Logoe has been turning out some wonderful pieces lately, but this one, for sheer boldness and vibrancy has to be my favourite from this particular visit to Bristol. The overriding red colours are captivating.
His script writing, filled with red and orange, is decorated with a scattering of blue and yellow oval spots, so characteristic of his style, and he has added the words ‘hanging on by a thread’, which probably means more to Logoe than it does to me. Fabulous piece of graffiti writing.
I’ve been waiting a long time to photograph this shutter when it is both closed and doesn’t have a car parked in front of it. On one of my recent Upfest walks I got lucky. While Inkie is a graffiti legend in Bristol, he also has to make a living, and commission pieces like this one, however big or small, help to pay the bills.
Inkie has used a nice typeface for the words ‘Ashton Fruit & Veg’ which is easily identifiable as his work, but not as ‘Inkie’ as some of his pieces. Some fruit and vegetables decorate the bottom of the shutter and more Inkiesque rays and stars adorn the top. A nice jobbing piece from the artist.
Bloem is an absolute delight and always happy to have a chat while she is painting. I managed to catch her as she was finishing off this wonderful piece in the evening sun. It was painted alongside Lupa and Desi as part of a mini-paint jam.
The combination piece is quite sublime, with a stunning leopard spot fill and Betty Boop cartoon character. You can see from the image above how important the small details and highlights that are added at the end of a piece can turn it from a good work to an outstanding one. For example the white border tidies up all the edges and the starburst on the earring creates a focal point.
There are a few artists in Bristol whose work has a strong and positive impact on my sense of wellbeing, and Bloem is definitely one of them.
On a fairly regular basis a mixture of visiting and resident artists come to Bristol for a paint jam, which tend to include artists like ARSA, Corupt, RBN One, Solar etc, and very occasionally they are joined by Rusty (who in a previous post I referred to as Rusta).
I absolutely love the look of this anti-style graffiti writing. There is something really organic about it, and I like the sketchy quality of the black lines and fills. The impression this piece gives is one of freedom and spontaneity. The touches of orange add that little bit of extra class. A lovely piece of writing from Rusty.
A gallery of three letter graffiti writing documenting the rise and rise of Bristol-based artist Sub.
Instagram: @subsprays
All photographs by Scooj
Silent Hobo and Logoe have been painting together for a few years, and are obviously paint buddies. The first of their collaborations that I photographed was way back in April 2017, but I imagine they had been painting together for some time before that. This is a wonderful, colourful combination collaboration.
The character by Silent Hobo, looks like he is standing in the face of a force 9 gale with his cap blown off, his hair pushed backwards and his hands in front of his face. I am guessing that this force is coming off Logoe’s bright writing.
This beautiful script writing by Logoe was painted on a recent visit that was a precursor to the pair painting for Upfest (to come). Perhaps this was a practice session, although these two don’t really need much practice to be fair. The script letters spell Logoe and are decorated with vertical pink and bronze stripes. The piece is set on a white patterned cloud with purple borders. Altogether this is a high-impact collaboration.
This is a wonderful collaboration painted by Conrico, Noise and Stivs, who were participating in the World Wall Stylers challenge (Chapter 26) on reggae legends. Although these were painted in April, they were still looking pretty fresh in May.
First up is a lovely portrait piece by Conrico of Pablo Gad, a lyricist of ‘when I was a yout’ by Ed Solo. I grabbed that information off Conrico’s Instagram thread, without which I wouldn’t have known any of this. The red, gold and green are well represented, and the portrait presented in Conrico’s distinctive brush stroke style.
The middle section is a lovely bit of chunky graffiti writing from Noise that also carried the red gold and green colours that stand out beautifully against the black background.
The collaboration is rounded off with an outstanding portrait of Lila Iké by Stivs. His portrait work is hitting new levels at the moment, which makes for very enjoyable viewing. Stivs is a little more subtle with his incorporation of the red, gold and green colours, incorporation them as part of the border surrounding the portrait.
All round, this is an outstanding collaboration.
Logoe has painted a fair bit in Bristol this year, and as writing goes, this is one of his more conservative pieces without frills and decorations, just a straightforward example of script writing that he excels at.
The ‘wall’ in this case is actually a piece of canvas fabric that has been stretched between some fence posts, quite why I don’t know, in fact I’m not too sure what that bit of fence is doing in the first place, stuck under the flyover. Most of the pieces painted here tend to be fairly modest, perhaps it isn’t particularly inspirational. More to follow from Logoe.
At Upfest this year, there was a strong contingent of local artists, and some wall space made available to showcase everyday talent that I am privileged to see every time I walk out to take pictures, but that visitors to the festival might not be so exposed to. This balances out the presence of high-end murals in harmony with authentic street and graffiti art.
Ments is a Bristol artist who spans the gap between graffiti art and something more sophisticated. I spent a while chatting with Ments as he was finishing off this piece, and he explained that it was loosely based on the letters MENTS, although the ‘T’ kind of melted away. He was interested in the soft shapes and colours, presenting as an abstract form, being simultaneously both familiar and alien. A brilliant artist, and a fine Upfest piece.
Since ‘discovering’ RBN One a couple of months ago, I seem to be coming across his work with an unnerving frequency. How could this graffiti writer have been off my radar for so long? I don’t understand how this happens, but it happens.
This is a beautifully colourful piece that is not only stunning to look at, but also technically well crafted and painted too. Each letter is independent of colour or fill pattern from the next, in the main, although there is a little bit of repetition through the piece. The contrasting drop shadow is perfect, and the whole effort is set on a silhouetted cityscape. Superb stuff.
