4482. Upfest 2022 (8)

It is difficult to know where to begin with this outstanding street scene by Dan Kitchener, whose work just seems to get better and better. Painted on one of the larger Upfest walls, the typical street scene features tons of smaller screens displaying Japanese advertising and anime figures cheek by jowl.

The wall is not easy to photograph, so I have broken the piece down into sections or chunks to give a taste of the intricacy of each section. At the base of the piece, a wet street scene with a car and pedestrians holding umbrellas, is reminiscent (as I have said many times before) of the dystopian scenes from Blade Runner, a theme present in so much of Dan Kitchener’s work.

Above the street level, a bank of advertising screens and hoardings illuminate the dark street. It would be interesting to have a translations of all the writing, to understand better what is happening here.

It is amazing to see this all as one piece by one artist, because it comes across as if each section is by a different artist, if you see what I mean. I don’t know how long it took Dan Kitchener to paint the piece, but I know he works fast, and I imagine this represents 2-3 days of painting. An utterly outstanding piece that transports you halfway across the world, if even for a short while.