This wonderful combination piece by Kid Crayon is his contribution to the Mexican-themed wall painted alongside the M32 a few weeks ago. KC has embraced the theme with gusto, using the colours of a parched desert for his lettering and decorating the piece with cacti. These might be stereotypes, but certainly chime with a British characterisation of Mexico as a hot, dry country.
Kid Crayon, M32 Cycle path, Bristol, June 2026
The character is a masked Mexican wrestler (luchador), and is accompanied by the word Lucha and a little enacted wrestling scene in the bottom left of the piece. Loads of fun in this beautifully finished celebration of Mexico.
Another piece from the Mexican paint jam under the M32, this time by Tera. Sticking very well to the brief, Tera has painted his letters in a Gothic style, and filled with the green, white and red colours of the Mexican flag.
Tera, M32 Cycle path, Bristol, June 2026
His stylish letters are book ended with a skeleton matador to the left and a raging bull to the right. That bull is looking pretty dangerous, with its double set of horns, but nothing the demonic matador can’t handle. The scene unfolds in front of us, and we watch on and admire.
A welcome return to the streets for Kosc, with this Mexican inspired piece which was one of several at a themed paint jam under the M32. A couple of years ago, Kosc was producing superb pieces on a fairly regular basis and painted a lot with Saor and Mudra. All three seem to have gone very quiet, for whatever reason, so this from Kosc is a welcome surprise.
Kosc, M32 Cycle path, Bristol, June 2026
I should point out that this piece was painted before England knocked Mexico out of the World Cup, and before they had even been drawn to play one another (just in case you thought the timing insensitive). There are some inevitable stereotypes in this piece – sombrero, tequila and maracas, and the skeleton which has a link to Día de los Muertos, but that is in the autumn. A beautifully crafted piece with humour and vibrancy.
A recent paint jam alongside the M32 had a rather unusual Central American theme the likes of which we don’t often see in Bristol, perhaps for obvious reasons. This colourful character piece by I am Ian features a gun-toting ‘Mexican’ bandit.
I am Ian, M32 Cycle path, Bristol, June 2026
The character, complete with sombrero and poncho, is a little bit stereotyped, which is not surprising as much of our understanding of such things is via the consumption of spaghetti westerns of the late 20th century. There is some great perspective in this piece, and I rather like the desert background including several cacti. More from this adventurous paint jam to come.
Tymon de Laat, North Street, Bristol, September 2024
Although this is one of the more awkward walls to photograph, it often hosts some of the best Upfest pieces. This year it was the turn of Tymon de Laat and he has done the spot proud with this incredible portrait piece of a Mexican man, called ‘Moon over Matalán’. It is simply beautiful.
What is good about Upfest is that you will often get a chance to see the artists at work, and sometimes stop for a chat. Unfortunately the artist was busy up a scissor platform when I was passing by and I never got a chance to say hello.
Tymon de Laat, North Street, Bristol, September 2024
This year I managed to get up onto the roof of the building adjacent to the wall and took some super shots of the piece as it is meant to be seen, but which most people don’t get to see. The old man has paint on his face, which is a trademark feature of Tymon de Laat’s work. There is so much character in the man’s face, and his hat captures the atmosphere of a hot Mexico.
Tymon de Laat, North Street, Bristol, September 2024
Surrounding the portrait is a garland of dried corn and chillies, rounding the piece off nicely and without which the piece might feel a bit stark. This was clearly one of my highlights from this year’s festival. Bravo!
One of the real gems from Upfest 2017 was this beautiful depiction of Frida Kahlo by the hugely talented artist Alexander Tadlock. Born in California, Tadlock was raised in Mexico which would explain the choice of subject for his Upfest piece.
Alexander Tadlock, Upfest, Bristol, July 2017
There is a wonderful short biography of the artist on the ‘Greatest Paka Photography’ Flickr account which provides some background to his education and inspirations.
Alexander Tadlock, Upfest, Bristol, July 2017
For me, and many others, this was a truly outstanding piece, for many reasons. Firstly, the artwork is highly accomplished, secondly, the subject of the piece is iconic and captivation and thirdly, the colours are vibrant and draw you to the piece. As I said, outstanding.
Alexander Tadlock, Upfest, Bristol, July 2017
I came away from Upfest with a few ‘eyeworms’ (is there such a thing?) and this beauty from Tadlock was one of them.
On the 15th October 2016 The Bearpit played host to an international exhibition entitled ‘Resiste’. The exhibition featured the works of the Assembly of Revolutionary Artists of Oaxaco, Mexico. I will cover this exhibition in more detail in a forthcoming post, but today I will focus on the participation in the exhibition by Bristol’s magnificent Aspire.
Aspire, The Bearpit, Bristol, October 2016Aspire has sprayed many birds in The Bearpit, but perhaps none so eye catching and appropriate to the immediate context as these two beautiful humming birds. The Bearpit is awash with Mexican protest street art, but these humming birds bring some tranquility to the overall atmosphere.
Aspire, The Bearpit, Bristol, October 2016Yet another example of Bristol street art at its best, working alongside other cultures, movements and politics. The Bearpit is such an interesting cultural space, often rather controversial and edgy, but never boring.
Tuesday this week was a bit of a red letter day. I managed to see some wonderful new works walking in to work via Stokes Croft and The Bearpit. It has been very frustrating, because I have been in training since then, and not been able to post anything, so I have a bit of a backlog.
Aspire, The Bearpit, Bristol, March 2016 – Yellow-headed Blackbird
This is yet another very recent bird by Aspire, and there are more to come. Although Aspire calls this bird a saffron headed marsh squawker (his joke?) it is actually a yellow-headed blackbird, found in Mexico and central North America.
Natural adventures 