one of a handful of cities that has the full spectrum of street art from tagging right through to high-end commissions. Some towns and cities don’t have the street art culture, but hold a festival to draw in great artists and of course the tourists. Places like Chichester for example, but it is all a little bit too sanitised for my taste. The art is invariably great, but the culture is missing.

Bnie, M32 cycle path, Bristol, January 2020
Bnie, M32 cycle path, Bristol, January 2020

Anyhow, this is a lovely piece by Bnie and deploys several of her trademarks, most notably the decorative patterning she uses in her fills and 3D work. There really is an awful lot to like about this modest piece tucked away on the M32 cycle path. I seem to have quite a few of her pieces in my archive, I’ll try and dig some out.

2686. M32 Cycle path (49)

It is a great time of year for street art because although there is not a huge amount of action (something of a relief for me I can tell you) on the streets it is a time when artists are doing their ‘first piece of the new year/decade’ and it somehow feels a bit like a fresh start.

Pekoe, M32 cycle path, Bristol, January 2020
Pekoe, M32 cycle path, Bristol, January 2020

This new one from Pekoe on the M32 cycle path is a fresh and clean start to the year. Of course the portrait piece wouldn’t be a Pekoe work without the big hair, and what magnificent hair with a crown, hearts and face concealed in it. A wonderful way to kick off January.

2684. M32 Cycle path (48)

Another New Year collaboration, they are coming thick and fast, this time from Decay and Lens. Decay is of course well known to me and to readers of Natural Adventures, but this is a debut piece for Lens, which is perhaps not at all surprising given that he comes from Melbourne, Australia and is just visiting.

Decay, M32 cycle path, Bristol, January 2020
Decay, M32 cycle path, Bristol, January 2020

I do like it when artists from different places hook up and paint together, it makes for a terrific sense of community. This Decay half of this combo is everything we would come to expect from the artist and ticks so many boxes… the shapes of the letters, the extravagant fills and the little ‘motion’ highlights in black on the outside of the lettering to give a sense of movement and energy to the whole piece. Perfect.

Lens, M32 cycle path, Bristol, January 2020
Lens, M32 cycle path, Bristol, January 2020

Using a similar colour palette to Decay’s, Lens has an altogether different letter shape, much more angular with sharp edges and corners. Lens’ fills and decorations are absolutely magnificent, and this is an accomplished piece of graffiti writing. It is so good to see some work from an Australian artist, and it is great to see that Lens has included a little shout out to Rezwonk, who often teams up with Decay, a nice touch.

2680. M32 Cycle path (47)

It has been a little while since I last saw some writing from Nightwayss, so it was a nice surprise to find this ‘NIGHT’ on the M32 cycle path. There is an interesting colour palette and a highly complex design, but I have to say it doesn’t quite work for me and I can’t put my finger on it.

Nightwayss, M32 cycle path, Bristol, December 2019
Nightwayss, M32 cycle path, Bristol, December 2019

Maybe the lack of clear definition around the letters is a little unconventional, and the colours tend to merge a bit. Also the texture of the wall isn’t very helpful with this busy design. I fear I might protest too much, and anyway, photobombing dog seems to rather like it.

2674. M32 roundabout J3 (188)

There is something rather thrilling about coming across a new piece from a new artist and this is the perfect example. The wonderful bold wobbly woman, painted with a creative confidence that I just love is by Yoli Ward-Streeter (Yoliws) who is one third of an all female creative community in Bristol called glu (art).

Yoliws, M32 roundabout, Bristol, December 2019
Yoliws, M32 roundabout, Bristol, December 2019

It is high-time that we had an injection of new street art in Bristol and especially from female painters, you can never have enough. The thing I love most about this piece is the sense of freedom and fun that it exudes, there is nothing pretentious or arrogant about it and the naive style, simple outline and solid fill added together create something really rather different and special.

I look forward to seeing more from Yoli and her partners at Glu and am already aware of some small pieces down at Cumberland Basin that have been painted by this collective. All good.