Tag: No Frills

3605. M32 Cycle path (117)

This is a pairing that has been very productive in recent weeks and one that involves two artists with very different temperaments, Hemper and Turoe. What is clear is that both of these artists are uber-talented and capable of turning out writing in a plethora of different styles.

Hemper, M32 Cycle path, Bristol, April 2021
Hemper, M32 Cycle path, Bristol, April 2021

This collaboration is actually only one half of a slightly larger effort that included Veks and Benjimagnetic but somehow these two needed to be posted as one. The Hemper ‘HEMS’ is utterly outstanding and those shades from brown at the bottom to blue at the top are sensational. The letter style is nice and organic and has a kind of woodland/outdoorsy feel to it. So very good.

Turoe, M32 Cycle path, Bristol, April 2021
Turoe, M32 Cycle path, Bristol, April 2021

The Turoe piece in a richly scripted style, spelling out, unsurprisingly, SHYTE, is beautifully done in a yellow gold colour. There is something funny about the juxtaposition between the fancy script and crude word. A fine piece from Turoe. Together, these artists with contrasting efforts have absolutely smashed this wall.

Hemper and Turoe, M32 Cycle path, Bristol, April 2021
Hemper and Turoe, M32 Cycle path, Bristol, April 2021

3571. M32 roundabout J3 (293)

It can occasionally be very difficult to write a post, because one feels conflicted or compromised in some way, but I believe truth and integrity are values that are important to me and I have decided to write this post as I have done in my head several times over.

I met Turoe for the first time last week (not while painting this piece) and it was not a pleasant experience. He is surly and made it quite clear that he didn’t want to speak to me or engage in any way, preferring to mock me (and others interested in street art). I got the message pretty quickly so backed off and just took some pictures.

I considered not posting any more of his work, but felt this would be churlish, so in my mind I have separated the artist from his art. I am sure that the world is littered with bad-tempered, unpleasant but nonetheless very talented people and I just have to get over it. Thankfully pretty much everyone else I meet is polite and decent – doing this would be a whole load more difficult if they weren’t.

Turoe, M32 roundabout, Bristol, March 2021
Turoe, M32 roundabout, Bristol, March 2021

This piece is another in his series of Shyte Year pieces which he has continued with inserting the word ‘still’ in front of it on some pieces. This one in chrome is beautifully bordered with a sharp red line and set on a black and blue bubble backdrop. I wonder if he will keep this theme going after lockdown or whether he will revert entirely to writing Turoe. We’ll see.

M32 roundabout J3 (290)

Yesterday I posted a gallery of Hemper’s work, and if you’ve not stumbled across it, you can find it here. This is yet another beauty in a disaggregated style, a little bit like Benjimagnetic perhaps, up at the M32 roundabout. I would like to say it is his most recent piece, but I know of at least two more since this one was painted.

Hemper, M32 roundabout, Bristol, March 2021
Hemper, M32 roundabout, Bristol, March 2021

At first glance, and to the untrained eye, this might look like a bit of a chaotic mess. It is however a beautifully crafted HEMS in several colours, without a solid fill, but instead a hint at fills and outlines. I think that this is the kind of piece that a novice simply couldn’t create. Appearances can be deceptive.


3507. Dean Lane skate park (393)

Aah, the familiar and comforting letters spelling TES from Slim Pickings (as I call him) in Dean Lane. When all else around us is in utter chaos and flux, it is nice to have constants like this to ground us for a while, albeit a fleeting moment.

Slim Pickings, Dean Lane, Bristol, February 2021
Slim Pickings, Dean Lane, Bristol, February 2021

This is a big TES and very nicely done. Just two colours with a little bit of white 3D accent work demonstrate the confidence and skill of the artist. No need to embellish the work, although embellishment is always great too, don’t get me wrong. A strong and knowing piece.

3466. M32 Cycle path (105)

There are a great many artists in Bristol that I could label ‘old faithful’ and Biers is definitely one of them. His style is very recognisable with irregular letter sizes, but a ‘house-style’ font that is very much his own.

Biers, M32 Cycle path, Bristol, January 2021
Biers, M32 Cycle path, Bristol, January 2021

I was pleased to see this piece appear and the others with it because this wall had remained stagnant for far too long. In my view it is one of the best walls in Bristol, but the turnover tends to be quite low, and so anything new is always welcome. This is Biers at his best, clean and crisp with decent fills and nice white accents to create a 3D feel. classic Biers.

3443. Brunel Way bridge (85)

One of the most dramatic turnarounds on the Bristol graffiti art scene has to be the return of Turoe since his absence midway through last year which I think was due to ill health. He has been prolific since, most notably for his ‘Shyte Year’ series, condensing into two, or sometimes one word, 2020. This is a return to his Turoe writing.

Turoe, Brunel Way, Bristol, Jauary 2021
Turoe, Brunel Way, Bristol, Jauary 2021

Painted alongside some No Frills colleagues, this one is a real beauty in gold and red. It is a reasonably straightforward piece with a nice solid gold fill and striking red 3D shadows. There is a subtle white border, barely noticeable that lifts the whole thing. A very nice piece indeed.

3441. Dean Lane skate park (383)

Biers, Bags and a bed! Dean Lane sometimes plays host to the occasional fly-tipper, which I have to confess is a pet hate of mine. The kind of person who thinks that it is OK to simply throw their waste away in the street or on other people’s property are the scum of the earth. Inconsiderate and stupid, I have no time for them – rant over.

Biers, Dean Lane, Bristol, December 2020
Biers, Dean Lane, Bristol, December 2020

This is a rather colourful collaboration from No Frills stable mates Biers and Bags. On the left is a really beautifully worked BIERS split into three distinct horizontal frills with serrated edges, which must have taken a bit of time to do. The whole thing is bounded by a bright yellow 3D shadow.

Bags, Dean Lane, Bristol, December 2020
Bags, Dean Lane, Bristol, December 2020

The other half of the collaboration is by Bags who is completely under-represented on Natural Adventures. I don’t really know why that is, I have plenty of his pieces in my archives, but rarely post them – I might have to remedy that. Bags has gone for a diagonal split across his letters. The yellow half works really well, but the red half looks like he ran out of paint and the fill resembles that of a throw up, which is a pity. A nice collaboration on one of the best walls in Bristol.

3437. L Dub (21)

It would appear that lockdown impacts on different artists in different ways. Some will hunker-down, and they disappear from the scene for a while, others are liberated and seem to go crazy, hitting walls with refreshed vigour. Falling into the latter category is Slim Pickings (TES) who has been out and about a lot over the last month or so.

Slim Pickings, L Dub, Bristol, January 2021
Slim Pickings, L Dub, Bristol, January 2021

We know what to expect from Slim Pickings’ pieces – sharp crisp lines, reliably solid fills and unbounded 3D shading. It is all here with the addition of a couple of little white highlights. Great stuff. Looks like he might have had a small issue with his yellow paint, especially just to the right of the ‘S’. Good to see his work at L Dub.

3428. M32 cycle path (101)

Yet another in the series of Turoe pieces expressing the awful 2020 that now is thankfully behind us. I goofed when photographing this and forgot to take a picture of both words together. It says Shite Times, and confirms the experience that most of us had last year. (I shan’t get into the utter balls-up that Brexit always was going to be and alas is becoming – that’ll be a shite decade at least).

Turoe, M32 cycle path, Bristol, December 2020
Turoe, M32 cycle path, Bristol, December 2020

Another font style and some lovely creative touches like the clouds of colour along the bottom make this a classy piece. The letters are nice and clean in chrome with black highlights and the chrome works very nicely with the purple outline and background.

Turoe, M32 cycle path, Bristol, December 2020
Turoe, M32 cycle path, Bristol, December 2020

Turoe is definitely making up for lost time after a year during which ill health prevented him getting out from some time. I think we will look at these ‘Shite’ pieces as ones that define 2020 both for the artist and for the nation.

3423. Dean Lane skate park (379)

I think this is my favourite wall in Dean Lane and it has hosted so many outstanding pieces over the years. Some occupy the whole height and width of the wall, some just the lower or upper portions, some are solo pieces and some collaborations like this one from Slim Pickings and Biers.

Biers, Dean Lane, Bristol, January 2021
Biers, Dean Lane, Bristol, January 2021

On the left is some superb writing from Biers, which appears to spell out BIERY, which is a nice variant of his letters. I like the unruly nature of his writing where uniformity of letters goes out of the window. This is one of those collaborations that share a wall and colour convention.

Slim Pickings, Dean Lane, Bristol, January 2021
Slim Pickings, Dean Lane, Bristol, January 2021

To the right is the contribution from Slim Pickings whose TES doesn’t quite fit on the wall. The letters are big and bold and the black fill dominant. This is one of those collaborations that you cal look at and say ‘yes’!