I have mentioned a couple of times in posts recently that Minto has been pretty busy lately, and this is another in a string of graffiti writing pieces. The writing and overall piece is a little more coherent than some of the ‘deconstructed’ pieces of late.
Minto, Greenbank, Bristol, July 2024
There is lots of colour and movement in this piece, in which the letters MINTO are picked out in pinks and oranges. The piece is a good one for a nice sunny day, for sure. I particularly like the two traces of stars on the sides of the letter ‘M’. good stuff from Minto.
Minto has been painting a string of fabulous pieces recently, most of which are following this style of what I would describe as deconstruction. The architecture of the piece is there, with the scaffolding still left up (metaphorically speaking) and lots of parts are exposed. We are more used to seeing conventional graffiti writing with solid fills and continuity – Minto has blown this convention apart with his fragmentation approach. The overall effect is not unlike Benjimagnetic’s work.
Minto, M32 roundabout, Bristol, July 2023
The letters MINTO can be reasonably clearly seen, with some hint at symmetry (with the exception of the ‘T’ which breaks things up in space and colour). A couple of faces make an appearance, and there is a rather nice little shout out to Soker there too. Really great and different stuff from Minto.
I am pretty sure that these pieces from Minto and Bags are part of a collaboration, rather than ones painted in isolation that happen to be next to one another. There is definitely some interaction from the Bags piece that overlaps onto the Minto side, but not necessarily vice versa.
Minto, M32 Spot, Bristol, July 2024
Unlike most of his recent ‘deconstruction’ pieces, Minto has opted for a full size portrait, with the only writing being the ‘Minto’ on the subject’s hat. It comes across as a bit of a quick one, and may have been a dregs piece, because the fills aren’t particularly solid. Certainly this is Minto showing a slightly different side to his work, and for some reason it is a very memorable – maybe it is the green, maybe the hat… who knows?
Bags, M32 Spot, Bristol, July 2024
Bags is a woefully underrepresented artist in Natural Adventures, and I think the only way I could rectify that would be to go through my archives and present several mini-galleries, just to catch up a bit. I think that Bags enjoys collaborating a lot, especially with his No Frills friends such as Biers and Slim Pickings. His letters are always recognisable and presented in roughly the same format, with the fills representing the main differences from piece to piece.
Just as I was beginning to think that Minto was going on a bit of a ‘slow-down’ he comes up trumps with several new pieces in a relatively short period of time. This is an interesting piece that was created during a paint jam at the roundabout. I have noticed that Minto has changed his style a little recently and appears to be undergoing a ‘period’ of deconstruction, where the elements of his work appear to be a little fragmented, as if several thoughts are going on all at once.
Minto, M32 roundabout, Bristol, June 2024
Concealed within the piece are the letters MINTO, with the ‘INT’ being reasonably clear, but the ‘M’ and ‘O’ are more tricky to see. For clarity, he has signed it in yellow bubble writing on the left. The colourful piece is full of eclectic decorations and a couple of characters, but for me lacks a little cohesion. The blue and grey background I would guess has some kind of meaning, but it is a little lost on me. Lot more to come from Minto soon.
Minto, Cumberland Basin, Bristol, September 2025Minto, M32 roundabout, Bristol, August 2025Hypo and Minto, St Werburghs, Bristol, August 2025Minto, M32 roundabout, Bristol, May 2025Minto, Cumberland Basin, Bristol, April 2025Minto, M32 roundabout, Bristol, March 2025Minto, M32 roundabout, Bristol, February 2025Minto, St Werburghs, Bristol, December 2024Minto, Greenbank, Bristol, July 2024Minto, M32 roundabout, Bristol, July 2023Minto, M32 Spot, Bristol, July 2024Minto, M32 roundabout, Bristol, June 2024Minto, M32 Cycle path, Bristol, April 2024Minto, Cumberlan Basin, Bristol, April 2024Minto, St Werburghs, Bristol, January 2024Minto, M32 roundabout, Bristol, December 2023Minto, Dean Lane, Bristol, November 2023Minto, M32 roundabout, Bristol, November 2023Minto, M32 roundabout, Bristol, August 2023Minto, Dean Lane, Bristol, October 2022Minto, M32 Spot, Bristol, February 2022Minto, M32 roundabout, Bristol, July 2020Minto, M32 roundabout, Bristol, July 2020Minto, M32 Spot, Bristol, January 2019Minto, St Werburghs, Bristol, February 2020Cheo and Minto, the Lakota, Moon Street, BristolMinto, the Lakota, Moon Street, Bristol
Minto keeps his work ticking over nicely with a fairly regular weekly/fortnightly contribution, and each and every piece is a cracker. Minto has a distinctive style and creative streak that makes for outstanding graffiti writing – character combinations and mash-ups.
Minto, M32 Cycle path, Bristol, April 2024
This piece, on the Cycle path behind the Black Swan, looks like a bit of a quick one and features trainers, something of a theme for the artist at the moment… that and camper vans – perhaps we can read into that a profile of his lifestyle. The letters, which spell out Minto, are nicely rounded off with a yellow and orange border. So good to have him back in Bristol.
The return of Minto to Bristol has, without doubt, been a highlight of the last six months as his unique graffiti writing style has significantly impacted on the already wide spectrum of styles on offer. Although Minto doesn’t follow a fixed formula, there is a lot that is distinctive about his work, in particular, it is often vertically quite compressed.
Minto, Cumberlan Basin, Bristol, April 2024
This dazzlingly colourful piece seems to have a trainer theme going on, with at least three trainers depicted in the MINTO lettering. There are also a couple of characters peering over the top of the letters, something that Minto builds into much of his work. This is a fine example of his work and an outstanding piece.
I mentioned a little while back in a Minto post that we were likely to see a lot more of his work, and indeed that is exactly the case. There is something quite unique in the way that Minto combines his letters with characters or scenes to build up a story, and this one is a very green story.
Minto, M32 roundabout, Bristol, February 2024
The letters spell out, unsurprisingly, the word MINTO, and contains three or four faces sort of organically melded into the letters. To the right, the end face reminds me of the faces on the trains and other vehicles in the Thomas the Tank Engine books, but maybe that is just me. This is a nicely thought out and painted piece from Minto.
There are some pieces that stick in the memory, for one reason or another, and this unusual piece by Minto is right up there, and to be fair, quite a lot of his pieces are memorable, because of his design ideas and concepts.
Minto, St Werburghs, Bristol, January 2024
The letters have an organic look to them, almost melting down the wall, like wax from a candle. Accompanying the letters are a couple of characters and a bird’s head. I don’t really know what it all means, but I’m not too sure I need to. The whole thing looks great and has a touch of class about it.
Hitting the slopes hard tomorrow, so heading to bed now (written last night)
I suggested recently that we would be seeing a lot more from Minto in Bristol, because I believe he has moved westwards from London, and so it seems to be, confirmed by another original and captivating piece on the M32 roundabout at the end of last year.
Minto, M32 roundabout, Bristol, December 2023
The letters MINTO are very well disguised in this piece of multiple characters, I can see at least four of them. There is plenty to look at in the piece, and the paint work is really classy, even Minto’s signature is classy. A really nice imaginative piece, and I expect to see a whole lot more from Minto in 2024.
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