7831. M32 roundabout J3 (785)

Zinso, M32 roundabout, Bristol, July 2026
Zinso, M32 roundabout, Bristol, July 2026

Although it is as inevitable as night following day, I am thoroughly bored by graffiti wars. It is such adolescent posturing that is one of the worst aspects of the graffiti and street art scene, especially for those who appreciate the work of artists, whoever they are. It would seem that some artists like to feel they are tough, or perhaps they have delicate egos, and tagging another artist’s work appears to be the only way they can assert themselves or express their anger. A pity.

Zinso, M32 roundabout, Bristol, July 2026
Zinso, M32 roundabout, Bristol, July 2026

Zinso has been hitting the walls of Bristol pretty hard for the last 18 months or so, and in my view getting better and better along the way. This green piece of cartoonish writing with a great drop shadow and yellow decorative bars is a fine example of Zinso’s tight work. What a shame that someone has felt the urge to write JENGA through the middle of it. The quality of Zinso’s work, however, shines through.

7830. River Avon (125)

Avem808, River Avon, Bristol, July 2026
Avem808, River Avon, Bristol, July 2026

Avem808 appears to have been having a lot of fun this summer, transitioning his work from writing dominated to character dominated. I think that he enjoys the creativity and charm of his characters as much as the technical aspect of his writing.

Avem808, River Avon, Bristol, July 2026
Avem808, River Avon, Bristol, July 2026

The writing is heavily disguised, and I have to assume that it spells out AVEM. It is the bookend characters that leap out, almost literally, especially the one on the left. These crazy imaginings are quite unlike anything I have seen in Bristol before and are becoming as a bit of a trademark of the artist.

Avem808, River Avon, Bristol, July 2026
Avem808, River Avon, Bristol, July 2026

When I look at the character on the right I see a sandglass, and the sand character slipping from top to bottom through the squeezed middle. I cannot help feeling that Avem808 seems rather liberated, from what I don’t know, but this marked change in his work is very welcome and I look forward to seeing it develop further.

7828. Brunel Way (365)

Butch, Brunel Way, Bristol, July 2026
Butch, Brunel Way, Bristol, July 2026

This may be the most dynamic and sophisticated piece that I have seen by Butch to date, painted as part of a PLB paint jam underneath Brunel way. The first notable thing about the piece is that it is full of colour, and he has combined his letters with an animated character on the left.

Butch, Brunel Way, Bristol, July 2026
Butch, Brunel Way, Bristol, July 2026

Butch nearly always overlaps his letters so that the letter to the left sits over the letter to the right. This layout distinguishes his work from other writers. Each of the letters is decorated independently, although the ‘U’, ‘C’ and half of the ‘H’ share a grey and white colour scheme. The character is a running pencil, with a big mouth. What he is running from I have no idea. All in all an entertaining combination piece.

7827. M32 roundabout J3 (784)

Patch, M32 roundabout, Bristol, June 2026
Patch, M32 roundabout, Bristol, June 2026

I really enjoy it when ‘new’ artists come on to the scene, and this is the third piece that I have found this summer by Patch. There is something about the simplicity and form of Patch’s pieces that I really like, and they remind me a little of TES’ letters that have remained reasonably consistent over many years (although he has been much more experimental lately).

Patch, M32 roundabout, Bristol, June 2026
Patch, M32 roundabout, Bristol, June 2026

This straightforward piece with solid fills uses cartoon letters of varying sizes to create the word Patch. Just in case, the artist signs the piece as well for good measure. I look forward to seeing more of these mega-tag stamp pieces popping up around the city.

 

 

7825. Dean Lane skate park (935)

Dibz, Fade and Rusk, Dean Lane, Bristol, July 2026
Dibz, Fade and Rusk, Dean Lane, Bristol, July 2026

The Wacky Races cartoon series is deeply embedded in some of my happiest memories. As children, my two best friends and I would watch it every week together, adopting our favourite characters – being the youngest, I got third choice and was Professor Patent Pending, which I was actually quite happy with. Our own fortunes were dictated by those of our chosen characters, and winning the race was joyful and bestowed bragging rights until the next episode.

Dibz, Fade and Rusk, Dean Lane, Bristol, July 2026
Dibz, Fade and Rusk, Dean Lane, Bristol, July 2026

This is a wonderful combination of writing from Fade and Dibz and the character piece by Rusk. The wildstyle writing is top class, with each piece hanging perfectly in the blue sky. The writing is accompanied by the words “Dibz Dastardly & Fadely”, a direct reference to the characters in Rusk’s character piece.

Rusk, Dean Lane, Bristol, July 2026
Rusk, Dean Lane, Bristol, July 2026

Rusk has done a great job with Dastardly and Mutley in their flying machine, and has conflated Wacky Races with Stop the Pigeon, which was a spin-off series from Wacky Races. I love this collaboration, a real trip down memory lane – probably 55 years or more ago. Thank you.

7822. Gathorne Road – Upfest 2026 (44)

Inkie, Upfest 2026, Gathorne Road, Bristol, May 2026
Inkie, Upfest 2026, Gathorne Road, Bristol, May 2026

One of the ‘sure things’ about Upfest is that Inkie will give the Parsons Bakery a refresh, and offer another bakery related pun, this has become a tradition now and something to look forward to on the Upfest calendar.

Inkie, Upfest 2026, Gathorne Road, Bristol, May 2026
Inkie, Upfest 2026, Gathorne Road, Bristol, May 2026

This year Inkie has gone to town with his ‘Bready or not, here I crumb’, which is a groan of a pun, but actually rather good. The writing is outstanding in his bold style, and it is possible many seeing it won’t actually get as far as reading it, being seduced by the grand nature of the lettering.

Inkie, Upfest 2026, Gathorne Road, Bristol, May 2026
Inkie, Upfest 2026, Gathorne Road, Bristol, May 2026

Inkie completes the piece with one of his trademark stylised portraits. No need for a signature here. Inkie is synonymous with Bristol street art, and after Banksy, is probably the best known graffiti export from the city, alongside Nick Walker, perhaps. Brilliant to see this refresh and enjoy the humour of the piece.

Inkie, Upfest 2024, Gathorne Road, Bristol, May 2024
Inkie, Upfest 2024, Gathorne Road, Bristol, May 2024
Inkie, Gathorne Road, Bristol, July 2019
Inkie, Gathorne Road, Bristol, July 2019
Inkie, Gathorne Road, Bristol, June 2016
Inkie, Gathorne Road, Bristol, June 2016

Gage Graphics

A gallery of outstanding graffiti and high-end murals from Bristol-based Gage Graphics (AKA Ollie Gillard)

Instagram: @gage.graphics

Website: gagegraphics.co.uk

All photographs by Scooj

Gage Graphics. Upfest 22, Bristol, May 2022
Gage Graphics. Upfest 22, Bristol, May 2022
Gage Graphics. Upfest 22, Bristol, May 2022
Gage Graphics. Upfest 22, Bristol, May 2022
Gage Graphics, Stokes Croft, Bristol, April 2022
Gage Graphics, Stokes Croft, Bristol, April 2022
Gage Graphics, Stokes Croft, Bristol, April 2022
Gage Graphics, Stokes Croft, Bristol, April 2022
Gage Graphics, Alpine Road, Bristol, November 2021
Gage Graphics, Alpine Road, Bristol, November 2021
Gage Graphics, Alpine Road, Bristol, November 2021
Gage Graphics, Alpine Road, Bristol, November 2021
Gage Graphics, Alpine Road, Bristol, November 2021
Gage Graphics, Alpine Road, Bristol, November 2021
Gage Graphics, West Street, Bristol, June 2021
Gage Graphics, West Street, Bristol, June 2021
Gage Graphics, West Street, Bristol, June 2021
Gage Graphics, West Street, Bristol, June 2021
Gage Graphics, Upper York Street, Bristol, May 2021
Gage Graphics, Upper York Street, Bristol, May 2021
Gage Graphics, Upper York Street, Bristol, May 2021
Gage Graphics, Upper York Street, Bristol, May 2021
Gage Graphics, Upper York Street, Bristol, May 2021
Gage Graphics, Upper York Street, Bristol, May 2021
Gage Graphics, St Luke's Road, Bristol, December 2020
Gage Graphics, St Luke’s Road, Bristol, December 2020
Gage Graphics, St Luke's Road, Bristol, December 2020
Gage Graphics, St Luke’s Road, Bristol, December 2020
Gage Graphics, St Luke's Road, Bristol, December 2020
Gage Graphics, St Luke’s Road, Bristol, December 2020
Gage Graphics, St Luke's Road, Bristol, December 2020
Gage Graphics, St Luke’s Road, Bristol, December 2020
Gage Graphics, St Luke's Road, Bristol, December 2020
Gage Graphics, St Luke’s Road, Bristol, December 2020
Gage Graphics, St Luke's Road, Bristol, December 2020
Gage Graphics, St Luke’s Road, Bristol, December 2020
Gage Graphics, St Werburghs, Bristol, September 2020
Gage Graphics, St Werburghs, Bristol, September 2020
Gage Graphics, St Werburghs, Bristol, February 2020
Gage Graphics, St Werburghs, Bristol, February 2020
Gage Graphics, St Werburghs, Bristol, February 2020
Gage Graphics, St Werburghs, Bristol, February 2020
Gage, Upfest, Bristol, July 2018
Gage, Upfest, Bristol, July 2018
Gage, Upfest, Bristol, July 2018
Gage, Upfest, Bristol, July 2018
Gage Graphics, Upfest, Bristol, July 2016
Gage Graphics, Upfest, Bristol, July 2016
Gage Graphics, Upfest, Bristol, July 2016
Gage Graphics, Upfest, Bristol, July 2016

7818. Cumberland Basin

Fade and Dibz, Cumberland Basin, Bristol, April 2026
Fade and Dibz, Cumberland Basin, Bristol, April 2026

When Fade and Dibz get together, magic happens. It is so easy to get blasé about their work, because we see it so frequently in Bristol and forget that these two writers are at the very top of their game. The precision of their work is extraordinary and at the very highest level.

Fade, Cumberland Basin, Bristol, April 2026
Fade, Cumberland Basin, Bristol, April 2026

This collaboration shows off their talents as wildstyle graffiti writers. To the left, in ‘fruit salad’ yellow and pink colours Fade has written his letters with three horizontal stripes, with complete confidence and competence. Great writing.

Dibz, Cumberland Basin, Bristol, April 2026
Dibz, Cumberland Basin, Bristol, April 2026

On the right, Dibz has also adopted slightly different ‘fruit salad’ colours nicely blended in horizontal strips and with a deep 3D drop shadow in black and nicely finished with some purple bubbles at the top. As a pair of pieces, it all feels so effortless, but that comes with the unconscious competence of years of graffiti experience.

7817. Temple Way (6)

Taboo, Temple Way, Bristol, April 2026
Taboo, Temple Way, Bristol, April 2026

This piece by Taboo has been around for ages, years. It took me a long time finally to photograph it, and then a long time to post it, but at last I have managed to do it. It is on a hoarding on a main road without parking, and I drive past it every time I go to Temple Meads Station.

Taboo, Temple Way, Bristol, April 2026
Taboo, Temple Way, Bristol, April 2026

Taboo’s antistyle letters, unusually not spelling out his name, are accompanied by a Disney like wolf with multiple exaggerated eyes. It is all a bit odd, verging on disturbing, but actually just very typical of Taboo. So glad I got round to it before it and the hoardings go.

7816. Frome Side (69)

Patch, Frome Side, Bristol, July 2026
Patch, Frome Side, Bristol, July 2026

I only have time for a couple of really quick posts this morning as Mrs Scooj, the dog and I are shortly going to be driving back to Bristol from a short break in Cornwall. We’ll be dropping in on my sister on the way.

Patch, Frome Side, Bristol, July 2026
Patch, Frome Side, Bristol, July 2026

This is a nicely presented simple piece of graffiti writing from Patch, whose work has recently been appearing in Bristol. I like both the style and simplicity. Patch has added a little bit of additional interest with alternation the black and red colours through the piece. I’m looking out for more from Patch who is making an impression in the City.