Totosoapcity, Cumberland Basin, Bristol, October 2025
By now, regular readers will be getting quite familiar with the distinctive ARS(Z)A letters from Totosoapcity. This is a recent piece from the artist in one of his favoured spots, Cumberland Basin.
Totosoapcity, Cumberland Basin, Bristol, October 2025
The letter shapes of Totosoapcity’s pieces remain broadly the same, so it is the decoration that we can focus on. In this piece, the skilful application of greys provide a metallic look to the piece which jumps out from the wall thanks to the stripy drop shadow. This symmetrical piece is assisted in its regular shape thanks to the indented lines on the wall, which so many writers make use of to keep proportions true. A nice piece.
It gives me great pleasure to ‘discover’ an artist that is new to me, and Avem808 fits the bill really nicely. Following yesterday’s post of a lively piece by the artist in Peel Street Green, I recalled this piece from Greenbank back in August and thought I’d publish them consecutively, something I rarely do on Natural Adventures.
Avem808, Greenbank, Bristol, August 2025
This clean and tidy piece, spelling AVEM is similar to the Peel Street Green one in that it appears to have a flat surface which is lifted from the hoarding with the help of a lovely golden two-tone 3D drop shadow. It is interesting that Avem808 doesn’t use any white highlight lines on his letters to give depth, preferring to retain a ‘flat’ surface to the letters. He has incorporated, however, some little starbursts which add variety and interest. Nice work from Avem808… looking forward to finding more.
It is always most satisfying to be able to put a name to a piece of artwork. Much of what I do is detective work, trying to work out or find out who a particular piece might be, using my own knowledge of the Bristol scene, the Interweb and Instagram in particular, and conversations with artists when I meet them. This one took me a little while, but I figured out that it is by Avem808 (it is signed) who I think might be a friend of Esme Lower.
Avem808, Peel Street Green, Bristol, October 2025
This is a superb piece of graffiti writing, with a flat surface to the letters filled with an interesting blue cosmic-style scene. The letters pop a little due to the magnificent yellow (gold) 3D drop shadow with a central vanishing point. Blue and yellow work exceptionally in this piece, and the dark blue background with large bubbles also lifts the letters. An accomplished piece which triggered my memory that I had previously seen another piece by Avem808 (see tomorrow).
In the centre of town, alongside the Harbourside (a floating harbour), there is a large office building called Canons House, locally known as the Lloyds building as it was the regional headquarters of Lloyds Bank, which they sold in December 2024. The Grade II listed building (only completed in 1991) is now undergoing a major redevelopment, and you know what that means… hoardings. The shiny white hoardings are not the easiest to paint, and the area is not one much frequented by street/graffiti artists, so finding anything of interest here is unlikely. However, Sub appears to have made himself at home with a couple of pieces, and there is a massive commission by Esme Lower too (coming soon).
Sub, Monarch’s Way, Bristol, October 2025
Sub has been working hard, and is improving so much with his overall presentation. His fills have been getting a little more intricate with some nice details, and here he has created a wonderful marbled effect on the white background, making good use of the hoarding colour. I do wonder if his enormous letters might be holding him back a little – it is a lot of space to fill, and whether an additional letter, might give him more creative latitude. I’m sure he is happy with what he is doing, but I think he is ready to take a big step forward.
Rowdy, Ryder, Taboo, Sage and Solar, Coronation Road, Bristol, January 2025
I photographed this building way back in January, but never got round to posting it. I am doing so now, because there was a large fire at the site, a former metalworks, in early October. The building ceased to be in use in 2020, and became an obvious opportunity for graffiti, and several writers from around the city duly obliged. I don’t believe that this was any kind of overall collaboration, more an accumulation of pieces over time from Rowdy, Ryder, Taboo, Sage, Solar, and one other.
Rowdy, Ryder, Taboo, Sage and Solar, Coronation Road, Bristol, January 2025
The top row (the former canteen of the building and most severely fire-damaged part – arson, by the way) is a combination collaboration from Ryder and Rowdy, both of whom are significant players on the graffiti scene in Bristol. Taboo’s dominant epic piece takes up the whole of the middle floor, and some smaller pieces from Sage, Solar (PLB) and Phase (?) occupy the ground floor. This is more of an interesting mosaic than anything else really – iconic in its own way, but now alas, ashes.
I simply cannot fathom why it has taken me so long to post this outstanding piece by Kid Krishna in Stokes Croft, painted alongside ESKA and Hemper. It has been around since April this year, and I photographed it shortly after it was painted. These pictures are more recent, and the piece is still in great condition, looking very fresh.
Kid Krishna, Stokes Croft, Bristol, October 2025
The combination piece combines his CRIE letters to the right with a group of surreal cartoon-style characters, showcasing Kid Krishna’s extraordinary talent. There is a lot of colour and movement in the piece, especially the three characters on the left who appear to be having an animated conversation.
Kid Krishna, Stokes Croft, Bristol, October 2025
Kid Krishna is something of an enigma. He is incredibly modest about his work, has unquestionable talent, paints high-end pieces and scruffy mega-tags. I think that the overriding sense I get from him and his work is the sheer love of art and creativity. Imagination and creativity are things he has in abundance, as you can see from this awesome piece.
Sled One, Oust and Stivs Brunel Way, Bristol, October 2025
I came across this outstanding collaboration, intending to photograph its predecessor by Dibz and Fade who I had watched painting their collaboration, but as I have said, you snooze, you lose in this game and when I returned it had been painted over by this masterpiece. I think that this is probably my favourite collaboration of the year so far, oozing with talent.
Sled One, Brunel Way, Bristol, October 2025
To the left, Sled One has painted one of his magnificent cartoon-style creations, heavily loaded with political commentary. The piece is reflecting the rather unsettling rise of the appropriation of the St George Cross to represent anti-immigration (and for some, racist) sentiments, purporting to be patriotism. This is another division stoked up by the right wing parties, Reform and the Conservatives, as a wedge issue from which they expect to benefit.
Anti-immigration and racist sentiments are not particularly well-supported in Bristol, and Sled One has illustrated a large shoe squashing a gammon (“gammon” is a derogatory slang term for middle-aged, often ruddy-faced, white men who are perceived as being nationalistic, anti-immigrant, and particularly supportive of Brexit) attempting to paint a St George cross on the sole of the shoe. He is being squished. If only it was that simple to moderate this rise in anti-foreigner narrative masquerading as patriotism.
Oust, Brunel Way, Bristol, October 2025
The middle section of this triptych is a superbly colourful piece of graffiti writing by Oust, spelling out OUSTER. Beautiful letters, beautiful fill colours, some nice flame bursts and bubbly background. A first-class piece of writing.
Stivs, Brunel Way, Bristol, October 2025
On the right is an outstanding cartoon portrait piece by Stivs, which I think is one of his best, and that is a high bar indeed. The stylised portrait draws on the Japanese anime genre and has so much movement and attitude about it. The piece is beautifully executed and looks like it could be a still from a film.
Stivs, Brunel Way, Bristol, October 2025
As I said before, an outstanding collaboration. Bravo! Sled One, Oust and Stivs.
As if I didn’t have enough complimentary words for Hypo in my last post of his work, I guess I’ll be heaping on some more here, simply because his efforts at the moment are at such a high level. Hypo also seems to be at the heart of the Bristol street art scene currently, and last weekend was heavily involved in a 50th birthday celebration paint jam here in the tunnel for Minto.
Hypo, St Werburghs, Bristol, October 2025
This piece, in wonderful flame colours, mirrors some of his other recent pieces, including the letter shapes and the decorative spheres. There is so much to like about this piece as his constant development continues.
Zinso’s return to painting walls in Bristol has been nothing short of heroic. His writing is always technically beautifully worked, with tight lines and well considered fills. He manages to present clean and crisp graffiti writing every time he ventures out.
Zinso, Dean Lane, Bristol, October 2025
In this piece his letters ZINSO are painted with horizontal layers of colour fills, nicely blended, running from dark green to yellow. The thought that has gone into the background is as thorough as the letters themselves, and as a whole the presentation is excellent. Zinso is both productive and tidy.
It is always a rather pleasant surprise to find a Donz piece in town because he tends to enjoy painting in his ‘manor’ of L Dub (Lawrence Weston), to the north of the city. Something you can predict quite safely is that anything by Donz is going to be colourful and bright.
Donz, St Werburghs, Bristol, October 2025
First up, the white wall works really well with his colourful design, which could get lost without it. His letters DONZ are beautifully framed within a consistent solid black border and some fine black highlights and details. The pastel colours are nicely distributed as fills throughout. All in all, a great piece from Donz.
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