5860. M32 roundabout J3 (557)

 

Kosc, M32 roundabout, Bristol, February 2024
Kosc, M32 roundabout, Bristol, February 2024

Oh my! This is Kosc at his very best, and even by his high standards, he has excelled himself. It is obvious that Kosc works very hard to develop his skills and looks to improve from piece to piece, stretching his repertoire and pushing boundaries. When you strive and work hard, you get your returns and this feels like a landmark piece to me.

Kosc, M32 roundabout, Bristol, February 2024
Kosc, M32 roundabout, Bristol, February 2024

From the background I would guess that this is an oriental scene and portrait, featuring a beautiful woman with flowers in her hair. The greyscale portrait has a softness of touch about it, accentuated by the solid chunky letters either side. I am not too sure why the ‘C’ melts away, but there must be a reason behind it.

Kosc, M32 roundabout, Bristol, February 2024
Kosc, M32 roundabout, Bristol, February 2024

To me, what absolutely makes the piece perfect, is the stunning landscape setting featuring mountains and trees and old buildings, painted in subtle shades of blue. Whether it is deliberate or not, the spilt paint on the ground draws the piece out towards the viewer and adds to the overall impression.  Brilliant work from an artist at the top of his game.

5859. Brunel Way (258)

Taboo, Brunel Way, Bristol, February 2024
Taboo, Brunel Way, Bristol, February 2024

Taboo is an artist who tends to keep himself to himself, and on the only occasion I have met him, he didn’t much want to chat, so I left him to it. He often paints alone, although he occasionally collaborates with his friends in the PLB crew. He doesn’t post on social media, so finding his pieces is always a genuine surprise, especially as I really like his work.

Taboo, Brunel Way, Bristol, February 2024
Taboo, Brunel Way, Bristol, February 2024

This is a really nice piece of anti-style graffiti writing, spelling out TABOO, with beautifully irregular and anarchic letters which are clean and crisp. I fear that he may have come out with a lack of red paint for the background, which is a little scruffy in places, but fine in the gaps in the letters, which is what counts. It is great to see that Taboo is out and about after a pretty quiet winter period.

5857. Den Lane skate park (691)

Nips, Dean Lane, Bristol, February 2024
Nips, Dean Lane, Bristol, February 2024

This lovely piece by Nips was slightly hidden from view, behind the hedge and fence on the swimming pool wall in Dean Lane. I think that I have been pretty late to the party when it comes to posting pieces by Nips, but I now have the artist fully in my sights and I’m sure there will be plenty of appearances from now on.

Nips, Dean Lane, Bristol, February 2024
Nips, Dean Lane, Bristol, February 2024

The letters, spelling NIPS, painted in a great and eye-catching combination of black and mint green are set on a complementary pink drop shadow. The star of the piece though, for me, is the crazy dog character making up the dot on the letter ‘i’. It is details and additions like this that elevate a good piece to a great one. More to come from Nips before too long.

5855. M32 roundabout J3 (556)

Kool Hand, Face 1st, Soap and Zake, M32 roundabout, Bristol, February 2024
Kool Hand, Face 1st, Soap and Zake, M32 roundabout, Bristol, February 2024

This collaboration from the Pirate Wall Art (PWA) crew is a little different in one key respect, and it doesn’t take too long to figure out what that is, but to spell it out, Soap and Face First’s writing resembles throw-up style graff quite unlike their usual individual styles.

Kool Hand, M32 roundabout, Bristol, February 2024
Kool Hand, M32 roundabout, Bristol, February 2024

To the left Kool Hand, an occasional PWA collaborator, has painted a blue leopard wearing a yellow bucket hat, and why not, pointing, I would like to think, in admiration of his friends’ writing. Kool Hand is perhaps an underrated street artist in Bristol, whose work often goes under the radar, particularly on social media.

Face 1st and Soap, M32 roundabout, Bristol, February 2024
Face 1st and Soap, M32 roundabout, Bristol, February 2024

Unusually for a triptych collaboration, the centrepiece here is writing, and a very fine combination from Face 1st on top and Soap underneath. The writing designs are quite old-school and in themselves nothing to write home about, but the fills elevate this central panel to a different level altogether. The pink fill is decorated with a whole bunch of squiggly designs, but the clever bit is how the fills transition seamlessly between the two pieces of writing. Great stuff.

Zake, M32 roundabout, Bristol, February 2024
Zake, M32 roundabout, Bristol, February 2024

I said in a post a couple of days ago, that Zake has been smashing it for a long time. He is a machine, turning out creative and fun pieces at a rate of at least one a week, This piece on close inspection is a little grotesque, as the main character is putting an arm into a mincing machine. The stuff of horror nightmares. Perhaps it is a representation of Sweeny Todd, the demon barber of Fleet Street. Who ever it is, there is a story here. All in all this is a fine February collaboration from the PWA boys.

5852. Cumberland Basin

Kid Crayon, Cumberland Basin, Bristol, February 2024
Kid Crayon, Cumberland Basin, Bristol, February 2024

Kid Crayon holds a special place in the evolution of Natural Adventures, as it was his paste ups that drew me into the exciting and mysterious world of street art in Bristol, with posts such as this first one, my 11th post, or this one of the boy eating cheese. I developed a love for wheatpastes because of Kid Crayon, who eventually turned his attention to painting with spray cans.

Kid Crayon, Cumberland Basin, Bristol, February 2024
Kid Crayon, Cumberland Basin, Bristol, February 2024

Kid Crayon is nowhere near as prolific as he used to be, but this is probably a good sign, because it means that his work as an illustrator and animator is keeping his busy and bringing in an income. In this bright and colourful piece Kid Crayon has written his name in letters with a variety of fills, and the eye is drawn to the character in place of the letter ‘O’. A fun and most excellent piece reminding us all what a fabulously creative artist he is.

5849. M32 roundabout J3 (555)

Saor, M32 roundabout, Bristol, February 2024
Saor, M32 roundabout, Bristol, February 2024

Saor, formerly known as Flava136, is an artist at the top of his game and one who paints in a similar style to Epok. He consistently pushes the boundaries of design, precision and interesting content. Saor often paints with his NTS crew mates, Mudra and Kosc, and this piece was part of a recent collaboration on the north wall of the M32 roundabout.

Saor, M32 roundabout, Bristol, February 2024
Saor, M32 roundabout, Bristol, February 2024

There is a lot to like about this outstanding piece of writing. The letters spell out Saor in Black Grey and white, with some subtle but impactful tints of green. There is a sense of geometry creating a framework from which some more organic shapes and forms are trying to emerge. Perhaps a tension between precision and softness that grabs the attention. The can control that Saor has is second to none and this is a magnificent piece of graffiti writing. We are blessed.

5848. M32 Spot (182)

Noise, M32 Spot, Bristol, February 2024
Noise, M32 Spot, Bristol, February 2024

There are some artists who, for one reason or another make a significant impact on me. Others will drift by, because their work, if I am being honest, simply doesn’t have any ‘wow’ factor, or show any signs that it is likely to. I guess that is being a little harsh, but some artists won’t and don’t appear to have the desire to improve, others might have loads of headroom and gradually piece by piece get better, developing their style and content. I guess that one thing they all have in common is the enjoyment they get out of slapping some paint on a wall.

Noise, M32 Spot, Bristol, February 2024
Noise, M32 Spot, Bristol, February 2024

Noise is an artist who grabbed my attention from the very first piece I saw, with his large chunky letters making a loud visual noise. In this piece the nicely constructed letters are beautifully filled with a series of horizontal blue shades with clever stripe transitions and some superb icicle drips on the letter tops. This is a really nice piece, and adds to an ever growing portfolio… time for a gallery soon I think.

5847. M32 Cycle path (252)

Pura Decadencia, M32 Cycle path, Bristol, February 2024
Pura Decadencia, M32 Cycle path, Bristol, February 2024

Every once in a while, Pura Decadencia drops a piece as if just to remind us that she is still out there. It is a pity that she doesn’t paint on the streets more often, because her quirky writing and vampire teeth add breadth to the spectrum of styles, nationalities and content of Bristol’s street/graffiti art culture.

Pura Decadencia, M32 Cycle path, Bristol, February 2024
Pura Decadencia, M32 Cycle path, Bristol, February 2024

I think that this might be the tightest piece I have seen from Pura Decadencia, with nice bubble letters a strong yellow border/drop shadow and some lovely fills, with great transitions between the colours. Of course, not Pura Decadencia piece is complete without a set of vampire teeth drawing blood. I hope we don’t have to wait too long before her next piece.

5843. Greenbank (106)

Sub and Bloem, Greenbank, Bristol, February 2024
Sub and Bloem, Greenbank, Bristol, February 2024

I mentioned in a previous post what a pleasure it had been to meet Sub and Bloem painting together under the M32 a few weeks back. The pleasure continued on finding this pair of pieces on the long hoarding at Greenbank. While the two artists collaborate, in so much as they paint together, their work is separate and distinct.

Sub, Greenbank, Bristol, February 2024
Sub, Greenbank, Bristol, February 2024

Sub writes his bold oversized letters, with deep drop-shadows, and I guess that a challenge for him is to fill a space with only three letters. There aren’t too many writers who only use three letters, I suppose that Slim Pickings, who writes TES would be one. The fill is augmented with his trademark wisp of smoke running over it, and he incorporates some interesting drip work along the top.

Bloem, Greenbank, Bristol, February 2024
Bloem, Greenbank, Bristol, February 2024

Alongside Sub is this quirky piece by Bloem. It would seem that she ha a bit of a thing for old ‘brick’ style mobile phones, and hands with pointy nails. What I like is that she varies these motifs from piece to piece, keeping both the theme running and keeping things interesting. Bloem is one of those artists whose work I always love finding, like Pekoe, Face 1st, Kid Crayon, Fiva, to name a few. This is a fine couple of pieces and I look forward to many more from the pair to come.

5839. Dean Lane skate park (689)

Raid, Dean Lane, Bristol, February 2024
Raid, Dean Lane, Bristol, February 2024

With the exception of commissions or permitted walls, street art and graffiti art in Bristol is largely an illegal activity that can at times be edgy in either content or placement or indeed both. The former Salvation Army building, on which this writing by Raid has been sprayed, has recently been converted into flats/accommodation and abuts the skate park. Historically, this has been an area with a high level of graffiti and tagging, but the redevelopers cleaned up their walls, presumably to tidy up the building to make it more attractive to buyers/tenants. There is nothing more tempting for graffiti writers, in particular, than a nice freshly cleaned wall in an area of high graffiti activity, and it looks like Raid gave in to the temptation.

Raid, Dean Lane, Bristol, February 2024
Raid, Dean Lane, Bristol, February 2024

From my perspective, not only is this a really nice piece from Raid, but it looks great against the clean brick wall… and there we have it, the edge, the mischief, the anti-establishment stance and so on that graffiti and street art have come to represent. We will all have our views on this, and that is what keeps the culture vibrant and the discussions fresh. For my part, I love street art and graffiti art (naturally) and prefer it to be in the right places. Sometimes you just have to admire the outliers too, and I admire this piece from Raid.