6781. M32 roundabout J3 (661)

Minto, M32 roundabout, Bristol, February 2025
Minto, M32 roundabout, Bristol, February 2025

There was a period last year when Minto was in full flow, and barely a week passed by without a new piece from the graffiti artist, but over the winter months his activity in Bristol slowed. It was great to see this piece on the roundabout recently, and I hope that it signifies a return to more frequent pieces from him.

Minto, M32 roundabout, Bristol, February 2025
Minto, M32 roundabout, Bristol, February 2025

The piece combines graffiti writing with a wizard character reaching out, and some fabulous perspective as the hands grab out towards the letters. Although difficult to see, the word MINTO will be concealed in there somewhere, but it is all rather more cryptic than in many of his other pieces, and just for good measure he has written his name to the left. A cool piece.

5942. Dean Land skate park (703)

Zaenone, Dean Lane, Bristol, March 2024
Zaenone, Dean Lane, Bristol, March 2024

My initial irritation with finding this piece – I had come to find something else (I think a piece by Hire) that I hadn’t yet photographed and that had only been on this wall for a few hours – was quickly replaced with the joy of seeing another fine piece from visiting artist Zaenone.

IMG_7705_edited
IMG_7705_edited

Zaenone’s pieces can be broadly described as having chunky letters ZAEN, with character bookends, although occasionally he omits the characters. The sumptuous reds of the letters occupy much of the space of the piece and smack you in the face. The strength of the colours is offset and counterbalanced by the two wizard characters augmenting the whole thing perfectly. It is always a pleasure to find Zaenone’s work, even when painted over other artist’s recent work – it is a jungle out there.

5335. M32 roundabout J3 (486)

Kid Krishna, M32 roundabout, Bristol, May 2023
Kid Krishna, M32 roundabout, Bristol, May 2023

Kid Krishna has had a quiet couple of weeks, which means that I can catch up on some of his pieces, although there is so much happening at the moment, it is never easy to catch up on anything. This is a bright, happy piece from Kid Krishna, featuring elements of the Wizard from Vaughn Bode.

Kid Krishna, M32 roundabout, Bristol, May 2023
Kid Krishna, M32 roundabout, Bristol, May 2023

I can’t really express how good I believe this piece to be. It is clean, tight, cryptic and joyful, and since Kid Krishna appeared on the Bristol scene about 18 months ago, he has been turning out pieces like this one with extraordinary regularity, and in doing so, really pushed the boundaries with his unconventional style.

5253. M32 Spot (163)

Zake, M32 Spot, Bristol, April 2023
Zake, M32 Spot, Bristol, April 2023

I think that the Bristol artist who has stretched the most so far this year is Zake. He has consistently been expanding his repertoire pretty much with each new piece and is becoming more original with his designs and ideas. This recent wizard piece at the M32 Spot is a great example of how varied his work is becoming.

Zake, M32 Spot, Bristol, April 2023
Zake, M32 Spot, Bristol, April 2023

Although it is easy to see, in this column piece, the traits for which Zake is best known, namely the use of light and dark shading to create depth, it does not scream out Zake on the surface, and had it not been signed, it would have taken me a little while to work it out. An unusual and fun piece from the Spanish face specialist.

4803. Cheltenham 2022 (17)

Elvs, Cheltenham Paint Festival 22, Cheltenham, July 2022
Elvs, Cheltenham Paint Festival 22, Cheltenham, July 2022

I always feel a little surprised when I see some Elvs graffiti writing that isn’t in his usual highly elaborate and cryptic style, and it demonstrates what a great artist he is that he can switch it up so dramatically, presenting a very different style of writing here.

Elvs, Cheltenham Paint Festival 22, Cheltenham, July 2022
Elvs, Cheltenham Paint Festival 22, Cheltenham, July 2022

The writing is in large block letters, once again seeing the use of pink and blue – a superb combination and contrast between the letters and the cloudburst background. Although the wizard character feels familiar, I don’t know who it is. I’ll be back in a moment after a pause to Google…

…no luck I’m afraid. Perhaps someone out there can let me know.

This is a great piece from a superb artist whose versatility is powerful.

2005. Jubilee Street (6)

So he might not be in the UK at present, having upped stumps and moved to Tasmania, but I am still finding some of his pieces that he painted before his departure. ‘He’ is of course, as if I need to state the obvious, Deamze.

Deamze, Jubilee Street, Bristol, January 2019
Deamze, Jubilee Street, Bristol, January 2019

This fabulous piece of writing and character is on the side of a recycling business in Jubilee Street. This little area is like an ASK gallery, with pieces that can remain for a long time often in excess of a year, without so much as a tiny tag.

Deamze, Jubilee Street, Bristol, January 2019
Deamze, Jubilee Street, Bristol, January 2019

I took the picture first thing in the morning which is why the colours are a little flat, but at least there are no vehicles parked in front of it. I’m not sure who the little wizard character is – obviously I missed out on this TV show. More still to come from this absent artist.