Urban – Page 89 – Natural adventures

6596. St Werburghs tunnel (465)

Lis (Le Imposter Design), St Werburghs, Bristol, December 2024

I am always encouraged when I see studio artists exercising their subversive side by painting illegal walls, with their different take on street art, and a recent emerging talent is Lis AKA Le Imposter Design. Her work seems to feature nature a fair bit and in particular, mushrooms.

This piece, presumably entitled ‘party shrooms’ depicts three mushrooms or toadstools having a good time dancing to an imaginary beat. The piece was painted over the corner of a Hypo piece, but in a respectful way, with four black corner tabs, as if it were a photograph inserted into an album. I am loving the emergence of Lys and am very much looking forward to finding more of her work in future.

6595. Brunel Way (306)

Neoliberalizard, Brunel Way, Bristol, December 2024

Anyone who wanders around Bristol with their eyes open is likely to have seen toadstool pieces by Neoliberalizard, consciously or otherwise. I got lucky and actually encountered him while he was up a ladder, painting this piece, above the height of the recent Council buffing exercise, ha ha.

Although it is a relatively simple design, likely full of symbolism, Neoliberalizard has done a good job with this piece, and dozens of others that can be spotted around the city. Having met him, I think possibly I may have met him a few years ago, I hope to be posting more of his subversive fungi in the future.

6594. Dean Lane skate park (789)

The lateness of my posts today is down to a day of incredibly uncomfortable travel. I am heading to London on a train (to watch the mighty Arsenal play Everton FC) that is brim full. My booked seat is null and void, because all bookings have been cancelled, so I had to try and find a spare seat. Unfortunately the carriage I eventually found a seat in is quite noisy, the gentleman next to me has a stinking cold and the young lovers in front of me are very excited about their trip to America for Christmas to ‘meet the parents’, which is lovely, but I’m not sure I need to know every detail. I try to occupy my time by writing this blog post, but it is far from easy.

This container on the raised section of the Dean Lane skate park has quite a high turnover, but I would say that about three quarters of what appears here is ordinary, so it was great to find this superb combination piece by Smak. Smak has written his letters in a pleasing bronze/brass and purple combination, but it is the encircling snake that catches the eye. The snake is a kind of crossover between realistic and cartoon, looking a little bit like Kaa from the Jungle Book. I hope I survive the journey without going mad or contracting some revolting sickness just in time for Christmas. To cap it all, the train has just ground to a halt. Grrr.

6593. St Werburghs tunnel (464)

Minto, St Werburghs, Bristol, December 2024

Minto went through a very rich vein of form and productivity earlier on this year, before falling off a little in the autumn, so it was super-nice to find this recent piece in the tunnel alongside Ren and Hypo, keeping things fresh in St Werburghs.

This is a classy combination piece from Minto, spelling out his name and including a capped character puffing out some smoke. Characteristic of his writing, the letters MIN form a wedge, followed by an elevated T rounded off with a large O. The irregularity of his letters tends to be something of a trademark. Very nice piece from Minto.

6592. M32 Spot (197)

Logoe has been back in town again, and what I particularly like about this piece is that he has taken the whole long board over. Sometimes this space is occupied by two artists and occasionally by three, but in this instance Logoe has hogged the whole thing, and has certainly eked out his letters to fill the space on the right. I left the chair in front of the piece, because I felt it added a bit of artistic interest.

Script writing is something of a speciality for logoe, and his joined-up letters appear very much as they might on a page. The fill drifts from bright yellow on the left to pale orange on the right, and the whole thing is liberally sprinkled with little oval dots running horizontally just above the midline. Set on a blue background, the whole thing looks lovely.

6591. Brunel Way (305)

Face 1st and Zake, Brunel Way, Bristol, December 2024

True to his word, Face 1st said that despite moving to Herefordshire, he would be back in Bristol to have a paint from time to time, and who better to team up with than his PWA partner in crime Zake, who thrives on collaborations. This is a combination piece, with Face 1st’s writing wrapped around an unusual portrait by Zake.

Face 1st has enjoyed using the block letters idea, which he has used quite a lot to good effect, and here, they frame a rather sinister portrait from Zake. Seeing Zake’s characters with hair always adds a little bit of weirdness, especially in this piece, where the face is green and the hair purple. Although I photographed this collaboration not long after it was painted, the dampness of the wall has caused some damage on the character’s nose. I am so glad to see Face 1st popping down to see us.

6590. Brunel Way (304)

Mr Underbite, Brunel Way, Bristol, November 2024

Every time I write about Mr Underbite’s character pieces, the word that always springs immediately to mind is ‘hapless’. Just looking at the face, the Underbite character looks like he is down on his luck, or simply unfortunate. It is clever that the name and the portrayal create this image.

I haven’t seen any new pieces by Mr Underbite for a long while, so it was great to find this one at the Southern end of thee Brunel Way spot. This is the standard version of the character, in mono colour and without any ‘extras’. As ever, it is always great to find these distinctive pieces.

6589. Dean Lane skate park (788)

Awkward, Dean Lane, Bristol, November 2024

I met Awkward for the first time at the Ikea Wall of Fame Metalheadz paint jam organised by Goldie. As is usually the case, Awkward was nothing like the image I had of him in my mind, based on his artwork. It was so good to have a chat with him and understand a little about his motivations around art and music, where his music is his main thing.

This cheeky piece (why is it that most of his character pieces seem to be on the cheeky side?) features a pink faced character with enormous eyes and a speech bubble with the words ‘Universal magnetic’. This may be a reference to his friend Benjimagnetic. To the left of the face, Awkward has left his customary signature split into two halves, AWK…WARD.

6588. St Werburghs tunnel (463)

Mr Klue, St Werburghs, Bristol, November 2024

It has been a very good year for Mr Klue, who has been both productive and creative. This new piece in the tunnel differs from many of his others in the use of several colours in a single piece. Perhaps it was a dregs piece, or maybe he simply wanted to switch things up a bit.

The letters KLUE are about as obvious as you are going to seen in a Mr Klue piece of abstract graffiti writing. The top edge of the piece is noteworthy too, with his piece bleeding into the cream background. The photographs don’t really do this one justice, as I remember thinking when I saw it how stunning the colours were. All good stuff.

6587. Jamaica Street (29)

Zubieta, Jamaica Street, Bristol, November 2024

This was my second attempt at photographing this piece by Zubieta, just outside the People’s Republic of Stokes Croft. The first time I came, there were significant shadows across it, and some people sitting on chairs in front of it – all quite unhelpful. The piece is painted on the PRSC blanket and tent exchange, which in itself tells a story of the times we live in.

Zubieta is a muralist whose work often encompasses nature, particularly floral scenes. I think she uses brushes to paint her murals, rather than spray paints. This decorative piece includes some pink flowers with lips in the centre, a caterpillar, a heart and a figure, and many of the leaves contain beady eyes. The content of the work is not so different from Peggy, but the styles are worlds apart. A nice piece enhancing an otherwise utilitarian storage facility.

	paulh121 on 7421. Boiling Wells Lane …
	hitandrun1964 on 7422. Stapleton Road
	scooj on Thursday doors – 22 Janu…
	scooj on Thursday doors – 22 Janu…
	Cethru Cellophane on 7422. Stapleton Road

	paulh121 on 7421. Boiling Wells Lane …
	hitandrun1964 on 7422. Stapleton Road
	scooj on Thursday doors – 22 Janu…
	scooj on Thursday doors – 22 Janu…
	Cethru Cellophane on 7422. Stapleton Road

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