Taboo – Natural adventures

7773. Cumberland Basin

Taboo, Cumberland Basin, Bristol, June 2026

This is a brilliant piece of anti-style graffiti writing from Taboo, which demonstrates clearly how interconnected and varied the art world is. The piece is a touching tribute to David Hockney, whose own unconventional style won over the public’s imagination and whose legacy will forever influence artists worldwide.

Taboo’s unconventional green letters sit on a pink background, but it is the scene inside the second ‘O’ that steals the show. There is a little pastiche of a swimming pool and diving-board, a theme so familiar in many of Hockney’s paintings. Such a lovely idea and tribute to pay. Bravo!

7757. Dean Lane skate park (932)

I have recently been having a virtual conversation with Taboo, and it is great to have a bit more of a connection with the artist. Over the last couple of months, I have found a stack of old pieces by Taboo, and he has been painting quite regularly, so I have a lot of catching up to do with his work.

This is a perfect example of Taboo’s anti-style graffiti writing, and this might be a good time to offer a definition of what anti-style means:

A rebellious sub-genre that rejects traditional graffiti rules like legible letterforms, flow, and colour theory.

The pink letters here spell out TABOO, and, consistent with a lot of his writing, his letters have a midline running through them giving them a bit of a 3D lift. A nice piece that might be inaccessible to some, but is a fine work in my eyes.

7614. Cumberland Basin

Taboo, Cumberland Basin, Bristol, April 2026

I don’t tend to find as many new Taboo pieces as I used to, and that might be down to two factors. He might be painting less frequently, and/or maybe he isn’t painting the regular spots so often, and so I don’t come across his work as much. The upshot is that finding any pieces by the artist these days is a happy moment.

I have a feeling that this piece was painted as part of a birthday paint jam, I forget who for though. The red letters in anti-style form spell out TABOO in a combination of lettering and designs, with the second ‘O’ being formed of a jail window with eyes glaring from the dark space behind the bars. A fine piece from Taboo… I need to find more.

7267. Coronation Road

Rowdy, Ryder, Taboo, Sage and Solar, Coronation Road, Bristol, January 2025

I photographed this building way back in January, but never got round to posting it. I am doing so now, because there was a large fire at the site, a former metalworks, in early October. The building ceased to be in use in 2020, and became an obvious opportunity for graffiti, and several writers from around the city duly obliged. I don’t believe that this was any kind of overall collaboration, more an accumulation of pieces over time from Rowdy, Ryder, Taboo, Sage, Solar, and one other.

The top row (the former canteen of the building and most severely fire-damaged part – arson, by the way) is a combination collaboration from Ryder and Rowdy, both of whom are significant players on the graffiti scene in Bristol. Taboo’s dominant epic piece takes up the whole of the middle floor, and some smaller pieces from Sage, Solar (PLB) and Phase (?) occupy the ground floor. This is more of an interesting mosaic than anything else really – iconic in its own way, but now alas, ashes.

7226. Dean Lane skate park (873)

It would seem that Taboo doesn’t paint all that often these days, or at least, not in the places that I frequent. Dean Lane Hardcore (DLH) is an annual opportunity for street/graffiti artists to do their stuff in a one-day skate festival atmosphere, and I think that Taboo painted this and one other piece at this year’s DLH.

Wall space might have been a bit of a premium, who knows, but Taboo has instead painted the floor of the skate park – perhaps with a view to his work being more likely to appear in skate videos. Taboo’s letters are written back to front (nothing is straightforward with this artist) but rather more conventional than his typical anti-style pieces. Great to see his work after a while.

6750. Greenway Bush Lane (5)

Taboo, Greenway Bush Lane, Bristol, February 2025

It feels like an age since I last photographed anything by Taboo, but the fresh wall on Greenway Bush Lane, seems to be an inviting prospect for street/graffiti artists in the area. In this piece he has teamed up with another artist (I don’t know who) to create this very pink collaboration.

Taboo’s anti-style letters spell TABOO, with the irregular letters partially disguised, especially the ‘OO’, also the T and last O are painted in red paint and seem disjointed from the rest of the piece. His letters are characterised by a distinctive midline running through them, a technique used by a lot of anti-style writers.

At first, I thought the dragon (having a pint – and why not?) was part of a combination piece by Taboo, but on closer inspection realised it is in a very different style, and is using black rather than blue to pick out the detail. I can see the letters HB Nick, but unfortunately that doesn’t get me very far. A nice collaboration on this rather exciting wall.

6411. Dove Lane

Taboo, Dove Lane, Bristol, September 2024

A couple of weeks ago, before we drove our daughter to her new university adventure, I had to drop the dog off with a dog-sitter which took me to a part of town I don’t go to all that often. While I wouldn’t describe the area of Redfield as a graffiti/street art hotspot, there are a few pieces knocking about the place and it is always worth having a little explore. I got lucky and found this Taboo piece, which might have been there for some time, but it was a discovery for me nonetheless.

This is a fabulous anti-style graffiti writing/character combination piece that Taboo is so good at, full of innovation and charm as well as being a little bit surreal. The letters spell out TABOO, with the last ‘O’ represented by a bricky busily building a wall. This is a wonderful piece that demonstrates the rare and extraordinary talents of Taboo.

6375. Dean Lane skate park (752)

This post is a quick nostalgic trip down memory lane comprising three wonderful pieces painted in Dean Lane, photographed way back in May 2019, that inexplicably weren’t posted at the time. The first is by Dasco, whose short time in Bristol saw the production of several outstanding pieces, you can see his gallery here.

Taboo has long been a favourite on the pages of Natural Adventures, and here is an old one in monochrome, complete with skull and right ball. Nice stuff.

Somehow this fabulous Biers piece missed the boat back in 2019, and I guess it was in a sense it was a prediction of things to come. ‘Nigel Farage – snake oil’ it says, and it isn’t wrong. The Clacton MP still hasn’t set up office in his constituency since the election and hasn’t held a single surgery, but then I don’t think anyone in their right mind would have expected that from the uber-opportunist.

6288. Lower Ashley Road (9)

Taboo, Lower Ashley Road, Bristol, August 2024

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 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.

6025. M32 Cycle path (266)

Taboo, M32 cycle path, Bristol, May 2024

I had to return to this spot to get some decent photographs of this unusual piece by Taboo, as the first lot were covered in shadows, but that is how it works. I work on the principle of always taking pictures of a new piece, whatever the light conditions, because it could be tagged or overpainted within hours. If I get a second chance to take better pictures, then that is a bonus.

Taboo has had quite a quiet period over the last six months or so, so it was good to find this one on the Cycle path. In his unique antistyle graffiti writing, Taboo manages to combine his unusual letters with characters, in this case a kind of grinning pig. I suspect the pig reference relates to the police, because he has included the words “No good cops. (Sorry)” which I guess is a polite way of saying ACAB. Looking forward to seeing more from Taboo as the summer unfolds.

	cjsmissionaryministe… on Thursday Doors – 30 July…
	hitandrun1964 on Good morning
	hitandrun1964 on 7813. Quaker’s Art Lane (…
	beth on Good morning
	Bill Bisgood on 7812. Cumberland Basin

	Sheree on 7815. St Werburghs tunnel…
	Sheknowsallblog on Good morning
	scooj on 7812. Cumberland Basin
	scooj on 7812. Cumberland Basin
	scooj on 7812. Cumberland Basin

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this: