Some of the artists who came to Upfest made the most of their time in Bristol to decorate other areas of town, such as Stokes Croft. D7606 returned to ‘his spot’ as he described it, next to an Aspire robin. I think this must be the third or fourth telephone box that D7606 has pasted up here. This time with Debbie Harry ‘hanging on the telephone’.
I like to see his work in Bristol, as I don’t get to London much these days. A couple of the previous wheatpastes are shown below.
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No church bells ring here
joined in civil partnership
their happiest day.
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by Scooj
Soon the storm will pass
and the blue skies will return
then we will have peace.
by Scooj
This is a very quick one from Si2, who also paints as Hull Graffiti. He was in Bristol for Upfest, and had a troubled time spraying the railway carriage down at Ashton Gate – the weather was not kind. Indeed I never got to see the final piece, but will post what I did get in good time.
Here he got some kicks by spraying a devilish head, and leaving a little Upfest souvenir. Thank you Si2. Pity it had been a bit dogged by the time I got to it.
Oze Arv was a very busy man during his short stay in Bristol for Upfest. This Portuguese artist from Lisbon uses patterns to mix expression and graphics. His style is instantly recognisable, as you will see as I post all of the work he left behind for Bristolians.
This is a lovely shutter piece on North Street, one of two ‘official’ pieces he sprayed for Upfest. Shutters are always hard, but he has been smart with this one, laying down a white background, which lifts the whole piece really well. I think most of his work tends to include the natural world.
I like the combination of the abstract and natural, I think it works well. I caught up with him for a few minutes, and he seemed like a really nice guy, happy to chat about his work. Lots more to come.
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From the corner of
my eye, I spied a spider
dangling from my hair.
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by Scooj
This was one of my favourite pieces of the South Street Park site at Upfest 2017. The picture of a Pirate is beautifully illustrated and has all the nostalgic feel of a children’s picture book. I would willingly pick up and read a book with pictures such as this. It tells its own story, for example, the writing on the pirate’s knuckles spells ‘FREE’…
The work is by Rame13 an Italian artist born in Pisa. She has been painting from an early age, but has only been producing street art since 2016, so a relative newcomer. Her Facebook page confirms what I already know…that I love her style, and the kind of work she produces, it is well worth a quick look.
Looking at the work in progress, it is interesting to see how she works in blocks, rather than in layers, like spray artists tend to do. Indeed it is refreshing to see street artists working without spray cans – there were a few at Upfest this year.
I think it would be easy for me to become a big fan – I hope she returns next year. Lovely work.
You can be pretty sure that when Goin takes to the street, the work he produces will have an edge and political aspect. His piece for Upfest was no exception this year. He has created a large monochrome stencil of a traditional working-class paperboy holding up a newspaper with the words ‘Bullshit’s Tories’.
I believe that Goin is French and this might give us a clue to the slightly curious wording. It is obviously an anti-Tory slogan, but doesn’t quite read right. It matters not one jot though, because it is pretty overt either way, and the piece is really powerful.
I like Goin’s work a lot, but was very slack last year, and missed out on his main Upfest piece. It was slightly off the main drag, and by the time I went to photograph it, it had gone. Not this year.
Bright white stripes disrupt
flat screen technology; sun
peeping through the blinds.
by Scooj
I love the whole idea of our beautiful wildlife being a little bit subversive, and nobody creates this edginess between cute and dangerous better than Chinagirl Tile. Her last two visits to Bristol for Upfest have seen her decorate the streets, not only in Bedminster but also in Stokes Croft with her anarchic ceramic creatures.
This is a rather charming little squirrel claiming to have stolen Banksy. It is nicely located on a wall surrounded with greenery. It rather blends in and will be missed by many passers by. You have to keep your eyes open.
I have several other Chinagirl pieces to post about from this year’s festival.
Natural adventures 