A gallery of outstanding graffiti writing and character pieces from Bristol’s Taboo
All photographs by Scooj
Taboo
Tag: Street art
3722. Sparke Evans Park (6)
This beautiful piece of calligraphic writing is from Todoaciem and a part of a large collaborative wall from an HMR crew paint jam a few weeks back. I have already posted the Dabuten Tronko piece from the same wall, and now it is the turn of Todoaciem.
The wall itself can be problematic to photograph, because the sun shines through large trees, creating a dappled effect. The only solution is to come early in the morning or on an overcast day, but beggars can’t be choosers, so dappled pictures is what I have.
Set on a green smokey background, which is amplified by the light quality, Todoaciem has written the letters CIEM in the most beautiful font and with a heraldic colour palette. If medieval knights did graffiti, perhaps this is what it would look like. A hugely accomplished and brilliant piece of writing.
3721. St Werburghs tunnel (241)
It would seem that with a little encouragement from Daz Cat, CD.TC has managed to get out and paint a little in the last few weeks, which is great to see, and here the two combine in this rather nice collaboration in the middle of the tunnel.
On the left CD.TC’s monster character is spraying upwards to creat the letters CD.TC and on the right a Daz Cat is dipping a piece of pizza into a can of something with GYS on the side. The cat has two left arms, don’t ask me why. I don’t know what GYS stands for in this piece, but a quick Google search revealed it can mean ‘Get your stuff’ or ‘get you some’ or ‘graveyard shift’. You can decide for yourself what you think it might mean in this context. A nice low-key collaboration.
3720.Dean Lane skate park (419)
It would seem that Laic217 has found some rhythm to his street work and is painting more regularly no than he was for much of the winter. This portrait of a rather gaunt character is tucked away on the swimming pool wall at Dean Lane, and is modest by Laic217’s standards.
There are some familiar elements in this character piece, but it does seem to mark a departure from skulls and skeletons continuing from his last Dean Lane character. Smoking and an exaggerated mouth gives this character a bit of a menacing look. All good stuff though.
3719. North Street
This is the sixth and final part of the Six Sisters project in North Street, a series of six huge facade murals by six female Bristol artists, organised by Upfest. This final part of the series is by Alex Lucas, who has featured in Natural Adventures numerous times, and a gallery of her work can be found here.
This piece is an absolute beauty and brings the series to a great crescendo. Alex Lucas brings her illustration skills to the fore with these three poodles and a pug? In amongst some beautiful flowers and clouds. The vibrancy of the colours was enhanced by the gorgeous weather on the day I took these pictures.
The poodles (not my favourite breed if I am honest) are full of life and movement with suitably daft expressions on their faces. They are frolicking amongst the clouds and amazing yellow flowers. The whole thing resembles fancy bespoke wallpaper.
When Gemma Compton completed the first of these murals above the Upfest shop in June 2016, I don’t think anyone could have foreseen what a wonder this row of shops would become five years later. Bravo to all the artists and hats off to Upfest for giving the city this amazing landmark.
My posts for the six sisters are listed below:
2. Zoe Power
3. Bex Glover
4. Sophie Long
5. Ejits
6. Alex Lucas
3718. Muriel Alleyway (3)
The message from Rtiiika here is very clear ‘stop telling women to smile’. I must confess to being a little bit puzzled by the sentence. I like to think that I am reasonably well acquainted with issues of gender inequality, and sensitive to the political and societal pressures, but I don’t really understand this message. It might be something that I am unaware of, and if so need to understand better.
The artwork is wonderful and adopts the characteristic long thin lines that Rtiiika uses in her work, this time in the form of her letters. The piece is capped off with a smiley in the centre in the colour of the original we are all so familiar with. There is a juxtaposition between this smiley and the message of the piece. I like the concept of messaging like this and wonder if she will do more of it.
3717. Dean Lane skate park (418)
Although we don’t see too much of Hire these days, what we do see is of the highest quality. I am really enjoying Hire’s relatively recent reinvention pieces like this one in which he writes the word ODIAH
This beautifully presented piece incorporates some of the jagged elements of Hire’s customary style but softens them into a rather more conventional writing style. The colours are nicely selected and the grading of fill from light to dark is masterful. A really nice piece.
3716. M32 Spot (114)
One of the particularly nice things about this column piece from CD.TC is that I was able to watch the artist at work, meeting him for the first time in the process. Although, by his own admission, he is not the most productive of Bristol’s artists, his pieces are memorable and tend to have quite a long lifespan which might be attributed to the spots he chooses to paint.
This double monster face piece works perfectly on the column and shows off the artists talents to perfection. His work is usually neat and tidy and in some way quite compelling to look at. He has done himself a lot of favours by prepping the wall nicely before commencing with this piece.
CD.TC painted this alongside Daz Cat, a painting pal, whose piece I posted a week or two back. In terms of style (rather than content) I would liken CD.TC’s work to Conrico’s in that both have a bit of a paintbrush style to their work. That might not be very clear, but I think I know what I mean. Expect this one to be around for a while.
3715. M32 roundabout J3 (323)
What a delightful surprise it was to come across this unheralded piece from Haka on the M32 roundabout. Haka is one of those artists who very much does his own thing in his own way, and pretty much every piece is a tribute to his friend CK One, which is really touching.
This particular vibrant and wild portrait is, according to Haka’s own Instagram feed, a self-portrait. Having never met the artist, I can’t vouch for its accuracy, but I haven’t seen anyone looking like this in the Bristol area before. Great fun piece.
3714. M32 roundabout J3 (322)
An outstanding calligrapher who is possibly a little underrepresented in Natural Adventures is Stivs. This beautiful piece of calligraphic writing from not too long ago so perfectly demonstrates his extraordinary ability to paint such beautifully formed letters.
The whole shape and size of this piece is really most aesthetically pleasing and easy on the eye. The writing which spells STIVS is elaborate and complex, but in the hands of the artist is expertly executed. Note to self – time for a Stivs gallery?
