What a wonderfully playful and cheeky piece by Evey alongside the M32. This is the second time I have seen her use this device of replacing the ‘V’ in EVEN with a saucy bottom, and I have to say I rather like it. If anything, I would say that the Bristol street art scene is quite earnest (and sometimes up its own backside), so it is great to see a bit of seaside postcard humour being injected from time to time.
Evey, M32 Cycle path, Bristol, March 2024
The letters are nicely presented in what looks a bit like a neon display sign – one could almost imagine this piece hanging over the door of a seedy nightclub in a red-light district. It is refreshing and imaginative, and yet another great piece in a string of excellent work from thee prolific Evey.
Rozalita returns! This is exceptional news. After a long lay-off, in part down to travelling, during which time I wondered whether she might abandon her street art altogether, she has returned in style, with several pieces in short succession. This is how to announce your return. In another name change (from Rosalita to Rozalita (Rhozi) to Rozilitaa) she has hit the ground running with a bolder presence, and a sense of confidence that hasn’t always been obvious from her work.
Rozalita, Greenbank, Bristol, March 2024
This portrait piece, I believe of Frida Kahlo, is bursting with passion, where the determination and status of the subject, looking skywards, is beautifully presented. The white border accentuates the pose and creates an aura that is augmented by the burst of energy of flowers and decoration in the background. Without the border, the piece could be at risk of being busy, but its presence is masterful. This is brilliant in my view, and what a way to make a comeback. I bloody love this piece!
This is the last of the pieces by Roo from a recent visit she and SkyHigh made to Bristol earlier in the month. The beautiful scene features a happy bumblebee over Bristol, with the Clifton Suspension bridge in the background. I managed to take the photograph, on a gorgeous day (what are these?) in a way that incorporated the real Clifton Suspension bridge behind the Environment Agency structure.
Roo’s style, as I have mentioned before is always cheerful, whatever the subject, and a welcome antidote to all the challenges and troubles of everyday life. No matter how crap you might be feeling, finding one of her pieces is guaranteed to cheer you up and offer a different perspective on things. We all need this reminder and what better way to deliver it than through the medium of street art. Thank you Roo.
We don’t get to see Turoe’s work all that often these days, so when a new piece does appear it is always worth celebrating. This beauty was painted with his friends Hemper and Hypo on the M32 roundabout at the beginning of the month.
Turoe, M32 roundasbout, Bristol, March 2024
Turoe has painted his letters in old school style, filled with subtle colours and patches, but it is the drop shadow that makes the piece. The very deep shadow extends to the floor in a soft pink with black borders, and is very nicely executed. Shadows like this are quite unusual, but very effective, and I am a little surprised we don’t see it more often. A nice reminder of the exceptional talent of Truro.
Jest Soubriquet, St Werburghs, Bristol, February 2024
I am not sure whether this wonderful portrait piece by Jest Soubriquet was painted as part of Ryder’s RAW paint jam, or was simply painted at the same time (update – it was painted as part of the paint jam). Either way, it brightened up my day, because it is always a bit of a thrill to see new or visiting artists enjoying their passion in Bristol.
Jest Soubriquet, St Werburghs, Bristol, February 2024
By the look of it Jest dropped a couple of pieces in Bristol while visiting, but I have struggled to find out where he is based. The portrait piece in the tunnel is beautifully painted and unusual in its incorporation of striking colours, which, whilst disruptive, somehow manage to carve out the features and depth in the face. Very clever stuff. It would be nice to think that Jest will return to Bristol and decorate a few more walls for us.
The ‘gallery’ in Elton Street, on the side of the Lost Horizons Arts Centre, is always worth a look. There are five or six framed boards raised above the street (ladders required for the artists), curated by the Arts Centre, and which are rarely, if ever, tagged or overpainted. This board, on the end of the building has been painted by Used Pencil, a Bristol artist whose work I have only once seen before at Upfest 2022.
UsedPencil, Elton Street, Bristol, February 2024
This piece is painted with a combination of spray paint and brushes, which helps to give it that texture and detail, and you can find a video of its creation on Used Pencil’s Instagram feed. It is a piece that is easy on the eye and has a kind of mystical feel to it. Although the style is recognisable from his Upfest piece, the subject matter is quite different.
I think it’s safe to say he’s back. Slakarts has been knocking out a few pieces lately, perhaps making up for lost time over the last couple of years, during which he has been reasonably quiet. With this quick one, he is maintaining his ‘mega-tag’ presence, reminding us that he is out and about.
Slakarts, M32 roundabout, Bristol February 2024
Slakarts hasn’t buffed the wall for this piece, and ordinarily that might lead to it being a little bit lost, but his colour selection and precise spray can work are strong enough to help it stand out over the mess. More to come from the resurgent Slakarts soon.
Over the last few months Werm has calmed his pieces a little, from the highly complex and technically brilliant pieces into something slightly easier on the eye, and this piece, for me, represents a mature approach from an artist who doesn’t need to impress any more, but rather, can concentrate on creating a thing of beauty.
Werm, Greenbank, Bristol, February 2024
The colour palette for this piece seems to work really well, and Werm has blended the fill colours expertly. The orange border and accompaniments augment the writing perfectly, the test of which is to imagine the piece without that splash of colour, rendering it greatly diminished. I like and welcome this new direction from Werm, and greatly admire this piece.
With this piece in St Werburghs tunnel, Inkie demonstrates his versatility, and shows that he can paint way outside his ‘house’ style that is so familiar to folk in Bristol. This piece was painted during the incredibly well attended February paint jam organised by Ryder.
Inkie, St Werburghs, Bristol, February 2024
Inkie has painted something of a tribute to Galaxian, a computer game from 1979 that could be found in pretty much every pub or arcade in the early 1980s usually alongside Asteroids. The INKIE letters have been painted in the Galaxian brand style, and he has included rows of spaceships in formation. This is a wonderfully painted piece of ’80s nostalgia, which would have resonated with most of the other artists who participated in the paint jam.
The day I originally photographed this wonderful piece by Kid Crayon was very wet indeed, and although most days have been wet this winter/spring, that day was particularly wet. I mention this because, unfortunately, my original set of photographs were blurred with a spot of rain on the lens. Of course, by the time I returned to get more pictures, the piece had been tagged, so this post has a blurred untagged image and a crisp tagged one. It can be difficult to win at this game sometimes.
Kid Crayon, Dean Lane, Bristol, March 2024
Kid Crayon has been out a couple of times recently, and it is great to see, I certainly miss his work during the long gaps of street inactivity. In recent years, his work mainly consists of a letters/character combination and with this piece he doesn’t disappoint. The letters are painted in modest colour tones, and the ‘seams’ ‘bolted’ together with ‘rivets’, a writing technique used by other artists in Bristol.
Kid Crayon, Dean Lane, Bristol, March 2024
The character face is the star of the piece in my eyes an harks back to Kid Crayon’s early wheatpaste faces that got me curious about street art in Bristol in the first place, back in 2015. The trademark crayon is present, floating in front of the character’s face – who needs a signature and letters spelling out your name when you only have to include a floating crayon?
Kid Crayon, Dean Lane, Bristol, March 2024
At the time of painting this wonderful piece, Kid Crayon left a little extra, as he often does, by painting the bin at the far corner of the skate park. Stylish stuff.
