There was quite a good show of Christmas pieces this year including this colourful beauty by Taboo in Dean Lane skate park. As we expect, Taboo’s unconventional writing style challenges us and pushed the boundaries of what we are accustomed to. I love that about his work, he really is leading the way by thinking outside the box.
Taboo, Dean Lane, Bristol, December 2020
Although his style is progressive, the format is more conventional with a character, in this instance Father Christmas, combined with the graffiti writing. Santa is looking a little worse for wear, enjoying some Christmas bubbly but the writing, spelling out TABOO, is uplifting and colourful to reflect the Christmas spirit. This is probably my favourite Christmas piece year.
I’ve had this Dott Rotten SPOILT piece in my queue for a little while, mainly because I thought I’d already posted it… turns out I hadn’t. It is yet another demonstration of this artist’s graffiti writing skills. I’d like to make comparisons with other artists in Bristol, but I have decided not to simply because we are so very fortunate in having so many outstandingly talented graffiti writers in our city. There surely cannot be another city in the world with such a collection of top drawer writers… suggestions please…
Dott Rotten, M32 roundabout, Bristol, December 2020
In this piece Dott Rotten spells out SPOILT in fabulous letter shapes with his trademark spots adding interest to the fills. The piece is complex, with joins overlapping one another… I don’t quite know how he keeps on top of it, and the subtle shadows add to the overall 3D effect. The piece doesn’t stop at the red boundary, but is set on cosmic cloudy background. Brilliant.
The second half of 2020 was not a productive one for Decay, in terms of street work, so it was great to see some new pieces during the Christmas holiday break. This is a very neat and tidy Christmas piece on the M32 cycle path.
Decay, M32 cycle path, Bristol, December 2020
I think that this is the first piece I have seen in Bristol since August, although he did make an appearance at the Cheltenham Paint Festival in September that I haven’t posted yet (note to self – post a few more from the festival soon). In this nicely styled piece spelling out DECAY, his little character, Chuck, is greeting us with a Christmas Ho ho ho! It will be interesting to see what happens with the new hard national lockdown imposed yesterday. I expect some artists will make time to get out and about and others may go to ground. We shall see.
I managed to get out to do some street art photography during the Christmas break without the dog. That meant that I could clamber down into the Frome side spot, which is behind and below the M32 Spot, with only my own safety to think about. The trip was well worth it, and I expect to post several pieces from this cavernous location in the coming weeks. One of the first pieces I saw was this rather nice burner from Conrico which I believe he had only painted the day before, so I was there at just the right time.
Conrico, Frome side, Bristol, December 2020
For one reason or another I haven’t seen much Conrico work for the last few months. I think he has been painting a fair bit, but just not in the places that I tend to go to. The piece was painted during a particularly wet couple of days and is a warming fire set in a stormy sea kind of background. I like the piece very much, it has an untamed feel about it, bursting with colour and emotion. The message ‘F*ck the rain away’ tells its own story of frustration. Great to find.
When you immerse yourself in the world of street art and graffiti writing in the way that I and many others do, you develop a deep sense of how good the art is in terms of technical skills, emotional grab, story telling, colour sense and so on. And sometimes you need only glance at a piece for a second to realise that it is truly outstanding and on a different level. This is how I felt when I saw this from Smak in Dean Lane a week or so back.
Smak, Dean Lane, Bristol, December 2020
It feels like seeing something in CinemaScope for the first time when you are used to a smaller format. The letters spelling SMAK are perfectly arranged and the colours and fills, with a metallic feel, are outstanding. For me, this is a great example of perfect graffiti writing, and such a wonderful Christmas gift from Smak.
Rezwonk is an artist whose work I simply haven’t seen enough of this year, I guess we have been spoilt previously by the frequency with which he was hitting walls, and it was inevitable that it would slow down at some point. A similar pattern has been shown by Decay, and it is interesting that these two who used to collaborate a lot, haven’t done so for a long while.
Rezwonk, Dean Lane, Bristol, December 2020
This Fabulous piece of graffiti writing in a frosty cold blue (to match the winter temperatures) looks like it was painted n collaboration with a Pekoe piece just to it’s left (coming soon). As well as the technical brilliance of the piece with it’s riveted sections, the prep work has made all the difference with the fully buffed wall in a neutral colour lending support and focus to the writing. A fine piece from Rezer.
This awesome piece of writing, which I photographed back in November, along the River Avon cycle track, is by Spanish artist Claro_que_sssnoh or Claro for the purposes of this post. The Spanish crews are absolutely smashing it all over the city this year and have brought about some joy in a very difficult time for us all.
Claro_que_sssnoh, River Avon, Bristol, November 2020
This piece was sandwiched between two depictions of Satan to form the central element of the collaborative wall. I’m not too good at deciphering this writing, but I think the letters spell out NOHSE, or something similar. Claro is assured with his writing and can paint in several different and contrasting styles. This is an assured and beautifully sprayed piece.
This is the first piece I have posted from an artist new to me who writes under the name EMAN. I note from his Instagram that he has been painting Bristol walls for a while, but I just don’t seem to have come across his work before. In the gloom of an evening a couple of weeks back I was lucky enough to meet him while painting this piece during an impromptu paint jam along the M32 cycle path.
Eman, M32 cycle path, Bristol, November 2020
Eman was rather pleased with his character in yellow, which he was developing and which I think might become a bit of a signature element to his work, a bit like Chuck is in Decay’s work. This piece spells out EMAN in a thin yellow strip with a shadow that gives the sense of a piece of ribbon, which is rather clever.
Eman, M32 cycle path, Bristol, November 2020
This is a nice piece and I already have a few more on file for posting sometime soon.
It would seem that Smak rarely stops producing first-class pieces for us to marvel at, and he does this in between commissions. This is an artist at the top of his game who manages to do what he loves every day both in a work context and for his own leisure. Perfect.
Smak, Cumberland Basin, Bristol, December 2020
These pictures were taken during incredibly heavy rain and while I was in an incredibly hurry, but the blurry look of the piece is not an artefact of the conditions, rather it is the piece itself and the way it has been sprayed.
A short post today because I have to start preparing for our Christmas meal. Season’s greetings to you all.
Natural adventures 