How brilliant is this? set on an unprepped wall, this remarkably tight piece from Dibz is close to graffiti writing design and execution perfection, and its magnificence is exaggerated by the untidiness of the backdrop. It is like a black and white TV that has unexpectedly discovered colour.
Dibz, Dean Lane, Bristol, February 2020
Dibz is a local graffiti writer whose work is almost exclusively reserved for these walls in Dean Lane. It is rare to find his work elsewhere. Since I photographed this one, he has painted another excellent piece in the same place, on what turned out to be a red letter day on Friday last week. More about that to come soon.
During the first half of February, a whole bunch of new pieces appeared in the St Werburghs tunnel, in fact the turnover there has been quite remarkable this winter, and this extraordinary piece by Deddringa was among them. He is an artist I am unfamiliar with and this is the first piece by him that I have posted.
Deddringa, St Werburghs, Bristol, February 2020
The piece is rather unusual, and has the appearance of a dystopian future Planet of the Apes kind of thing, or at least that is how I see it. The simian features on the face are skilfully blended with the background, especially under the mouth where the silhouetted buildings come through.
I probably need to do a bit of swotting up to find out more about Deddringa and hope to see more of his work in the future.
I often talk about how lazy I am in these posts, and I am not proud of it at all, and a fine demonstration of my condition is that I took these pictures from my car without even bothering to get out. Shame on me.
Nevergiveup, Lucky Lane, Bristol, February 2020
It is another fabulous rabbit from Nevergiveup or NGU or #followmyrabbits or whatever else you want to call him. Now resident in Bath, the artist still pops over to Bristol from time to time, so there is still a constant flow of new material to hunt down. The fine designs on these rabbits is getting ever more intricate, which will be a great mechanism for dating them in the future.
An old one from Face 1st, although not that old – painted sometime in 2019, but not photographed by me until February 2020 because I haven’t been down to this spot very often. The colours are magnificent and set alight with the dayglow green outline.
Face 1st, Lawrence Hill, Bristol, February 2020
I think I have more pictures of Face 1st’s work than any other artist in Bristol which reflects his incredible energy and productiveness. I would guess that for each picture I publish on Natural Adventures there is at least another one in my archive. The only other artist that comes close is Nevergiveup and his #followmyrabbits.
I took these pictures ‘blind’. What I mean by that is that is was a very sunny day (a rarity this February) and the wall was reflecting so much light that I couldn’t see it on the LCD screen of my camera. I coould have popped up the viewer, but I had the dog with me and only had one hand free (and I am lazy). Nonetheless I think I got a couplle of great shots of this amazing and slightly verloked Rezwonk piece.
Rezwonk, River Avon, Bristol, February 2020
I’m not too sure what the 358 refers to along the bottom of the piece, but the writing is first class as always with Rezwonk. I also love the way these guys paint suggestions of a brick wall on the background, even when the piece is on a brick wall! Is there a part of Bristol where Rezwonk hasn’t left his mark?
It is quite amazing just how vibrant the street/graffiti art scene is in Bristol. So far I have published 31 different artist galleries, but this is just scratching the surface of the talent in the city (and beyond). Every day I will find something by artists I have never heard of before (I am still learning), maybe because they don’t paint very often or maybe because they are new or sometimes our paths simply haven’t crossed. This really nicely worked collaboration is by Awkward and Benjimagnetic, neither of whom I know about.
Awkward and Benjimagnetic, St Werburghs, Bristol, February 2020
From looking at their Instagram accounts, which I found by looking up #jointhecloaks featured at the bottom of the piece, it looks like both are well connected to the music industry. The skull on the right was by Awkward, and the writing by Benjimagnetic. I think that the latter does more graffiti work and has several pieces posted on his Instagram feed. On my first encounter with these two I woud say that their work is accomplished and this piece certainly caught my eye. I wonder if I’ll be seeing any more of it around the place.
Spelling out HEMS, this is a really easy-on-the-eye piece from Hemper. A great colour palette and sensational light green shading on the lettering really lifts the piece and it stands out from the crowd.
Hemper, M32 roundabout, Bristol, February 2020
When I see graffiti writing of this quality I want to show it to other people who perhaps categorise all tagging, burners, throw ups and writing broadly as ‘graffiti’ and don’t really give it a second thought. A piece like this is beautifully designed and brilliantly painted, and couldn’t be more different from a scruffy tag on a lamp post for example. Fabulous work from a Bristol master.
I have waited a long while to photograph this mural from Mr Penfold, mainly because it is not in a place I frequent all that much, there isn’t any other street art to speak of just in this spot, so it requires a special trip or an occasion when I happen to be in the right place at the right time.
Mr Penfold, Gloucester Road, Bristol, February 2020
That time was about a month ago on one of those rare sunny days in an otherwise very wet (the wettest on record) February. This mural is what Mr Penfold does so well and so distinctively. In his ‘liquorice allsort’ colours and 1980’s designer patterns Mr Penfold presents with a pleasing abstract pece that turns a boring wall into a point of interest. This is most likely a comission from the shop or possibly from the Business Improvement District. A nice piece.
There is not a big culture of wheatpasting in Bristol, compared with say Shoreditch or Barcelona, so it is always a pleasure when or ‘established’ artists stick up a few pieces here and there. I apologise for the poor quality of the picture below – I hate it when that happens, but am too lazy to go back and take a better one.
Georgie, Jamaica Street, Bristol, February 2020
This little one by Georgie could easily be mistaken for an advertising poster for fizzy drink manufacturer Coca Cola, with its deliberate use of colours and fonts. I can’t quite make out whether this is an ironic piece with its ‘Enjoy Life’ tag line, or whether this is a genuine upbeat piece. I’ll let you decide.
This unusual piece by Tom Miller is an advert for a band called Mama Jerk and the Lady Fingers. At this point I should like to thank Tom for introducing me to something wonderful and new. I am not very good at keeping up with the contemporary music scene in Bristol, I don’t go out much and when I do it is usually to visit friends or to eat out. Live or loud music I find great fun but a bit isolating, because my hearing is getting worse and I can’t hear anything people say to me and I have not yet learned the fine art of lip reading. Back to the point. In researching this piece, I checked out Mama Jerk on the interweb, and guess what… I loved their quirky fusion music. Furthermore I fully recommend that you take a look at or listen to their track ‘mountain’ you won’t regret it. This piece celebrates their second EP.
Tom Miller, St Werburghs, Bristol, February 2020
If I am brutally honest, this is not the best piece by this brilliant artist, but I forgive him wholeheartedly for introducing me to something I think I might enjoy for some time to come. The writing is ok, but the creatures are a little bit more what we would expect from Tom Miller and have an added element of mystery or menace about them with the white crosses over their eyes. A great outcome from following my passion for street art.
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