6040. Peel Street Green (30)

Grimes, Peel Street Green, Bristol, May 2024
Grimes, Peel Street Green, Bristol, May 2024

It feels a little odd that this is only the 30th piece that I have posted from Peel Street Green. Admittedly, I arrived at the show very late with this spot, and have only been swinging by the place since November 2021. What I particularly like about the long wall here is that it has delineated large sections which tend to be occupied by one artist in each, creating an informal outdoor gallery atmosphere. The artwork here can be very hit-and-miss, but this one from Grimes is most certainly a hit.

Grimes, Peel Street Green, Bristol, May 2024
Grimes, Peel Street Green, Bristol, May 2024

The letters in this busy work spell out the artist’s name in lime green and khaki colours, augmented with some wonderful black accents, and a cheeky grin in the ‘G’. The drop shadow is expertly done, helping the piece to pop from the wall. The graffiti writing is set on a swirly patterned red backdrop, contrasting nicely with the greens. I like the little shout-out to Cort whose piece Grimes painted over. Respect.

6039. Cumberland Basin

j9449j, Cumberland Basin, Bristol, May 2024
j9449j, Cumberland Basin, Bristol, May 2024

The Bristol street art and graffiti scene is so broad that it welcomes all styles and all levels of talent. We get to see it all here. Some towns and cities in the UK embrace street art through holding festivals, but have no underlying culture 365 days of the year. While there is nothing wrong with that at all, what remains is a sanitised selection of high-end art, keeping the place pretty. Upfest provides us with a microclimate of high-end art in the Bedminster area, but the rest of the city is up for grabs, and I like it that way.

j9449j, Cumberland Basin, Bristol, May 2024
j9449j, Cumberland Basin, Bristol, May 2024

A great example of Bristol’s artistic diversity comes in the form of artists like j9449j, whose abstract fills are really quite unique. There is a wonderful organic feel to his work, with plant-like forms cropping up through the lettering. j9449j’s work feels quite ‘designed’, if you know what I mean, and although some of the borders could be a little cleaner, there is an element of anti-style that works well. This is a bright and colourful calming piece.

6038. St Werburghs tunnel (426)

Stivs, St Werburghs, Bristol, May 2024
Stivs, St Werburghs, Bristol, May 2024

So here we have, in this piece from Stivs, the coming together of outstanding writing style with subversion. Every time I look at this piece, which is kind of two pieces joined together, I begin to wonder whether Stivs has issues… he certainly seems to be letting it all out in his work at the moment, and there is an almost obsessive trait appearing on this wall.

Stivs, St Werburghs, Bristol, May 2024
Stivs, St Werburghs, Bristol, May 2024

As well as his customary calligraffiti, beautifully produced here, Stivs reminds us that he is a very talented character artist as well. The demonic character is depicted in shades of purple, and contains a lot of detailing. Of course, the elephant in the room is the outrageously sweary backdrops. I would suggest that we could name this as Stivs’ ‘blue period’.

6036. Dean Lane skate park (717)

Mr Draws, Dean Lane, Bristol, May 2024
Mr Draws, Dean Lane, Bristol, May 2024

I think that it is fairly common knowledge that ACAB is a subversive acronym derived from the phrase ‘all cops are bastards’. I am guessing that it was coined in North America, because we don’t generally use the word cop in the UK, preferring the terms Police, bobby, old Bill, ‘pigs’ or even ‘copper’ but rarely cop. ACAB is used liberally in street/graffiti art, and this piece on the curved wall by Mr Draws, has a humorous take on the letters.

Mr Draws, Dean Lane, Bristol, May 2024
Mr Draws, Dean Lane, Bristol, May 2024

Firstly, I would say that this is a really attractive piece by Mr Draws, who continues to gently push his boundaries all the time whilst retaining his style and identity. The design is great, the letters are nice and tidy and the fill colours work surprisingly well. Mr Draws has softened the tone of the acronym so that it reads ‘all cats are beautiful’, and has added in a cat character for good measure. Perhaps one could term this piece ‘fluffy subversion’.

6032. St Werburghs tunnel (424)

Fade and Pekoe, St Werburghs, Bristol, May 2024
Fade and Pekoe, St Werburghs, Bristol, May 2024

Ah! Bravo! Bravo! What a magnificent and, if I am honest, slightly unexpected collaboration from Fade and Pekoe in the tunnel. Although the pair have painted together in the past, it still somehow feels like a surprise when they hook up to paint together.

Fade, St Werburghs, Bristol, May 2024
Fade, St Werburghs, Bristol, May 2024

I was going to write that this might not be the tightest of pieces, but the more I look at it the better it gets I’m my view. The sumptuous colour palette of gold and light purple ticks all the boxes and turns a good wall into a great one. Fade has kept the purple flashes to a subtle minimum, with just enough colour to complement the wonderful gold writing. Lifting the letters further is the beautifully clean white accent line along the upper edges of the letters. Brilliant.

Pekoe, St Werburghs, Bristol, May 2024
Pekoe, St Werburghs, Bristol, May 2024

I wasn’t too sure about Pekoe’s portrait on first glance, but I am sure now that it is absolutely on point. The lady is wearing a gold hoody that frames a beautifully expressive face and flowing hair. The woman’s face looks quizzically amused about something, and seems to be suspended in that moment before breaking into laughter, at least that is what I see, and that is the joy of art, we each take home what we see. I really love this collaboration and look forward to their next project together.

6031. St Werburghs tunnel (423)

Turoe, St Werburghs, Bristol, May 2024
Turoe, St Werburghs, Bristol, May 2024

Turoe is nowhere near as productive as he has been at certain times in the past, so it is always great to come across a new piece. Although the frequency has dipped, the quality of his writing hasn’t diminished one iota.

Turoe, St Werburghs, Bristol, May 2024
Turoe, St Werburghs, Bristol, May 2024

This is a lovely chrome piece in the tunnel, which is really brought to life with the steel blue border, without which the writing would disappear on the wall, and struggle to be noticed. Small things like this come so easily to experienced writers, and the thought that goes into design, colours and site location contribute to the final outcome. A fine piece of graffiti writing from one of the best.

6030. M32 roundabout J3 (576)

Stivs, M32 roundabout, Bristol, May 2024
Stivs, M32 roundabout, Bristol, May 2024

Here we have some more calligraffiti writing from Stivs, who appears to have had a bit of a rebirth lately and is painting furiously all over the place. I use the word ‘furiously’ deliberately because the words he is choosing to write  recently are on the bluer end of the scale and play into the passive-aggressive arena, contrasting the beautiful writing with the potty mouth language.

Stivs, M32 roundabout, Bristol, May 2024
Stivs, M32 roundabout, Bristol, May 2024

I believe this piece says KLAPE or KLAPY, which I think is just another way of saying CRAP, although I might be mistaken. The writing is, as ever, very neat and tidy, and has a sparkle about it, helped along with the little starbursts at the top of each letter. Much more to come from Stivs, and I am struggling to keep up as it is.

6028. Stokes Croft

Kid Krishna, Stokes Croft, Bristol, May 2024
Kid Krishna, Stokes Croft, Bristol, May 2024

It took me rather a long while to photograph this magnificent writing/character combination piece by Kid Krishna, but parking near this spot is a real issue, so I waited until I walked in to work (a reasonably rare occurrence since Covid) before snapping it up. Fortunately it has been respected and remained untagged since it was painted.

Kid Krishna, Stokes Croft, Bristol, May 2024
Kid Krishna, Stokes Croft, Bristol, May 2024

The Tribute piece almost looks like it has been created by two different artists, and it brings out the artistically ‘bipolar’ aspects of Kid Krishna’s skill sets. The character, which looks like a beetle-mole mash up is detailed, sharp and clean, whereas the writing looks much more fluid and spontaneous. This is a really classy combination piece from an artist who is red-hot at the moment.

6026. Brunel Way (271)

Dibz, Jody and Fade, Brunel Way, Bristol, May 2024
Dibz, Jody and Fade, Brunel Way, Bristol, May 2024

This extraordinary collaboration from Dibz, Jody and Fade, in my view, approaches graffiti/character combination perfection, and I feel that the more I say about it, the more I risk devaluing it. This piece, is adjacent to an earlier collaboration by these three which I haven’t yet had the space to post…

Dibz, Brunel Way, Bristol, May 2024
Dibz, Brunel Way, Bristol, May 2024

The classic triptych begins with some stunning writing from Dibz with an outstanding deep 3D drop shadow, full of shades creating loads of depth. There are some nice dark highlights in the corner of some of the letters too.

Fade, Brunel Way, Bristol, May 2024
Fade, Brunel Way, Bristol, May 2024

Bookending the central character on the other side is some writing from Fade which closely mirrors Dibz’ writing. The main difference between the two is the colour of the drop shadow. Their work is deliberately merged into one.

Jody, Brunel Way, Bristol, May 2024
Jody, Brunel Way, Bristol, May 2024

Arguably, the star of the show is the portrait piece from Jody in the centre. I don’t know what it is that makes this one so special, maybe it is the colours, maybe it is the writing either side, I just don’t know, but it is truly outstanding and captivating. The portrait is full of mystery and power, with the flowing hair and wispy flowers providing plenty of movement. This is really great work from the three. How often have I said that over the last year or two?

6025. M32 Cycle path (266)

Taboo, M32 cycle path, Bristol, May 2024
Taboo, M32 cycle path, Bristol, May 2024

I had to return to this spot to get some decent photographs of this unusual piece by Taboo, as the first lot were covered in shadows, but that is how it works. I work on the principle of always taking pictures of a new piece, whatever the light conditions, because it could be tagged or overpainted within hours. If I get a second chance to take better pictures, then that is a bonus.

Taboo, M32 cycle path, Bristol, May 2024
Taboo, M32 cycle path, Bristol, May 2024

Taboo has had quite a quiet period over the last six months or so, so it was good to find this one on the Cycle path. In his unique antistyle graffiti writing, Taboo manages to combine his unusual letters with characters, in this case a kind of grinning pig. I suspect the pig reference relates to the police, because he has included the words “No good cops. (Sorry)” which I guess is a polite way of saying ACAB. Looking forward to seeing more from Taboo as the summer unfolds.