I watched Zake as he was preparing for this piece, but, having not met him and not knowing what he looked like, I didn’t stop long enough to make introductions. Added to which he was teaching a friend how to use spray paints and I didn’t want to interfere, especially as I think it was the first time she had ever held a spray can.
Zake, St Werburghs, Bristol, May 2020
The final piece is fabulous and not unlike one that he painted at the other end of the tunnel back in November last year. The rather unusual face has a hand sprouting from the cheek, giving the whole thing a slightly more animated feel than a face on its own. I always love to see Zake’s work, and to have almost met him was an added bonus.
I managed to get out yesterday and found a few new pieces around the place, and it would seem that with some social distancing rules being relaxed artists are beginning to slowly return to walls. In the meantime, I still have a few archive pieces lined up for publication, including this fine collaboration fron Dasco and Wiflywin.
Dasco, St Werburghs, Bristol, November 2019
On the left is a nice piece of writing from Dasco. Confident and assured the fills are great and the stripy barcode effect on the 3D lettering has worked well in this instance, which is not always an easy thing to do. Set on an orange brick wall, the piece segues nicely into the wiflywin piece to the right.
Wiflywin, St Werburghs, Bristol, November 2019
Wiflywin continues the writing using a similar colour palette and the barcoded 3D letter shading, but perhaps with just a little less confidence. I am not quite sure what the letters spell out, and I will have to get to know more about the artist.
Dasco and Wiflywin, St Werburghs, Bristol, November 2019
On the right is a smashed up police car and I am uncertain whether one or the other or both artists painted it. Perhaps there was another artist involved, I am not sure, but I rather like it, and it works really well as a ‘character’ bookend to the graffiti writing. I’m not sure why I never posted this in November last year when I first photographed it.
UPDATE – On 30 May I met Wiflywin for the first time and asked him about this, he told me that he painted the police car… problem solved.
The biggest mystery to me during this rather self-indulgent trip into my street art archives imposed by the coronavirus pandmic lock down is that I find it quite hard to understand why so many great pieces got left behind on the ‘cutting room floor’, like this beauty from Elvs.
Elvs, St Werburghs, Bristol, March 2017
Painted back in March 2017 this wonderful piece of wildstyle writing incorporates an addition of a skull and intriguingly some Japanese-looking script in yellow and pink running through the ELVS lettering. I know that several pieces by Elvs incorporate some Japanese lettering, but I don’t know why… I’ll have to ask him next time I see him (which could be some considerable time). A classy piece from this exceptional artist.
Thanks to lock down, I am sharing this throwback piece from 2017 in St Werburghs tunnel by Fiva. His style is clean bold and instantly recognisable. Large letters with a character face in a cartoon style looking on.
Fiva, St Werburghs, Bristol, March 2017
It is so easy to like Fiva’s work, it has a lighthearted feel to it and somehow it always feels very welcoming and accessible. I’m not sure if that makes any sense to you, but it does to me. It is great to have the space to unearth this one from the archive.
This beautifully proportioned REZER from Rezwonk was painted alongside frequent painting buddy Nightwayss in St Werburghs tunnel about two or three weeks ago. Crikey, so much has happened since then, it is unimaginable.
Rezwonk, St Werburghs, Bristol, March 2020
Like so many of the talented street artists in Bristol, Rezwonk’s work is always on point, and even his throw ups have a touch of class to them. The overall design is great and looking closely at the letters it looks like the ER at the end might have been switched to RE or even something else. I expect there will be a creative outburst when all this is finally over.
This is the second piece recently painted by Rapt in St Werburghs tunnel of at least three I know about from March. The Newport artist paits alongside Elvs and his style is characterised by the upside down T and the very clear lettering.
Rapt, St Werburghs, Bristol, March 2020
All the basic elements of a developing writer are here, a nice design, imaginative background, nice fills with some creativity. I look forward to seeing the artist develop all of these skills. I believe alcohol might have been involved in the general concept of the piece.
This epic piece probably signals the last for a while from Bristol-based artist Fiva. Clearly Covid-19 related, the two breakout pieces of text spell out:
“Stay safe” and “look after your gran”
There has been a lot of this kind of language spoken and written in recent weeks and this I think captures the state of national compassion exhibited by the vast majoity of people with dissenting arseholes remaining silent or out of sight.
Fiva, St Werburghs, Bristol, March 2020
As with the previous post, less is definitely more although this less is also more, making it more less is more. This is the second epic piece by Fiva in recent months and I have a feeling that this one might last rather longer than the last one.
Fiva, St Werburghs, Bristol, March 2020
There is little that Fiva can do wrong in my eyes and I find this a thrilling and brave piece. A nice touch is the grey shadows just to the right of each letter giving the whole thing a bit of a lift. This piece oozes class and I love it.
