5708. Old Park Road, Exeter

scooj

Dec 19

Paul Monsters and Mister Samo, Old Park Road, Exeter, October 2023

One of the last things I would have expected to see in my two-hour wander around Exeter back in October was a collaboration between Mister Samo and Paul Monsters, and yet here it was... a glorious piece of colour, design and creativity.

I have a feeling that the piece might be called 'you are loved', and there is a great deal of warmth and positivity about the piece, and the styles of the two artists although quite different complement each other perfectly.

I suspect that the two artists know each other through the Upfest festival in Bristol, at which both have painted in previous years, and Paul Monsters works in the Upfest shop and is heavily involved in the logistics of the paint festival. As ever, Paul Monsters' geometric designs create depth and hard edges, against which the character forms by Mister Samo stand out.

I love Mister Samo's work, which is highly designed but at the same time simple and clean. The characters in Mister Samo's work look like sophisticated doodles, and even though simple, convey a lot of emotion and charm. A real treat and fabulous collaboration from these two excellent artists.