A gallery of outstanding cosmic abstract graffiti writing from Marckinetic.
Instagram: @marckinetic
All photographs by Scooj
Marckinetic
Tag: Marckinetic
7199. Frome Side (54)
I first encountered Marckinetic’s work when he used to paint alongside Kid Krishna, but the frequency of his pieces dwindled to virtually nothing, that is, until now. This is an absolutely stunning piece under the M32 to which access has been freed up, having been more difficult over the summer months. This piece was painted as part of a collaboration with another artist whose work I didn’t recognise.
Unfortunately, there is a bit of unavoidable glare in these pictures, which don’t really do the piece justice. The whole thing looks like it is a spaceship travelling through space, there is certainly movement from left to right with the black smoke trails. Inside the letters of the piece, Marckinetic has produced his incredible cosmic patterns, a trademark of his work. The whole piece is awesome, and it is great to see his work after what feels like a long time.
6128. Cumberland Basin
Marckinetic has been out a fair bit this year, painting alongside his mate Kid Krishna, and he hasn’t yet appeared to run out of inspiration for his FFS designs – this one being a cracking example. There is a real sense of clarity and purpose in this piece.
You have to have some insider knowledge or a great imagination to know that the letters spell FFS. There is a lovely symmetry and flow in this piece created by the curves of the letters, and the deep black shadow gives the whole thing a monolithic appearance. The fills are very nicely worked and I love the cracks in the blue fills. The piece has been nicely finished and is clean and crisp – an excellent and unusual piece of graffiti writing from Marckinetic.
5975. Star and Garter (8)
Those boys have been smashing it lately, and by those boys I mean Kid Krishna and Marckinetic. It doesn’t seem to matter what spot I go to, with the exception of Dean Lane, I can usually expect to find something from this pair. And this one in the green adjacent to the Star and Garter in Montpelier/St Paul’s is an absolute beauty.
Kid Krishna is a prolific artist once he is on a roll, but can be prone to stopping altogether for a while… it can very much be fits and starts from him. This one is a cornucopia piece, so full of wonderful colours and movement, it almost feels like the whole thing is swirling around in front of your eyes. This takes abstract writing to another level and verges on the trippy. The focal point of this organic ball of colour is perfectly offset by the atmospheric cosmic style background. This is truly wonderful work from Kid Krishna.
Next to Kid Krishna is something a little more formulaic, but only by comparison, by Marckinetic that highlights his unusual approach to writing the letters FFS (I think). The characteristic long straight letters are interlocked and slightly juxtaposed with the circular element at the end. His cosmic fills are sensational and like Kid Krishna’s piece the letters contrast perfectly with the background. Long may this purple patch continue.
5955. Cumberland Basin
Two things to notice immediately about this wonderful collaboration from Marckinetic and Kid Krishna. The first is the diabolical weather – it feels like it has been raining all winter, and is something of a miracle that artists have been painting in quite the frequency that they have and the second is the bright yellow background drawing attention to the pieces.
On the left, Marckinetic has painted one of his FFS pieces in his unusual writing style using elongated straight-lined squares and rectangles to form his letters. The letter fill has a clever marbelled effect, and the very deep black drop shadow is filled with an inky night sky with yellow stars and suns. Lovely and original work from Marckinetic
To the right is a rather more densely packed array of shapes and forms making out the letters CRIE. There is loads of colour and activity in the letters, which at times is almost overwhelming, and this is sometimes what you get with his work. Other times he will paint something so simple, he has it all in his armoury. There are lots of FFS tags all over the piece and a little “Four Five Six” to help us along with one of the acronyms for FFS.
5906. Cumberland Basin
Marckinetic and Kid Krishna have been having a rather productive spring following what might be described as a reasonably lean winter. This collaborative pair of pieces, sharing a background and elements of a colour palette, is on the long wall at Cumberland Basin.
To the left Marckinetic has written the letters FFS, which would be difficult to know if you didn’t already know, if you know what I mean. His trademark galactic space cloud kind of fill is incorporated in the letters and the semicircle, to great effect. He has also painted a very nice black shadow, in the same mode as often used by Acer One. This is a creative and, as ever, interesting piece.
Kid Krishna, who has recently changed his Instagram account to @name_dropin, has been smashing it of late, and here he is again with one of his CRIE pieces so full of colour and interest in a fairly abstract presentation. I particularly like the ‘canyon’ at the bottom of the piece. I have so many unpublished pieces by Kid Krishna in my archive, and I am trying to figure out how I can post them all. A very nice collaborative wall.
5828. M32 roundabout J3 (551)
I am mildly hungover following a wonderful wedding party for our niece, in the extraordinary setting of Farnham Castle on the border of Surrey and Hampshire, and am writing this post sitting in the car, waiting to get home back to Bristol. Fast forward a few hours, and I am now completing this post at home, a little later than usual.
This is a fabulous collaborative wall from Marckinetic and Kid Krishna, a duo who have started off 2024 in vigorous fashion. Marckinetic’s disguised FFS letters are written in such a unique style and filled with his wonderful ‘cosmic’ patterning, that they simply couldn’t be by any other artist. Creative and wonderfully presented, his work is always a pleasure to see.
Kid Krishna has been on fire this year too, after a relatively quiet period, so much so that I am going to have to gather up several of his early year pieces into a single post soon. The colours of this piece broadly match those used by Marckinetic, and create a feast for the eyes, enhanced by being painted on the black background. The letters CRIE are probably there somewhere. This is a fabulous collaborative wall from these unconventional graffiti writers.
5804. Cumberland Basin
Marckinetic usually paints alongside his friend Kid Krishna, and so when the latter goes quiet, so does Marckinetic. Now that Kid Krishna has started firing on all cylinders again, Marckinetic has been out on at least two occasions recently.
This piece, painted in January, shows us just how original the artist’s style is. I believe that there is writing here, just not the way we are used to seeing it (there is a possibility the letters say MARC – CORRECTION – they spell out FFS (thank you Paul H)). The deep white shadows have a little bit of Acer One about them, but the ‘cosmic’ fills are all Marckinetic, and something of speciality. This is an unusual and very welcome piece in the vast spectrum of Bristol street/graffiti art.
5147. Brunel Way (203)
Like the Kid Krishna piece alongside it, this Marckinetic piece didn’t last long, which is a pity, but we all know how this works. I was lucky enough to catch up with both of them when they were painting these pieces, and although I spoke with Kid Krishna for some while, Marckinetic was busy getting on with his piece, stopping only to say hello – he was on a mission.
I am not certain, but I think I can see the letters MARK. There is an overall dreamy drippy feel to this piece with lots of bubbles and drips in the background as well as in the letter fills. There is a big fat white drop shadow around the piece, which doesn’t quite work for me, there isn’t enough contrast between the white and the yellow. A grey might have worked better… listen to me… ‘the critic’. A lovely piece, in Marckinetic’s distinctive and distinguished style.
5066. Cumberland Basin
I’ve not posted much from Marckinetic for a while, and that might be because he tends not to paint all that regularly. I might have missed a recent piece in the tunnel, but will have to correct that omission.
This is a typical piece from Marckinetic writing in his unique style, set on a cosmic backdrop. I would like to think that his letters spelled out Mark, but I really don’t know, and I haven’t yet met him to ask. The pink arrow features on either side frame the piece really well, and you can imagine that the piece would be poorer without them. These ‘extras’ are what sets people above the ordinary.
Natural adventures 