Here we have another fine piece of graffiti writing from Rezwonk in St Werburghs tunnel with a multicolour splash. I think it was painted at roughly the same time as the Sunday Funday paint jam a few weeks back.
Rezwonk, St Werburghs, Bristol, July 2021
I am a little short on time to write too much about this piece as I am heading off for another fishing trip this morning and have to sort myself out and write another post before I go. Suffice it to say that Rezwonk has used his metal panelling and rivet style again which is great to see.
The giant has awoken. For much of the lockdown period Soker had kept a low profile, with only two or three pieces painted over a very long period. Thankfully that lean time has come to an abrupt end and in the last couple of months Soker has graced us with his presence once again with some superb graffiti writing.
Soker, M32 roundabout, Bristol, July 2021
This is a lovely piece spelling out SOKEM, a variant of his usual SOKER. So much colour and energy is contained in this piece and it has been painted, as we expect, with consummate expertise. More to come from Soker… when I have a moment.
There is something really compelling and engaging about this fabulous cartoon piece by Morf. It would appear that this is one of several pieces he painted during a visit to Bristol recently, but it is the only one that I have found. I don’t know much about the artist, but from his Instagram feed it is clear that he is a massively talented artist and his style ticks a lot of my boxes.
Morf, M32 roundabout, Bristol, July 2021
The letters spelling Morf are being blasted with a ray-gun held by dismembered green hands. The colours are vibrant and there are wonderful contrasts between the different elements of the piece. His lines are clean and sharp, his shading is outstanding and the whole thing is simply brilliant. I love it.
This was what was left behind on the day Goldie came to town. For those of you who haven’t heard of Goldie, I can summarise as follows: he is a musician, music producer, DJ, artist and actor. When in the tunnel though, he is just another graffiti artist… no room for celebrity here. The occasion was a large paint jam, Funday Sunday, from a few weeks back and this is a loose collaboration from Goldie and Bristol’s 3Dom.
Goldie, St Werburghs, Bristol, July 2021
I haven’t seen any of Goldie’s work before so I don’t have much to compare it with. His style is quite traditional, with a deep 3D shadow and central vanishing point, and the letters spell out Goldie. He has certainly gone for a full-on colour splash and his work is surely accomplished. A very nice piece.
3Dom, St Werburghs, Bristol, July 2021
To the right of Goldie’s letters is an unusual piece from 3Dom, the story of which I just can’t seem to pin down. There is a serpent with a hand instead of a head, holding the Earth gently in its long fingers. The tail of the serpent wraps all the way over to the left of Goldie’s piece, hence the partial collaboration. There is an orange arrow piercing the hand. The piece is packed out with symbolism, but I’ll be damned if I know what any of it means. It all looks very nice though. A fun collaboration.
Bandito is another artist who is ridiculously underrepresented in Natural Adventures. I have quite a few unpublished pictures of his work going back years, but he just hasn’t made it into the blog as often as he should, or as I thought. I hope to put this right over coming months, if ever the relentless production of new pieces ever slows.
Bandito, Dean Lane, Bristol, July 2021
This piece on the left hand side of the curved wall at Dean Lane is fairly typical of his writing style. Nothing too flashy, but the name Bandito always stands out from the background. His work is often quite long and slim compared to other writers, probably because of the number of letters he has. Nice to see.
I came across this fabulous collaboration between Andy Council and Acer One quite by accident while they were painting it. I was actually seeking out another Upfest 75×75 piece on West Street and drove through this road on a bit of a cut- through. Andy Council was chatting with some people, but I did manage to meet Acer One for the first time, and of course, he was a great guy happy to stop for a while and talk about his work and a host of other things.
Andy Council and Acer One, South Road, Bristol, June 2021, Upfest 21
The whole piece is difficult to photograph, because the wall is long and there is car parking along the whole length. All the elements are interwoven with both artist’s work. The blue-green creatures are by Andy Council and the block geometric writing by Acer One.
Andy Council and Acer One, South Road, Bristol, June 2021, Upfest 21
The writing spells out ‘CHALLENGE CORRUPTION’ which is becoming something of an anthem in out country at the moment. This conservative administration is, more than any before it, pushing rather sinister boundaries, most of which appear to be about securing power, rather than serving the people… sound familiar? Their latest wheeze is to drive through legislation to make it easier to jail journalists who write exposés criticising government and who won’t disclose their leak sources. Oh dear.
Andy Council and Acer One, South Road, Bristol, June 2021, Upfest 21
I was able to study Acer One’s technique close up, and it is blindingly obvious really. He uses a trapezoid board, about a metre long and about 15 cm wide, with a handle in the middle, to act as a mask and measure for his letters, helping create the uniformity and sharp, straight lines of his writing. Finding out how he paints his letters has at last put to rest my curiosity.
Andy Council and Acer One, South Road, Bristol, June 2021, Upfest 21
Andy Councils creature, stitched together in several places, is wrapped around the lettering and is made up of separate blocks which look like they could be connected to each other, a little bit like a child’s toy like LEGO. The colours are imperial and the entire collaboration is rather grand. These two have been smashing it this year and it is lovely that they have been rewarded with this long wall for Upfest 2021.
One of Bristol’s most prolific writers of recent years has recently moved out of the city, and don’t we know it. There was a time when hardly a week would go by without a new piece from Decay, but now they are something of a rarity. This one was painted alongside LRS crew fellow Eman a little while ago.
Decay, M32 cycle path, Bristol, June 2021
Decay seems to reinvent his basic design every year or so, and this is his 2021 look with the letters D and K and a more prominent ‘Chuck’ character in the middle. There are some lovely design features in this writing, and I love the neon pink triangle on the K. I hope that as things return a little bit to a new normal, Decay will be able to come in to Bristol a little bit more often, his work is missed.
Many of this year’s Upfest pieces have been on large, premium walls, often over-painting previous masterpieces, but not all. There are a few standard sized boards at the Tobacco Factory car park that are the perfect size for graffiti writers. One such writer is Candie Bandita from London who specialises in script and lettering, particularly on shutters, and whose name is derived from a Commodore 64 game called Candy Bandit… not one I remember, but I was an Amstrad user addicted to Elite.
Candie Bandita, Tobacco Factory, Bristol, June 2021, Upfest 2021
The piece is a very special piece of writing in perfect colour matches with a superb metallic look to it achieved with clever use of white fills and shiny white stars. Setting it off perfectly is the neon pink Bandita glowing across the base of the piece. This is really accomplished graffiti writing and a privilege to see in Bristol. Shame that the Tobacco Factory café have elected to place a table right in front of the wall… keeping it real I suppose.
I ran past this piece from Kosc this morning, and in a curious way I felt rather proud that I live in a city where public art is embraced, albeit sometimes reluctantly embraced. When the artwork is as good as this, then surely a painted hoarding is better than a bare/tagged piece of construction infrastructure.
Kosc, Gloucester Road, Bristol, July 2021
The most obvious thing about the piece is the striking contrast between the scarlet background and the grey-scale character and writing. The background is more than a simple backwash, it has been overprinted with a roller with the letters KOSC on it, giving a texture to the background.
The character and writing are absolutely exceptional. The lady in the photograph? Well it seems that she was selected by Kosc from a gallery of pictures on Instagram by @pit_lad, who was more than happy to have it used for this outstanding piece. Kosc is going from strength to strength.
Brace yourself for a flurry of Sake pieces. Sake is an old-school artist who has been painting since the 1980s in Bristol, but I haven’t ever posted any of his work. I don’t know why – maybe it is because I have never met him before, that is until last week, when I caught up with him twice in St Werburghs tunnel. I told him that I would look through my archives and see if I had any older stuff of his that I could share. He was very pleased to hear this, and is keen to stop for a drink soon to talk about street art – I just need to find some time.
Sake, Dean Lane, Bristol, July 2021
This piece is on the curved wall at Dean Lane and is a repair to a similar piece he painted on this exact wall a few weeks ago and which got badly tagged. I think I have pictures of that original. Alongside his letters ‘SAKE’ is a Vaughn Bodē lizard, which is a favourite character for graffiti artists along with Cheech Wizard. I think this is a theme that I’ll need to investigate further before writing too much about it now, but will return to in future. A very nice wall painted by a decent, if slightly intense, artist.
