After his slightly controversial topless piece, entitled Norks, a few weeks back, Stivs has followed it up with this fantasy piece, only this time the character has a hint of clothing in an effort to avoid the piece being scribbled over.
Stivs, M32 roundabout, Bristol, September 2024
Whilst this piece won’t be everyone’s cup of tea, it clearly demonstrates Stivs’ talent as a cartoon character artist as well as the best Calligraffiti artist in Bristol. I was lucky enough to catch up with him, and Corupt, as he was finishing off the piece, adding touches to the writing with such ease and complete competence. Another great piece by Stivs.
Stivs is something of an enigma, you never really know quite what you are going to see from him next. He is both an accomplished portrait and scene artist, as well as an exceptional calligraffiti writer. In this piece, he has created a wonderful cartoon book style portrait.
Stivs, M32 roundabout, Bristol, August 2024
I took this photograph on my second trip to the wall, because the sun wasn’t quite right on my first visit. Unfortunately, by the time I returned, YSAE and Solar (one of them) had tagged it. At least they were respectful enough not to go over the portrait itself. The piece is called (I presume) ‘moody boys start wars’.
Stivs, M32 roundabout, Bristol, August 2024
The artwork itself is exceptional, and it is one of the best renditions of comic-book style artistry I have seen, and at scale too. I have included a photograph I took on my first visit, which has no tags, but bright vertical strips of light where the sun has caught the wall and corresponding shadows. Phenomenal stuff from Stivs.
This amazing combination piece by Stivs is something of a rarity in Bristol, and indeed in many towns and cities in the UK. I have mentioned it before that nudity, realistic or cartoon, tends to be avoided by most artists, which I find a bit strange, because the ‘edge’ that is associated with graffiti culture appears to be ‘missing in action’ in this respect. I think that there are probably two main reasons that we don’t see nude art on our streets; the first is that most street artists probably find it slightly embarrassing territory, the British reserve coming into play. Contrast that however with any art gallery where nudes are mainstream.
The second, and rather more practical reason is that nudes are almost instantly dogged by the ‘sensibility police’, who perceive that they are doing the wider public a service – personally I find that utterly bonkers, but it always happens, and nude pieces don’t last long in their original form. It took only a couple of days before this piece was daubed with black paint over the breasts. A more creative and skilled ‘protestor’ might have painted a bra or top, adding to the humour of the situation, but no… just cross it out with rage and anger.
Stivs, M32 roundabout, Bristol, July 2024
‘Norks’ is slang for breasts and in this cartoon character, Stivs has opted for cheeky exaggeration. The character reminds me very much of those ‘saucy’ holiday postcards that filled the racks in trinket shops in seaside resorts up and down the country during the 1960s and 70s. These days, such things are no longer the norm, and definitely speak of a bygone era.
Stivs, M32 roundabout, Bristol, July 2024
While some may find this combination piece by Stivs offensive, I do not. I like it and celebrate the boldness, taking us to a place that is both uneasy and challenging. Stivs’ artwork is outstanding, and this piece will be remembered for its difference from the mainstream – all part of the very rich diversity of the Bristol street art scene. If nothing else, the piece raised a few eyebrows.
Stivs has utterly smashed it with this outstanding writing/character combination piece, which was painted alongside a Kosc piece (featured a few days ago) on the long wall at Sparke Evans Park. Stivs is an artist of many talents, and although he in well known predominantly for his calligraffiti, he isn’t half bad at painting characters, as this piece demonstrates.
Stivs, Sparke Evans Park, Bristol, May 2024
Although he is a bit of a ‘potty-mouth’, this piece reads ‘FUK PIG’, he dresses the letters up so beautifully, that it kind of creates a profanity filter of sorts. The cartoon-style character, probably lifted from a film or cartoon series, is beautifully presented and makes you wonder why he doesn’t paint characters more often. Together with the Kosc piece, this is one half of a very fine collaboration.
So here we have, in this piece from Stivs, the coming together of outstanding writing style with subversion. Every time I look at this piece, which is kind of two pieces joined together, I begin to wonder whether Stivs has issues… he certainly seems to be letting it all out in his work at the moment, and there is an almost obsessive trait appearing on this wall.
Stivs, St Werburghs, Bristol, May 2024
As well as his customary calligraffiti, beautifully produced here, Stivs reminds us that he is a very talented character artist as well. The demonic character is depicted in shades of purple, and contains a lot of detailing. Of course, the elephant in the room is the outrageously sweary backdrops. I would suggest that we could name this as Stivs’ ‘blue period’.
Here we have some more calligraffiti writing from Stivs, who appears to have had a bit of a rebirth lately and is painting furiously all over the place. I use the word ‘furiously’ deliberately because the words he is choosing to write recently are on the bluer end of the scale and play into the passive-aggressive arena, contrasting the beautiful writing with the potty mouth language.
Stivs, M32 roundabout, Bristol, May 2024
I believe this piece says KLAPE or KLAPY, which I think is just another way of saying CRAP, although I might be mistaken. The writing is, as ever, very neat and tidy, and has a sparkle about it, helped along with the little starbursts at the top of each letter. Much more to come from Stivs, and I am struggling to keep up as it is.
I don’t know who or what CLANCY is, but it makes for some fabulous calligraffiti by Stivs, who has been having something of a purple patch this spring. The colours that Stivs has chosen for this piece are rather regal and opulent, but also a little garish in a fairground kind of way, if that makes sense.
Stivs, Cumberland Basin, Bristol, April 2024
As ever his letters are beautifully crafted and have that regularity and discipline required for calligraffiti. There are three tones of purple used in the letters, each in the same orientation to create depth and a 3D effect, and this is offset by the yellow tones, looking like gold, for the drop shadow. This is a highly accomplished piece of writing from a master of the craft.
Profanity alert! It is a long held tradition for graffiti writing to be edgy, either in location, style or content, and sometimes writing profanities disguised or otherwise is part of that attitude, without which street and graffiti art would be nothing. Some of the earliest graffiti from Roman times was essentially cock and balls doodles in public spaces.
Stivs, M32 roundabout, Bristol, March 2024
Stivs presents us with the word ‘FUCK’ styled with his exquisite calligraffiti writing that brings a bitter-sweet challenge. Great colours that smack you in the face and beautifully finished, this is graffiti art at its subversive best.
The turnout for Ryder’s paint jam in the tunnel at the end of February was impressive, so much so, that I am way behind with posting many of the pieces, and some will inevitably get left behind in my archive. I felt it important to post this beauty from Stivs though, as it is a really great piece of calligraffiti writing.
Stivs, St Werburghs, Bristol, February 2024
This piece reverts to Stivs’ former letters which spell ‘KRAP’ or some variant of it. What is nice about this piece is that he has matched the colours with the Inkie piece from the same paint jam, which I posted a little while back. Set on a starry background, this is yet another classy piece from Stivs.
It was great to catch up with Stivs while he was painting this piece, and it gave me the opportunity to tell him how much I admired his incredible technical skills with creating these amazing calligraffiti letters. Stivs has made a deliberate choice to move back to writing words he used to write before writing Stivs, namely the word KRAP and variants of it. In this case he has written KRAPSTER.
Stivs, M32 roundabout, Bristol, February 2024
The letters are not only beautifully crafted and proportioned, but they also incorporate four shades of yellow, one for each elevation, which together create the appearance of gold letters and a three-dimensional effect. The letters are set on a contrasting matrix of pink lines and squiggles, which rounds off the whole production nicely. Great piece by Stivs.
Natural adventures 