It feels like Daz Cat is pushing all sorts of boundaries at the moment and painting with a freedom in both style and content that is a pleasure to witness. There is a lot going on in this free-flowing story-telling piece in Greenbank.
Daz Cat, Greenbank, Bristol, July 2024
I can see a lady surrounded by purple/lilac cats, but the intriguing part of this piece is the two ‘robot’ arms that rather randomly seem to have landed in amongst them and are smoking from the arm sockets. There is a story which is skilfully illustrated, but it is a story belonging very much to the artist – as viewers we can only concoct our own stories. Great work from Daz Cat.
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.
Conrico has been super-busy lately both painting on the street, and in his studio. He has a fabulous imagination, and much of his art is influenced by the culture of the Far East, in particular Japan. I don’t know what the connection is, but it adds an exotic flavour to many of his pieces.
Conrico, Greenbank, Bristol, July 2024
This is quite an unusual portrait piece, that in contrast to what I have said in the previous paragraph, appears to be of a Central/South American person wearing face paint and with feathers in their hair. Once again, Conrico’s unique can-work gives the impression that the piece has been painted with brushes, and doesn’t have that ‘clinical tight finish that so much street art tends to have. More still to come from Conrico.
I love Conrico’s work. He has the most incredible capacity for telling stories through his art. Rarely is there a static portrait or lettering that does nothing more than look good. The other thing that I admire in his work is his spray style that looks more like brush strokes than spray – clever stuff indeed.
Conrico, M32 roundabout, Bristol, June 2024
This piece was painted during the paint jam to celebrate Wispa’s birthday (in absentia). I am guessing, but can’t be sure, that Conrico has painted a portrait of Wispa in honour of her birthday, which would make sense. He has included some writing, which I think might be Japanese, which I cannot read. A nice piece that is so typical of his unique style.
Ivan Tortajada, Upfest 2024, East Street, Bristol, May 2024
Ivan Tortajada is a Spanish artist from Valencia whose stylised portrait pieces are unusual and fantastical. You can only fully get a feel of his work by checking out his website, which I thoroughly recommend. In this Upfest piece, he has cleverly brought together two characters on perpendicular surfaces and incorporated the large caterpillar that has occupied this wall for as long as I can remember.
Ivan Tortajada, Upfest 2024, East Street, Bristol, May 2024
The portrait on the left is painted with warm colours in his highly illustrative style. The character appears to be glancing at the caterpillar and is holding a lighted match, I hope without malicious intentions.
Ivan Tortajada, Upfest 2024, East Street, Bristol, May 2024
The adjacent portrait is in colder blue colours is also looking on at the caterpillar and appears to be holding a disc that the bug is resting on. The portrait is beautifully worked with stripes of graded blues, and a touch of yellow where there is reflected light. This is a beguiling piece and one that so cleverly fits into the selected spot, working with the existing caterpillar, rather than against it.
We don’t get to see nearly enough of Jaksta’s caricature pieces in Bristol, so this one from a week or two back came as a bit of a welcome surprise. Based in Swindon, Jaksta makes a living from his art commissions, so his street work will be somewhat dictated by how busy he is, and he lives far enough away for his Bristol trips to only be occasional.
Jaksta, Cumberland Basin, Bristol, July 2024
This portrait piece is in keeping with a slight shift in his work from caricatures of famous people to interesting and dynamic portrait pieces like this one. The piece is cartoon in style, although I can see a transition, perhaps, away from the humorous to a more serious and photorealistic direction. There is a lot of detail in the piece, which leaps out from the wall as being something rather special. I hope we don’t have to wait too long to see more like this from Jaksta.
This is another wonderful paste-up from Abbie Laura Smith on one of the columns under Brunel Way. The portrait piece is an intricate ink-style piece in black and white, with words concealed in the girl’s hair and lips.
Abbie Laura Smith, Brunel Way, Bristol, May 2024
The piece has been pasted on a colourful column, creating great contrast and focus on the portrait. I have a feeling that this might be the last photograph I have from this recent batch of wheatpastes from Abbie Laura Smith, so I will be hoping that she has been prepping some more in the studio to release another batch soon.
This year, we haven’t really had to wait too long before being treated to a Laic217 piece on a reasonably regular basis, and this is one of his most recent works on the M32 cycle path. What Laic217 has presented us with here is a rather trippy, and slightly menacing (those black fingernails like talons) piece that plays into his penchant for face distortion.
Laic217, M32 Cycle path, Bristol, June 2024
Although the piece is nicely executed, I personally find it a little unsettling, which I am sure is the point. Laic217 will push the boundaries in a way that his art can. His solid, tight, block letters contrast really well with the unconventional character portrait. Not my favourite piece by Laic217, but a great example of the way he challenges us to see things.
Mind 49 and SPZero76, M32 roundabout, Bristol, June 2024
A couple of weeks back, there was a superb paint jam on the M32 roundabout. I am not sure if it was to celebrate something specific, or simply a whole bunch of artists enjoying a sunny day (what are those?), but whatever it was all about, it resulted in some cracking pieces, including this meeting of styles collaboration between Mind 49 and SPZero76.
Mind 49, M32 roundabout, Bristol, June 2024
Mind 49 has been smashing it with each new piece he produces. His portrait work, often from unusual angles and with faces partially obscured is painted in a soft photorealistic style, if that makes sense. The character in this particular piece is looking away, but immediately catching the eye is the addition of a large swallow flying by, utterly unexpected, and quite brilliant. This is a wonderfully conceived piece which segues nicely to something completely different via a multicoloured strip.
SPZero76, M32 roundabout, Bristol, June 2024
The two pieces have nothing in common at all, and SPZero76’s animated comic style is not something I would expect to see adjacent to Mind 49 soft-portrait style. The multicoloured strip is the only thing that unites them. The piece entitled ‘after the robot apocalypse’ features a dog? character and a feline robot toting large weapons, in some dystopian future setting. A wonderful and lively animation piece from a truly gifted artist.
Pekoe and Bnie, M32 roundabout, Bristol, June 2024
Of course, it is a terrible cliché, but when I see pieces like this that are both pretty and pink, I like to describe them as ‘pretty in pink’ stealing from the celebrated 1986 teen film, and then I get the earworm of the Psychedelic Furs and the song that the film was named after. This PIP collaboration is a peach from Pekoe and Bnie.
Pekoe, M32 roundabout, Bristol, June 2024
Pekoe has been mixing up her portraits and her writing recently, but I have to express my slight preference for her portraits, because, well, I just love them. The figurative piece is nice and clean, with solid fills and strong black lines, and there is something a little more stylised about the face, especially around the eyes. A classy piece of work.
Bnie, M32 roundabout, Bristol, June 2024
Bnie is so consistent in the quality of her work, and all the elements of these letters come together perfectly. The pink background provides a great canvass for the writing to stand out. The golden drop shadow adds depth to the beautifully designed and filled letters. A clever touch is the subtlest dark shading at the base of the letters, creating a bit of shadow and lifting the writing further. What a fine collaboration.
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