Dun Sum is an artist I’d love to see more of in Central Bristol, but he tends to stick to his home territory of Lawrence Weston. Whether it is graffiti writing or his fantasy character pieces, he brings an originality which is hard to better.
Dun Sum, L Dub, Bristol, August 2024
This extraordinary piece of writing shimmers as if it were molten metal… an incredible effect. The letters spell out Dun Sum and are filled expertly. To me, this looks like the graffiti version of the Terminator character who can morph from solid to liquid. The downside to painting in L Dub is that footfall is incredibly light, and so few people will ever get to see this outstanding work.
Tanith Gould, Muriel Alleyway, Bristol, August 2024
Bristol’s smallest street art festival took place at the end of July, organised by Rtiiika, in Muriel Alleyway, Brislington. This is an alleyway which has a couple of dozen garages backed onto it as well as garden back walls, which make fabulous canvasses for street art and murals. The spot has has a few pieces painted along it in a fairly sporadic fashion, but this event ensured that many of the available well/garage spaces were painted. Most of the artists were part of the Bristol Mural Collective, including Tanith Gould, who has painted this exact wall previously.
Tanith Gould, Muriel Alleyway, Bristol, August 2024
I love Tanith Gould’s illustrative style, which includes, I guess, quite a lot of symbolism and meaning. She has virtually replicated the hands that were here before, but the surrounding decoration is rather different. There is something very calming about the piece, which I really like. Below is her earlier piece from July 2021, for comparison.
It is rare for new hoardings to remain unpainted or untagged in Bristol, and no sooner had these gone up around a new development site, than they were decorated with several throw ups including this fine anti-style graffiti writing and character combination piece by Taboo.
Taboo, Lower Ashley Road, Bristol, August 2024
Taboo has been reasonably quiet lately, so this piece came as a very welcome surprise. As you can see it is a birthday tribute piece to Ffion, and includes a cute portrait of Simba from the Lion King Disney film. The writing, which is really on-point, spells out TABOO, of which the lion cub makes up the first ‘O’. I love the pink inside the second ‘O’, adding just another layer of interest.
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 is rather a special piece from Whysayit, because it is unusual to see anything by him quite as big and bold as this one, and to see his work on a (partially) buffed background. The anti-style letters spell out YSAE (why say), which stand out really well.
Whysayit, New Stadium Road, Bristol, August 2024
Although nicely finished, there is something quite raw about this piece, especially in the translucency of the orange colour, a colour, along with yellow, that can (depending on the brand of paint) be rather thin. I don’t know if he was running out of paint, or whether it is a feature, but the tail of the letter ‘E’ is finished off in white, in throw up style zigzags. The letters are finished off with a rather nice 3D drop shadow in dark blue with vertical green stripes and a clean white border. A very nice example of Whysayit’s work.
This amazing portrait piece by Pekoe is simply perfect. It appeared shortly after the far right riots that flared up recently in the wake of the stabbing of three girls in Southport. I won’t share my thoughts on the riots here, but I suspect that my feelings are consistent with the vast majority.
Pekoe, M32 Cycle path, Bristol, August 2024
Pekoe has her own way of answering back at the far right thugs, by hitting them where it hurts, their ego, with a speech bubble that puts down fascism in a single blow, “hot girls hate fascists”. The words alone are enough, but she accompanies it with one of her fabulous portraits. The right piece in the right place at the right time. Bravo Pekoe.
Oh what a beauty from Dirtygypo in the tunnel. He has been writing all over the place with his characteristic letter style, but I am still no closer to having any idea what his letters spell out. The only way out of this particular conundrum is to bump in to the artist at some point and ask him.
Dirtygypo, St Werburghs, Bristol, August 2024
This is a really colourful piece with each letter element containing a different colour fill, and there is a special treat in the letter that looks like a reverse ‘t’ with a mosaic of colour shapes creating interest and variation. This, like his other pieces, is lively and vibrant and a very welcome contribution to the Bristol street/graffiti art scene.
I haven’t seen an awful lot from Pl8o for quite a while, so it was really great to come across this recent piece in Sparke Evans Park. There is something rather different about Pl8o’s work that helps it to stand out from the crowd, and I think that can be attributed in part to the aesthetically pleasing letters P L 8 O… it just kind of works.
Pl8o, Sparke Evans Park, Bristol, August 2024
This is a bit of a cheeky one featuring a character who makes up the letter ‘P’ and who happens to be doing a fart. This is quite a common theme with street art characters and usually provokes a chuckle or two. The point about this piece is that Pl8o draws attention to to the gaseous emission with the text “is it art, or is it fart”. Great fun and skilfully done.
L Dub (Lawrence Weston) is a funny old spot, really. It involves a 15-minute walk alongside the M5 motorway on a pathway which runs through a kind of brownfield site of scrub and thickets. The place is absolutely bursting with wildlife, which thrives in and around the drainage ditches, which I presume take excess water away from the motorway. It is interesting that these dilapidated ‘forgotten’ spots are often some of the most biodiverse in the country. The place is festooned with all sorts of interesting plants, dragonflies, beetles and butterflies,,, an unlikely nature hot spot.
It also plays host to a water pumping station which offers several walls for painting, and a pedestrian underpass which takes you under the motorway and some other roads and provides plenty of graffiti opportunities, for those that can be bothered to find the place. Acer One has recently painted a couple of pieces here, away from the crowds.
Acer One, L Dub, Bristol, August 2024
This is a complex piece, which demonstrates how his mind works (in his own words) and is also a little bit experimental. The letters spell out ACERONE, but are alternately coloured, so it starts with a dark blue A, followed by a gold C, then a blue E and so on. Fascinating stuff that can take a little while to work out and keeps those brain cells ticking over.
Natural adventures 