Another Bristol artist who has been very busy over the last eighteen months or so is Acer. Whether collaborating or painting alone, his productivity has been on the up, and that is definitely a good thing.
Acer, M32 roundabout, Bristol, September2021
This quick piece was painted alongside Benjimagnetic, way back in August this year, but inexplicably ended up in my archive. I have picked it up and posted it as part of my constant review of photographs languishing in archive folders. Here Acer is keeping it simple, spelling out his name with his familiar geometric design and technique.
Another absolute belter from the unstoppable Stivs on the M32 roundabout. He really is going through an incredibly productive and inspired period… long may it last. I often wonder, when artists are so prolific, how they afford the paint, because it is not cheap to paint a wall this big.
Stivs, M32 roundabout, Bristol, November 2021
This calligraffiti piece is notable for the exceptionally brilliant fill that is not only beautiful, but also has the appearance of being a piece that has been painted over… clever stuff from Stivs. As with so many artists in Bristol at the moment, Stivs seems to be hitting a new level, and shows no signs of letting up. A masterful piece.
To get the colours right in these pictures, I had to do a bit of manipulation, which if I hadn’t would have left them as yellowy-orange stains on the wall which really wouldn’t do. Instead, you can see the colours, which you can see with the naked eye, but in photographs are negatively impacted by the orange lighting in the tunnel.
Corupt, St Werburghs, Bristol, November 2021
The letters STICK are by Corupt, who is going through a bit of a purple patch at the moment which means that you should look out for more of his work appearing on these pages soon. Corupt is an artist who keeps himself to himself, and although I have seen him paint, at the top of a ladder, I still haven’t met properly.
From a technical point of view, this piece is on-point and skilfully crafted, but it is also rather beautiful too, with some excellent blended shading in the letters. More outstanding work from Corupt is in the pipeline.
It is not too long ago that I first met Desi while she was painting a wall alongside the M32, and what a pleasure that was. During the course of our conversation she told me that she had been spraying walls for about a year, and I have to say that she seems to be progressing really well.
Desi, River Avon, Bristol, November 2021
Desi’s letters tend to be uniform and stick to a basic design which incorporates a heart on top of the ‘i’. Such a decoration is almost exclusive to female artists, and seems to be a legacy of handwriting. I haven’t yet met a man who uses hearts or open circles instead of a dot over the ‘i’.
It would seem that Desi is working on the technical aspects of her fills, and she is doing well with this, adding variety and texture which seems to improve with each new piece. Desi is up-and-coming on the graffiti writing scene and I am looking forward to watching her progress. A lovely piece alongside the River Avon.
Life has become uncomfortably cluttered and busy in recent weeks, both at home and at work, and I am struggling a little to keep on top of my daily blog posts. Today for example I am using my lunch break to write this post, because I simply ran out of time last night and early this morning.
Pl8o, Sparke Evans Park, Bristol, November 2021
So here we have a delightful piece of graffiti writing from Pl8o, possibly the tightest I have seen from him. The clean lines of the letters are somewhat eclipsed by the fabulous orange border. Beautifully designed and executed. Surely it must be time for a Pl8o gallery.
Feek doesn’t paint nearly as a often as I would like him to, but just often enough to keep me interested and on my toes. Dean Lane Hardcore and Halloween seem to be occasions that he likes to mark. The other thing about Feek’s work is that, like many other street artists, it is very often associated with skating.
Feek, M32 Spot, Bristol, November 2021
This long wall is part of the M32 Spot DIY skate park, and tends to get fairly marked fairly quickly. Feek has made a little joke with his letters, spelling out M32 OOOH, in a ghostly way to mark Halloween, and in the centre of the piece is a nice big pumpkin.
Feek, M32 Spot, Bristol, November 2021
The pumpkin is cleverly painted, incorporating a hole in the panel as the open mouth of the scary fruit. The writing is covered in warts and eyes providing a cartoony scary scene, just what Feek does so well. A nice seasonal piece.
In this piece on the long wall under Brunel Way, we see Claro_que_sssnoh doing what Claro_que_ssnoh does so well – that is create distinctive interesting writing that creates a wonderful pattern of shape and colour.
Claro_que_sssnoh, Brunel Way, Bristol, October 2021
His work usually spells out HONS and his combination of curvy and straight lines are decorated with lines, patterns and dots in equal measure. In this piece it is the colour palette that is most notable, brightening up this drab and dingy corner. Painted as part of an HMR paint jam, it was the pick of the bunch alongside Dabuten Tronko.
I posted a piece by Biers last week, that was actually painted after this one in Dean Lane, both representing a bit of a come back from this No Frills artist. Thanks to Paul H, I now know that Biers is writing WD40, it would have taken me a long time to work that out on my own.
Biers, Dean Lane, Bristol, October 2021
This piece comes with a little bit of text saying: “I can’t wait to feel the weight of nothing on my shoulders” – a message that certainly chimes for me. The letters/character combination is tight as always, and the ‘0’ lends itself to all sorts of character opportunities which Biers has grabbed in this instance. It is so good to see his work appearing again.
To use urban slang, this piece is sick (metaphorically and literally) and is a long awaited resumption to spraying walls by Biers (who goes by several other names, but Biers is the one I use).
Biers, River Avon, Bristol, November 2021
I find it hard to read exactly these letters, but I am confident that Paul H might be able to enlighten me. This is a tight piece; the letters are bold and clean, the fills nicely horizontally graded, the white accents neat and tidy and the character clean and simple. Overall this is the work of a talented and experienced graffiti writer and it is great to see him getting busy again.
