Ah! A real beauty from Benjimagnetic splashing bold and solid colours onto the long wall on the cycle path. I have really been enjoying the adjustments he has made to his style over the last few months and although his rather ephemeral style previously was his USP, I genuinely think that this is an improvement.
Benjimagnetic, M32 Cycle path, Bristol, January 2022
With lashings of colour, this BEN piece of graffiti writing ticks an awful lot of boxes for me. The colour palette works really well and has a childlike vibrancy about it. The fills are neat and tidy and the boundary lines clean. A well-worked and perfectly presented piece from Benjimagnetic.
On the wall opposite the tunnel under New Stadium Road was this lovely little Christmas collaboration from Silent Hobo, Mr Riks, Dopes and a very special mini Hobo. All three artists have been fairly active of late, but weirdly I have only ever posted one of Mr Riks’ pieces before, which would appear to be a terribly omission on my part.
Silent Hobo, Dopes and Mr Riks, New Stadium Street, Bristol, December 2021
The right hand side of the collaboration is by Mr Riks and Dopes and appears to say RIK JAY with some fabulous horizontal shading and fades with a load of drips hanging off the letters. Classy work indeed from the two artists.
Silent Hobo, New Stadium Street, Bristol, December 2021
The Mini Hobo is by Silent Hobo with help from his very little daughter who looked pretty useful with a spray can judging from the pictures on Hobo senior’s Instagram feed. All in all this is a very nice little Christmas piece and maybe the beginning of great things to come from Mini Hobo.
Although Daz Cat has been steadily active over the last few weeks, I haven’t been able to find space to post any of his work, such is the volume of new pieces being produced like a relentless incoming tide, one which I welcome of course. I have a few in my folders that I need to share. I keep telling myself that I’ll be able to share them during a quiet period, but I don’t think such a thing exists.
Daz Cat, Purdown, Bristol, December 2021
This cat piece has been sprayed on one of the square concrete slabs which appear to have been built to protect the store areas around each gun emplacement, and which make splendid canvasses. Featuring a Daz Cat cat, it would seem that the artist has joined the ranks of street art philosophers with the written phrase “Never enough, show me new pathways. More than enough, put me in my place”, which on doing a quick Interweb search looks like it is an original thought. The cat itself in 3/4 aspect is superbly well painted and looks to have taken longer to paint than some of his throw up cats.
Alas! This piece from Face 1st didn’t last very long, and certainly not as long as it deserved, but that is street art, and everyone knows it. Face 1st continues to be one of our most productive artists in Bristol, and I probably need to update his gallery, because it quickly gets out of date.
Face 1st, M32 roundabout, Bristol, January 2022
The piece tucked away to the left of the river side wall of the roundabout is a full blown writing and face combination. The striking colours attract the eye and the girl’s laughing demeanour is compelling. Face 1st has been using this form of block writing quite a lot recently, and I would say he is enjoying it. I love the clever touch of weaving the girl’s hair through the block letters. A wonderful piece from Face 1st.
Another fine piece of script writing in a series produced by Smut. Smut is an artist I know precious little about, but I definitely look forward to his bursts of activity on Bristol walls.
Smut, M32 roundabout, Bristol, January 2022
Smut has a very recognisable style, which is incredibly neat and tidy, and if I were to liken it with any other artist, I would say it is like a slimmed down version of Slim Pickings’ TES. It is a little difficult to make it out here, but the yellow fill is a beautiful blend of two colours with spots merging in the centre line. This is a superb piece of graffiti script writing.
You will have gathered from the gallery I posted last week that I am enjoying the work of Mest at the moment. His aesthetically pleasing letters work well with graffiti writing and he constantly tries to switch up the fills and patterns in his fairly uniform and consistent letter shapes.
Mest, M32 Cycle path, Bristol, December 2021
In this piece he has incorporated a little extra intrigue with some orange-yellow wisps drifting across the letters. From the look of it he might have been using the dregs of that colour, because the fill is neither solid nor is it cloudy, it is more the kind of fill you’d get on a quick throw up. Nonetheless it is a handsome piece.
The number of Rezwonk pieces appearing about the place has definitely dipped in the last 18 months or so, and I can’t help thinking that his painting pal Decay moving out of Bristol, might be a part of this reduction in frequency, along with other projects he has been working on.
Rezwonk, M32 Cycle path, Bristol, December 2021
Even if the number of pieces is not what it was, there is a certainty about the quality. You know that Rezwonk will always produce tidy pieces with carefully considered colour palettes and designs, of which this is a good example. We are blessed in Bristol to have so many graffiti writers who paint at such a high level.
It is not often that I am in the right place at the right time, but I got lucky with one of my lunchtime walks with the dog when I bumped into Ments and Sled One painting this collaboration. Actually I made my own luck a bit, because I spotted them painting from the other side of the river and gave myself enough time to swing by and have a chat.
Ments and Sled One, Cumberland Basin, Bristol, December 2021
Sled One reminded me, not for the first time, that it was he and Ments who first started painting this wall, before it became one of the more popular Bristol spots. I think it is good for artists and photographers/viewers alike due to the open space and length of wall, although with long shadows and reflections photography can at times be a bit of a challenge.
Ments, Cumberland Basin, Bristol, January 2021
On the left of this beautifully prepped wall is Ments’ contribution, with a rather jazzy rendition of the ASK crew letters. Wall prep can definitely enhance a piece, and with this collaboration, the reddy-magenta works a real treat. There are definitely some strong Ments elements in the piece, but I am not certain I would have known it was by him if I hadn’t seen him painting it.
Sled One, Cumberland Basin, Bristol, January 2021
To the right is an interesting piece by Sled One, because it says 3Dom. It is most vexing, deceitful and confusing when artists write other artist’s names as a kind of shout-out to their mates, and makes misidentification a strong possibility. Again it was lucky I saw them painting this or I might have had egg on my face. This is a stylish collaboration from two very classy Bristol artists.
This lovely piece from Desi is another from the RBF paint jam a little while back and continues the bright and optimistic colour scheme adopted for the whole wall. I would love to watch an RBF paint jam, but alas, my working routine means I am restricted to lunchtimes and weekends (during which I have a whole ton of family commitments).
Desi, Cumberland Basin, Bristol, January 2022
Desi is an artist who has only been painting for a year or two, and with every piece her ideas and skills improve. It won’t be too long before she is giving some of the more established female writers a run for their money. The pastel shades used have a touch of ‘love hearts’ about them and this is a nice sugar-coated piece. I like the introduction of the blue triangles, adding interest to the fills.
Ooh what a beauty from Logoe, in the last place I would expect to find a piece by him, and just how well does it work on this wall? I love absolutely everything about this piece, and was super-pleased when I found it, especially as I haven’t noticed on any social media (at the time of writing).
Logoe, River Avon, Bristol, December 2021
To the untrained eye, the piece might read something like ‘vogue’, but for anyone who knows his work, the script lettering and horizontal dusting of spots would give him away long before reading the Logoe letters. I think that this is one of my favourite pieces by the artist and a gem of a find. Still more to come (I think).
Natural adventures 