Although not a frequent painter, Ments is quite regular, so one’s year is nicely sprinkled with these fine organic pieces. This one was painted as part of a three-way collaboration, including Sled One and Smak from a couple of weeks ago.
Ments, Brunel Way, Bristol, February 2021
Ments has adapted his style a fair bit over the past year and although still organic and irregular in structure he has moved to a more fluid and metallic look and feel. His pieces are a thing of abstract beauty, and still spell out MENTS. The white triangle reminds me a little of a Voyder piece in London from a few years back. All good.
This is the second piece I have posted by Smoke Perfume, and it is painted slap bang over his previous piece on this wall which I posted here a few days ago. I was fortunate enough to run across him as he was about half-way through his work.
Smoke Perfume, M32 roundabout, Bristol, January 2021
There is something rather nice about getting work in progress (WIP) shots, because it gives you an insight into how the artists go about building up their work. Even though I have been trying to teach myself to spray paint, I still find the process counter-intuitive, but that probably stems from the fact that I have no training in art or design whatsoever.
Smoke Perfume, M32 roundabout, Bristol, February 2021
I am not too sure what the letters spell out, but I am pretty certain it is neither Smoke nor Perfume. Rather like the Serm piece next to it, the organic purple and yellow lettering is embellished with white smoky flames. I’ll be on the look-out for more from Smoke Perfume.
I often use the word ‘modest’ when describing Hemper’s work, but I use it in the sense that he turns up and paints with the minimum of bluster. His graffiti writing is always outstanding and often very showy, like this one, but somehow he just gets on with it and keeps a low profile. That he doesn’t have an Instagram account probably reinforces my perception of his modesty.
Hemper, M32 cycle path, Bristol, February 2021
This is a special piece, painted next to and at the same time as a Benjimagnetic BEN that I posted a few days ago. Each letter is discrete in colour and decoration, but there is a stylistic flow that carries through from left to right. The letters spell out HEMS and splash this wall with colour and joy. This is high-end graffiti writing at its beat.
I mentioned recently that the turnover on certain walls in Bristol is accelerating and that there is a bit of a squeeze on available wall space largely due to gentrification. As a result, wonderful pieces like this one, part of a larger collaboration, by 3Dom and Feek just don’t last as long as they deserve to. I was lucky to have photographed this when I did, because it got over painted within a few days.
3Dom and Feek, Brunel Way, Bristol, February 2021
The split face, part monster part smiley, bearing a devilish halo is by 3Dom and is a seriously classy piece. The artwork is fantastic and the incredible details expertly painted. I particularly like the sparkling tooth.
Feek, Brunel Way, Bristol, February 2021
On the monster’s outstretched hand is a Humpty Dumpty character with an axe and wearing a Mad Hatter’s tea party hat and with what I presume is an Alice character eating cake. Could the whole thing be a Lewis Carroll-inspired crazy surreal Alice and Jabberwocky scene? No matter what it is, the artwork and skill displayed by both artists is a real treat to behold.
I am aware that this humorous sunflower piece by Zake has been around for quite a while, but it has been quite a while since I last visited Purdown and this was my first chance to photograph it.
Zake, Purdown Battery, Bristol February 2021
Stretching across adjacent walls in a corner these two happy sunflowers are whistling away with a carefree mood about them that seems to be so absent in this time of prolonged lockdown. It will pass and these sunflowers are a reminder of a brighter time ahead when we can return to being human and embracing our friends and family. Thank you Zake for keeping my spirits up.
Over the last six months we have been fortunate enough in Bristol to witness some absolutely world-class street art and graffiti writing and it is something of a privilege to see, but the highlight of that period for me has been the emergence of a new generation of artists, at the start of their journey, full of the vigour and hope. Some will dabble and then fall by the wayside, others will hit the scene hard and progress and develop over time into firm regulars, others will develop into established and top drawer artists. I am enjoying that emergence of talent, it all starts somewhere, and Big Hev is one of those that makes what I do so worthwhile.
Big Hev, M32 cycle path, Bristol, January 2021
Although her work is quite naive, there is a definite style that is hers and hers alone. The portraits are brightly coloured and the lips full and eyes large. Big Hev already has a good understanding of shading and the contours of the face are blended really nicely with layers of three colours of blue bringing out the features. This is going to be a hugely enjoyable journey as we watch it unfold.
An oasis of colour in a desert of thick wet mud, and thank goodness for it, because the dog and I got filthy… if there hadn’t been any decent pieces on the battery walls I think I’d have been well miffed. But decent pieces there were and this one was a truly wonderful surprise from Hanski, who has recently hit the Bristol scene running.
Hanski, Purdown Battery, Bristol, February 2021
With two Universities in Bristol, we have quite a large number of art students in the City, and some of them like to Chuck paint at walls… Hanski is one of them. Hanski’s work is like Cubism meets the 1980s, with tons of bright and bold colours and disaggregated features reassembled to create a new face. I am so much looking forward to a whole lot more from Hanski.
There are times when you have to just sit down and absorb a piece, to enjoy it to the maximum, and marvel at its splendour. This amazing piece by Sled One is one of those, and I don’t think that anything I write will actually add anything to the majesty of this work.
Sled One, Brunel Way, Bristol, February 2021
The regal character, part of a wider collaboration set on a pink background, is as unsettling as it is crazy. A lizard-like queen with a full set of pearls (is it Queen Victoria?) is holding a sceptre which looks like it has a fly on the end.
Sled One, Brunel Way, Bristol, February 2021
The surreal piece might be political commentary, or it might not, with Sled One it is customary to not really know what is going on. Accepting that there is a great story there somewhere is probably enough and we all have to let our imaginations run wild. I love this a lot.
As gentrification marches on apace, there is a bit of a squeeze on the number of walls that artists can paint, and in North Bristol this is has been exacerbated by the loss of The Bearpit, which has become an inert, dead urban space that people pass through. Utilitarian and functional, but perceived to be safe, and the homeless people have been moved on to be homeless somewhere else. I have a feeling that the discredited Rudi Giuliani, who was praised at the time, moved the ‘bums’ out of Manhattan, without actually addressing the issue of homelessness. Perception is everything for politicians. Smoke and mirrors.
The point I was clumsily trying to make is that the M32 Cycle path is unlikely to be developed any time soon and has become more popular than ever for street artists and graffiti writers, whit a much higher turnover than a few years ago.
Benjimagnetic, M32 cycle pth, Bristol, February 2021
This is a very nice piece by Benjimagnetic, which has replaced a rather ordinary throw up that had trashed the Halloween piece from Smak last year. Benjimagnetic has been turning out pieces with alarming regularity lately and I am struggling to keep up with posting them, but at least I can now read them (I think) because mostly they say BEN. Always good to find a new Benjimagnetic piece.
It is all too easy to get trapped into visiting the places that you are familiar with and I have been guilty of not exploring too much around Bristol for about a year, for fairly obvious reasons. Every now and again though I have ventured into new territories, often on the back of seeing something on Instagram and setting off to find it. This wonderful piece by Dabuten Tronko is an artefact of one such mission, an added bonus, if you like.
Dabuten Tronko, Felix Road, Bristol, February 2021
Although this piece was painted in 2019 it takes me back to the first pieces of his that I saw back in 2017, when his work had a strong theme of wooden rowing boats. Don’t ask me why, I mean who’d ever have thought they would be the subject of street art, but in the more than capable hands of Dabuten Tronko they have an intrinsic beauty and interest. He seems to favour the deconstruction of these little boats as much as intact versions.
This is an expertly painted piece, with amazing colours and superb definition between the subject and background. So happy to have discovered it, albeit rather late in the day.
