Month: October 2018

1764. Upfest 2018 (58)

Some readers will know that Dice 67 is one of my favourite artists and that I have been really enjoying his transition from stencil artist to freehand and from practitioner to festival organiser – an inspirational artist and one I was fortunate enough to interview in this post published in July last year.

Dice 67, Upfest, Bristol, July 2018
Dice 67, Upfest, Bristol, July 2018

This striking piece features American teenager Alyssa Carson who is working towards being one of the first astronauts to journey to Mars some time in the 2030s. I have watched a couple of videos of her, and her youthful ambition is inspiring.

Dice 67, Upfest, Bristol, July 2018
Dice 67, Upfest, Bristol, July 2018

Dice 67 is creating some outstanding work and this piece is probably my favourite freehand work to date. The proportions on the board work well and the feeling of space to the left of Alyssa is cleverly done. I love the quote…

“Always follow your dream and don’t let anyone take it away from you”

…oh to be young again.

Party

.

An ice cream parlour

filled with happy teenage girls;

happy birthday P.

.

by Scooj

1763. Upfest 2018 (57)

The candle has blown out on the European project for the UK and this wonderful piece by Christian Boehmer (Böhmer) a German artist whose work I first saw at Upfest last year and have tracked on Instagram ever since. His trademark is that all the people in his works have paper bags over their heads to play with the idea of anonymity.

Christian Boehmer, Upfest, Bristol, July 2018
Christian Boehmer, Upfest, Bristol, July 2018

I still find our national vote to leave Europe deeply embarrassing and depressing and can’t believe what a pig’s ear we are making of it. The ‘Britain first’ narrative does not chime for me. It stinks of arrogance and intolerance – behaviours I and many others dislike. This piece I find quite a poignant reminder of our collective folly.

Christian Boehmer, Upfest, Bristol, July 2018
Christian Boehmer, Upfest, Bristol, July 2018

I do like Christian Boehmer’s work and was pleased to have seen his return to Upfest. I rather hope he comes again next year and that I get a chance to meet him.

 

 

1762. Upfest 2018 (56)

One of the more unusual pieces at Upfest 2018 was this absolutely wonderful tile installation on the gates of the Tobacco Factory by Chinagirl Tile. As the years go by, her work becomes more and more ambitious, and this ceramic Giraffe is certainly the largest work I have seen from this Austrian (international) artist.

Chinagirl Tile, Upfest, Bristol, July 2018
Chinagirl Tile, Upfest, Bristol, July 2018

The incredible giraffe is entitled ‘it’s a zoo up there’ was funded by the Austrian Cultural Forum London and BMEIA, and that got me thinking that her work must be rather expensive to produce and that funding and sponsorship must be an important factor in her ability to work. spray can artists probably don’t have the same kind of overheads.

Chinagirl Tile, Upfest, Bristol, July 2018
Chinagirl Tile, Upfest, Bristol, July 2018

Unfortunately I don’t think I have been able to do this piece justice, mainly because when I took the pictures, the sun was directly behind it. I think this is a wall that needs photographing early in the morning or in the evening. If you look closely, you can see the individual tile sections that are placed together to make the whole. I guess this is for ease of modelling and firing as well as transportation.

Another unusual feature of this piece is that the head of the giraffe is 3 dimensional, not a flat tile that one expects from Chinagirl Tile. I really love her work and am proud that she has chosen Bristol to play host to several of her pieces over recent years.

Mañana

 

Procrastinator

it’ll be on my headstone

or maybe it won’t.

 

by Scooj

1761. Upfest 2018 (55)

At last year’s Upfest, one of the most distinct cartoon pieces was by the brilliant Kid30, and this year he has followed up with this rather gory, but equally excellent piece. His work is so very crisp and clean and the shadows work well to lift the characters up from the background.

Kid 30, Upfest, Bristol, July 2018
Kid 30, Upfest, Bristol, July 2018

I think Kid30 has a bit of a thing for stitching, and his characters and often stitched in a bit of as Frankenstein monster way. I guess it is probably better not to delve too deeply into the artist’s mind to understand what is underlying here, rather just to sit back and admire his talent.

Kid 30, Upfest, Bristol, July 2018
Kid 30, Upfest, Bristol, July 2018

The speech bubble is rather fun too, which brings me to a question which is why is it always blah, blah, blah and not Blah or Blah, Blah or even blah, blah, blah blah? The symmetry of three.

Kid 30, Upfest, Bristol, July 2017
Kid 30, Upfest, Bristol, July 2017

1760. Upfest 2018 (54)

Wowzer, a staggering work in blue from Ketones6000 in South Street park at this year’s Upfest. A piece as striking as this is hard to overlook…it simply draws you in to get a better look. The artist, AKA Jerome Davenport is an Australian who has been working out of London during 2017 and 2018, and Upfest was just one of several festivals he painted at this year.

Ketones6000, Upfest, Bristol, July 2018
Ketones6000, Upfest, Bristol, July 2018

This photorealistic vision in blue is rather haunting and clearly has a maritime theme going on. The face is the first and most obvious component that you see in this piece, but when you get up close, some other interesting details emerge.

Ketones6000, Upfest, Bristol, July 2018
Ketones6000, Upfest, Bristol, July 2018

On the right hand side of the portrait you can see a tall ship emerging from the fog, so I am guessing the hero is probably a sailor of some kind. I love this piece and the atmosphere it creates – it would be great to get Ketones6000 back for next year.

Firsts

 

They say it’s the firsts

the first birthday, first Christmas…

it is every day.

 

by Scooj

In memory of my dad whose birthday would have been yesterday.

1759. Upfest 2018 (53)

In the chaotic and utterly unpredictable world of street art and graffiti, order has been created in the form of festivals. Upfest, the largest of its kind in Europe, brings artists from all over Britain, Europe and beyond to showcase their skills. The order I refer to is that rather than accidentally finding stuff, you can be certain to find artists that you like and actively seek them out.

Stelle Confuse, Upfest, Bristol, July 2018
Stelle Confuse, Upfest, Bristol, July 2018

Stelle Confuse is an artist whose work stands out for me from last year, and I was thrilled to see another piece this year. Again we have a tree and a message, and the message ‘plant a tree, plant emotions’ is brilliantly conceived with emoticons being borne by the branches. A nice, clear and well executed stencil from this Florentine artist.

Stelle Confuse, Upfest, Bristol, July 2017
Stelle Confuse, Upfest, Bristol, July 2017

1758. Upfest 2018 (52)

Alex Lucas is no stranger to these pages and is responsible for bringing street art closer to the citizens of Bristol in a charming and accessible way. Any visitor to the city is likely to have seen a piece of her work, because she has had a lot of commissions and her illustrations lend themselves very well to shops, cafés and other high street businesses.

Alex Lucas, Upfest, Bristol, July 2018
Alex Lucas, Upfest, Bristol, July 2018

Her piece for Upfest was on yet another new wall space, but rather inconveniently interrupted by a gate. Alex has used this to her advantage and incorporated the gate as a way of joining her two hares in conversation.

Alex Lucas, Upfest, Bristol, July 2018
Alex Lucas, Upfest, Bristol, July 2018

Although on the surface her work looks quite simple, it takes a long time to produce, and this piece was a real labour of love, given the number of weather-related interruptions. Each of the hairs on her characters are individually hand drawn, and as we ought to know, hares are hairy.

Alex Lucas, Upfest, Bristol, July 2018
Alex Lucas, Upfest, Bristol, July 2018

Most Upfest walls are re-used each year, with only the occasional one remaining as a more permanent piece. I suspect that this one will have a new artwork on it next year, which is rather odd in the case of Alex Lucas, because one is accustomed to the permanence of her work. It’s pink, it has animals…what’s not to like?