It was impossible to ignore this extraordinary face by Rast ot Upfest 2017. Situated on the long hoardings at Ashton Gate, the bright colours and striking face drew you in.
Originally from Spain, Rast has been living in Bristol in 2014. I must say that I have not come across his work before, but surely would lioke to see more of it in the various locations around Bristol that I vsist.
.
Farewell dear Sudan
your tough skin was not enough;
the end of the line.
.
by Scooj
Extraordinary
eclectic cluster of the
Animal Kingdom.
by Scooj
What a treat. Longstanding readers will know that I am fond of wheatpastes and this little bricked up window at the end of North Street was an absolute treasure trove.
At the top is a D7606 telephone box with David Bowie strutting his stuff. I have written about a larger version of this in Stokes Croft in a previous post. All around this vibrant paste up is a collage of black and white pieces by D7606 and C3.
Underneath the telephone box sitting snugly side by side is another playful Jake the dog by Losthills, this time dressed up as a wonderful hippie. On Jake’s right is a subtle but lovely paste up by C3…but there is more…
…pan back slightly and to the right of the C3 is another Jimzina menu-woman to add to the several I have already posted, and let’s not ignore the Goopmasta sticker (more from him in a couple of posts). All in all a lovely wall.
This unusual and rather haunting portrait, on the hoardings in Raleigh Road, is by the amazing Wasp Elder.
Rather than try to write something clever about his style, that I am not over-familiar with, I thought I’d quote his biography straight from the Upfest programme, because it so perfectly describes what is going on in this picture.
‘Wasp Elder paints pictures populated by enigmatic souls and unstressed backgrounds, enticing a sentiment of an obscure journey.
His drawings, paintings and films present an evocative combination of solitary figures, collaged scenes, close-ups, obscured features, and potential catastrophe.’
It is a fine piece and was in stark contrast to the rather more lighthearted pieces on the rest of this hoarding, lending weight to the wonderful diversity of street art. I like this a lot.
Most ancient order
of lobe-finned fish enwrapped
with thick scale armour.
by Scooj
Reset the fireplace
mothballed until next winter
snow and ice return.
by Scooj
This was most certainly one of the highlights of my Upfest experience last year even before I knew that it was by an artist whose work I admire greatly, Braga Last 1.
I saw this piece early in its genesis on one of my first circuits around South Street Park, but inspite of Braga being scrawled all over it, the penny hadn’t dropped. It wasn’t until the end of the second day that I was able to see the finished piece and grab a few moments chatting with Braga Last 1, or at least I should say with his girlfriend as he struggled a litle with English.
The piece is a self-portrait with a crazy bag of stuff in a back pack…but where is he off to? If you take a closer look, this is actually a Brexit piece – there are some clues in the bag.
If you look carefully, you can see that in the rucksack is a book ‘Brexit for Dummies’ a brilliant title. What saddens me is that Europeans view our departure as utter folly, and I can’t help agreeing with them. I feel embarrassed and ashamed that our nation voted to leave and I am left feeling closer to the Europeans than to my own countryfolk. I fear an unhealthy legacy for many decades to come.
One of the first large pieces I saw at Upfest 2017 was this fabulously pink ice cream delight from Buff Monster on the side of the Salvation Army building which has played host to some wonderful work in previous festivals.
There seems to be quite a big thing for monsters in the street art world, and I guess it relates to having a licence to spray whatever comes from the imagination. There are some great monster artists out there of which Buff Monster is one.
This is a great big piece of fun which has been beautifully sprayed and is a real asset to this part of East Street.
I hadn’t seen any of Buff Monster’s work before this (one of the brilliant aspects of Upfest), but was lucky enough to find a piece subsequently when I was on holiday in New York. It is always great to see something by an artist you are familiar with…comforting.
I haven’t posted anything by Cheba for what seems a very long while, although I do know of one or two pieces he has created recently of which this is one. It would seem that he likes this particular spot which he has sprayed in the past.
Cheba is the master of cosmic murals, it is his thing and he does it so very well. It is possible to immerse yourself entirely in this piece, looking at the stars and clouds in this imaginary scene. While it might not be to everyone’s taste, this is beautifully sprayed and brings something of outer space into the centre of a busy city.
Natural adventures 