Month: May 2017

781. Upfest 2016 (125)

A man with a proper man cave. Luke Hollingworth, AKA Stencil Shed, AKA Syd is an artist who works in his shed, and outside his shed. This is one of his ‘outside’ pieces that he did for Upfest, and what a great piece it is.

Stencil Shed, Upfest, Bristol, July 2016
Stencil Shed, Upfest, Bristol, July 2016

Unfortunately I only got a couple of pictures of it, but I remember thinking at the time how much I liked it. It has a story, a message. On a Tumblr feed Syd wrote:

‘My 12ft X 8 ft piece for @upfest. Two great endangered species, the sperm whale and the black rhino. Mashed up and contained in Hirst like formaldehyde. Have to say always find it challenging to come up with something decent when painting on boards (90% of artists get boards at upfest.) my usual street pieces are woven into the wall. This hits the spot I’m hoping with its inventiveness. Revisiting an old concept of mine from 2013 when I placed Damien Hirst in formaldehyde in a field of cows. This one more of a play on his shark turner prize winning conceptual art. Down super quick as my wife is 7 days overdue on the birth of our second child, gulp.’

Says it all really.

 

Rain

 

Much needed although

unwelcome interruption;

the heavens open.

 

by Scooj

780. Upfest 2016 (124)

Located slightly off the main drag of Upfest is this rather large wall with an advertising hoarding inconveniently taking up the top left hand corner. In 2015, the wall was admirably sprayed by Snub23. This year it was the turn of Gamma Gallery.

Gamma Gallery, Upfest, Bristol, July 2016
Gamma Gallery, Upfest, Bristol, July 2016

I’m afraid I don’t quite get the concept of Gamma Gallery. I’m not sure if it is one person or a collective, but irrespective of that I think this is a magnificent piece. There is something about the pigeons that I really like.

Gamma Gallery, Upfest, Bristol, July 2016
Gamma Gallery, Upfest, Bristol, July 2016

For the observant of you out there…I took this picture a short while after Upfest, and the picture on the bill board is different from the one at the time it was painted. I wish I knew more about this piece, but the Interweb wasn’t very fruitful, so I am just enjoying it for what it is.

Gamma Gallery, Upfest, Bristol, July 2016
Gamma Gallery, Upfest, Bristol, July 2016

 

779. Upfest 2016 (123)

Arguably the most stunning piece of the 2016 festival was this huge and very popular work by PichiAvo. These two artists, operating as a single entity, are from Valencia in Spain, but are busy working all over the world.

PichiAvo, Upfest, Bristol, July 2016
PichiAvo, Upfest, Bristol, July 2016

Their works, as far as I can make out are a synthesis of graffiti writing styles incorporated into classical statuesque images…or at least that is my take on it all. I expect there are scholarly descriptions out there, but however their work is categorised, it is undoubtedly beautiful and supremely well executed.

PichiAvo, Upfest, Bristol, July 2016
PichiAvo, Upfest, Bristol, July 2016

I know I have more pictures of this piece, but I’ll be damned if I can find them, so it’ll just have to be these three I’m afraid. Loads more on the Interweb if you want to see other magnificent works by this duo. They have a fine website too. Magnificent.

Bookshop

.

No satisfaction

thumbing through volumes of books

I will never read. 

.

by Scooj

778. Upfest 2016 (122)

Mr June was one of the lead artists at Upfest 2016, and he had the privilege of painting a large wall, previously occupied by Dan Kitchener, on the side of the Salvation Army building in Church Street.

Mr June, Upfest, Bristol, July 2016
Mr June, Upfest, Bristol, July 2016

Trained as a graphic designer, Mr June took to the streets as a graffiti artist in 1985, and his preference for combining his love of typography, graffiti and abstract art come together beautifully in this mesmerising piece.

Mr June, Upfest, Bristol, July 2016
Mr June, Upfest, Bristol, July 2016

This is definitely one for the fans of large, bold designs that have an almost architectural feel to them. His use of colours is first rate, and the overall impression is impactful.

Mr June, Upfest, Bristol, July 2016
Mr June, Upfest, Bristol, July 2016

Growth

.

I’m in the greenhouse

That’s where you’ll find me, growing

As a human bean. 

.

by Scooj
* With apologies. 

777. Upfest 2016 (121)

This piece is tucked away in one of the parking bays in the Tobacco Factory car park, and is by Fats. Fats is an artist, so her Upfest biography goes, who is based between Dubai and Toronto and whose heavy black line work is in part influenced by Inuit art and Arabic calligraphy resulting in a hybrid style reflecting her own cultural confusion and ambiguity.

Fats, Upfest, Bristol, July 2016
Fats, Upfest, Bristol, July 2016

You can see more of her excellent work on her Instagram feed, and she also has an active Facebook page. It looks like she’ll be paying us another visit for the 2017 Upfest event, according to the Upfest artists page. Something to look forward to.

Fats, Upfest, Bristol, July 2016
Fats, Upfest, Bristol, July 2016

Based on this one piece, I think that I rather like her work. More so when I have checked out her stuff online. The colours, of course, are familiar to me through Decay’s fabulous work, and the abstract style is not too different either. Perhaps the two should collaborate…that could be pretty fun.

776. Lower Approach Road (1)

I had a recent tip-off via Instagram that Copyright and Paul Monsters were going to be collaborating again, this time on the slip road adjacent to Bristol Temple Meads station. I managed to wangle a moment of time and whizzed down to the station to see what was going on.

Copyright and Paul Monsters, Lower Approach Road, Bristol, May 2017
Copyright and Paul Monsters, Lower Approach Road, Bristol, May 2017

I arrived just as they were completing the piece, and it is another real beauty, just like their previous collaboration on North Street. Their styles really do work well together, with the geometric colour patterning of Monsters, providing a perfect foil for Copyright’s figures.

Copyright and Paul Monsters, Lower Approach Road, Bristol, May 2017
Copyright and Paul Monsters, Lower Approach Road, Bristol, May 2017

I spent a little while chatting with both artists and picking up on more of how the street/graffiti art scene works in Bristol, and a little about the work Paul Monsters does at Upfest. Such gents, and patient with my questions and observations.

Copyright and Paul Monsters, Lower Approach Road, Bristol, May 2017
Copyright and Paul Monsters, Lower Approach Road, Bristol, May 2017

What a wonderful welcome for visitors to Bristol and joyous sight for those coming home. I will post about the other two pieces at this location soon.

(why I don’t like) Ivy

 

Its relentless surge

strangling dispassionately

all it encounters

and the berries, destined to

paint my car in pigeon poop.

 

by Scooj

 

  • I was going to leave this as a haiku, but had so much more to say, and the rage in me added the two extra lines to make the tanka. The first version used a different word to poop, but I moderated it a little. Feel free to use the original word if it makes it more impactful.