Tag: M32

2561. M32 Cycle path (36)

It has been a very very long time since I last posted anything by 45 RPM. There was a time, when I first started doing all this malarkey, that 45 RPM seemed to be out on the streets painting an awful lot. I actually have quite a few of his pieces in my archive screaming out to be published. In time I guess.

RPM 45, M32 cycle path, Bristol, October 2019
RPM 45, M32 cycle path, Bristol, October 2019.

I actually happened to be on the cycle path when 45 RPM was starting this piece. Most unlike me, I didn’t introduce myself because at the time I didn’t know who he was. This is a nice Halloween piece or perhaps more Day of the Dead which he did in collaboration with RichT. More to come from this session.

2560. M32 roundabout J3 (176)

A Halloween double bill from the fabulous Biers from a week or two back. I got lucky enough to catch Biers while he was still painting the piece on the right featuring a cartoon Jason Voorhees from ‘Friday the 13th’.

Biers, M32 roundabout, Bristol, October 2019
Biers, M32 roundabout, Bristol, October 2019

Biers gave no indication that he was going to paint a second character piece (is it from the ‘Texas Chainsaw Massacre’?) but paint one he did to create this double set. He seems to be enjoying the letters OYEAH at the moment although he didn’t rule out writing Biers again in the future.

Biers, M32 roundabout, Bristol, October 2019
Biers, M32 roundabout, Bristol, October 2019

Biers did explain to me the colour choices in his letters and that they were very deliberately chosen from the colours used in a game or something. If I am honest he lost me a bit on the story. I knew I should have written it down at the time. my memory is like a sieve at the moment.

Biers, M32 roundabout, Bristol, October 2019
Biers, M32 roundabout, Bristol, October 2019

Anyhow this is a pleasurable Halloween romp and a fine pair from Biers. Hats off!

2547. M32 Cycle path (35)

How fantastic to see these two PWA artists hooking up again after what feels like way too long. Soap and Face 1st have been painting buddies for a long time, but lately have been doing their own thing. I was beginning to think that they might have fallen out and may maybe they had, so it was with some relief  that I came across this fine collaboration on the M32 cycle path.

Soap and Face 1st, M32 cycle path, Bristol, October 2019
Soap and Face 1st, M32 cycle path, Bristol, October 2019

The collaboration itself is a lovely crisp piece, which is tapping into Face 1st’s recent theme of a crying face, which I interpret as a metaphor for the desperate state of our nation. This collaboration is really tight and one of my favourites that this pair have produced. The yellow boundary contains the two elements into a ‘proper’ collaboration of shared paint and merged ideas rather than the loose collaboration of when artists paint different things together.

2543. M32 roundabout J3 (175)

There is something about Morny’s naive style of street art that I find really appealing and it reminds me a little of an artist we had in Bristol a year or two back called J. Dior. These pieces are not clean or sharp but nor are they contrived, they simply tell stories that we can relate to.

Morny, M32 roundabout, Bristol, October 2019
Morny, M32 roundabout, Bristol, October 2019

In this piece, Morny has a policeman or perhaps I should say cop with his arm out saying ‘stop that’. We could read a hundred different meanings into this, but my immediate conclusion is this is an anti-graff cop. Whatever the story, I like the piece very much. It is vibrant and fun and that works for me.

J. Dior, The Bearpit, Bristol, May 2017
J. Dior, The Bearpit, Bristol, May 2017

2540. M32 roundabout J3 (174)

Having only recently ‘discovered’ Lobe, it seems that I am finding her work all over the place (and still have some to find). This is a lovely sunny piece at the M32 roundabout, with a rather unfortunate bit of graffiti just above it ‘viagra’ – I sometimes wonder what gets into people’s minds when they scrawl something like that.

Lobe, M32 roundabout, Bristol, October 2019
Lobe, M32 roundabout, Bristol, October 2019

Once again Lobe hits us with bold colours and strong lines and shading which is very much her style. Placing the bright yellow piece on a spotty pink background works really well. Another fine piece from Lobe.

2533. M32 Cycle path (35)

Around this time of year it is traditional for some street artists and crews to paint Haloween pieces although there have been few opportunities to spray recently, with so much rain. It is with not a little surprise then that this rather nice character piece by Jaksta appeared about a week ago as part of a collaboration along the M32 cycle path.

Jaksta, M32 cycle path, Bristol, October 2019
Jaksta, M32 cycle path, Bristol, October 2019

Jaksta is the king of characters and has appeared in Natural Adventures a number of times. This is Betelgeuse from the Tim Burton film of the same name and is wonderfully worked, especially those teeth. I have a feeling that the blond hair might be a reference to Boris or Donald, or perhaps both. I’m not sure what the Rake thing is, but I think it might be a crew name. Really nice work.

2522. M32 roundabout J3 (173)

This is quite a rare piece by the mild-mannered Face 1st, because he doesn’t very often get political, but this piece has been painted to show the artist’s despair over Brexit. It is a sentiment that will chime for the majority of Bristol citizens who voted overwhelmingly to remain in Europe.

Face 1st, M32 roundabout, Bristol, October 2019
Face 1st, M32 roundabout, Bristol, October 2019

I share the tears being shed by Face 1st’s subject and they are tears that reflect a sadness that our country is so divided, more so than at any time in living memory. The UK is shattered, and we can be pretty sure that the outcome of leaving Europe will be several more years of austerity (haven’t we had enough? – as a public sector worker, I’ve not had a more than 1% pay rise for a decade), the break up of the Union, with Scotland the first to go, and a vast and costly new domestic bureaucracy (replacing the one in Europe) just to manage our trade relationships and regulations that will be required for each nation we trade with. I wish I could wake up from this nightmare. Face 1st’s piece says it all really.

2505. M32 Cycle path (34)

Here we have yet another outstanding example of fabulous writing from Decay whose pieces have been an absolute highlight in Bristol this year and my goodness, there have been a great many of them – Check some of them out in this gallery.

Decay, M32 cycle path, Bristol, October 2019
Decay, M32 cycle path, Bristol, October 2019

In this one Decay has gone for his customary letter shapes, but the fill has a kind of smokey atmospheric feel to it, and the white accents give it a wonderful 3D effect. As always, his little character ‘Chuck’ makes up the letter E in the word DECAY. A lovely piece of writing.

2502. M32 Cycle path (34)

It is a great feeling discovering an artist who is relatively new to the Bristol scene and finding their pieces dotted about the place. One such artist is Lobe and I get a little ping of excitement each time I find one of her stylised portraits, a feeling I get each time I find a piece by Laic217 – some artists have this effect on me more than others.

Lobe, M32 Cycle path, Bristol, October 2019
Lobe, M32 Cycle path, Bristol, October 2019

This piece looks like it is a tribute piece to Wayne. Such works often have a little touch of sadness about them, but that is ok, it is a fair reflection of life in general. Once again her bold colours and shadings demonstrate her distinctive style which is just as well as I have yet to see a signed piece by her. All good.

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.