Author: scooj

I am Stephen. I live in Bristol, UK. I decided to shorten my profile...to this: Wildlife, haiku, travel, streetart, psychogeography and my family. Not necessarily in that order.

1711. Upfest 2018 (36)

There is a very clear message in this excellent piece by Sophie Long, ‘save the bees’, a most noble message and one that most sensible people can subscribe to. It is common knowledge that globally and locally we are losing our pollinators at an alarming rate and most of the decline is due to pesticides because…guess what…they are designed to kill insects. A classic case of throwing the baby out with the bathwater.

Sophie Long, Upfest, Bristol, July 2018
Sophie Long, Upfest, Bristol, July 2018

There is a nice interview with the artist on the excellent Auntie G website which I can recommend – it is only a couple of minutes long, but it is nice to see the artist explain her work.

Sophie Long, Upfest, Bristol, July 2018
Sophie Long, Upfest, Bristol, July 2018

Now onto the artwork itself. I am definitely a fan of Sophie’s work and have featured several pieces in Natural Adventures in the past. Her studies of wildlife are magnificent and her rather etherial style gives her subjects a sense of movement. Her trademark though probably has to be those drips…such wonderful drips. This was one of the special pieces at Upfest this year.

1710. Upfest 2018 (35)

Max ‘syther’ Oughton is no stranger to Upfest, and indeed I wrote a short post covering his work from Upfest 2017. This artist, from East Anglia, is making a niche for himself with animal studies and illustration, so the Upfest programme notes tell us and this piece certainly covers that territory with a seabird entangled in the tentacles of an octopus.

Max Syther, Upfest, Bristol, July 2018
Max Syther, Upfest, Bristol, July 2018

The colour selections which are calming and serene betray the rather brutal scene which is a skilfully executed juxtaposition. Max Oughton has a great eye for the natural world, and it is great to be able to see his work for two years running.

Max Syther, Upfest, Bristol, July 2018
Max Syther, Upfest, Bristol, July 2018

 

I think that Max was just tidying up after finishing the piece when I took this last picture…a celebratory fag hanging out of his mouth.

1709. Upfest 2018 (34)

Ahhh, this is what you get when the Simpsons meet mosaic meets Banksy all orchestrated by the brilliant Bristol artist Angus. This young artist is usually one of the busiest people during Upfest, producing his creations all over the place, some official and one or two slightly less so.

Angus, Upfest, Bristol, July 2018
Angus, Upfest, Bristol, July 2018

I love this take on the famous Baloon Girl by Banksy, and I understand that ‘the people’ from The Simpsons rather liked it even though it was not strictly approved, as these things tend to be when dealing with enormous corporates or franchises.

Angus, Upfest, Bristol, July 2018
Angus, Upfest, Bristol, July 2018

I have been an admirer of Angus’s art over the last few years, and he is always so welcoming and accomodating when I bump in to him. Always adapting and seeking new ways to strecth his art, his great strength is in his ideas linking contemporary themes with wit. I like the man and I like his art.

1708. Upfest 2018 (33)

This is a magnificent new wall for Upfest 2018, just off East Street and pretty much perfect for large ‘permanent’ pieces by some well known artists. First up is this magnificent portrait by Koeone.

Koeone, Upfest, Bristol, July 2018
Koeone, Upfest, Bristol, July 2018

I am not sure I have come across the artist before, which is a bit of a surprise because he lives and works in North Devon, not a million miles from Bristol. This is typical of his work which features greyscale photorealistic portraits of women with pink and blue lettering and icons on the top of the head.

Koeone, Upfest, Bristol, July 2018
Koeone, Upfest, Bristol, July 2018

The final product is really classy and all the better coming from a self-taught artist. Koeone shares this wall with Nol, Hull Graffiti, and Voyder amongst others. Real high quality stuff. Definitely worth a visit.

Koeone, Upfest, Bristol, July 2018
Koeone, Upfest, Bristol, July 2018

Nice drips!

 

 

 

1707. Upfest 2018 (32)

I have only been doing this street art thing for about three years and so I am constantly learning and making discoveries. This fascinating shutter piece is by a Bristol artist that I have not, until now, come across before (and I thought I knew it all).

Dandiego, Upfest, Bristol, July 2018
Dandiego, Upfest, Bristol, July 2018

The artist, Dandiego, is a stencil artist who specialises in multi layer geometric designs, and in the case of this piece the the geometric designs work together to create the whole…a racing cyclist. This is like one of those pictures that comes into high resolution if you slightly shut your eyes.

I have just had a look at Dandiego’s Instagram account to see if I can find out more, or see whether I might have missed any of his previous work, but it doesn’t reveal too much just yet, other than that he will be painting at the Cheltenham Paint Festival (organised by Dice67) this weekend. Alas I’ll not be going as I’ll be fishing in Cornwall.

1706. Upfest 2018 (31)

There is something comical and warm about Pelmo’s work and I have to say that it really ticks pretty much all of my boxes. His ideas are witty, for example here we have a Deliveroo rider struggling to stay on the back of an enormous cyclist. I’m not entirely sure what the story here is, but it is a visual treat.

Pelmo, Upfest, Bristol, July 2018
Pelmo, Upfest, Bristol, July 2018

It is such a pity that the piece was squeezed into a corner of the Spotted Cow garden where the light conditions made it almost impossible to photograph. I know that Pelmo has had a wall in the previous two years, but I think deservedly so and it would have been nice to seen this on a ‘permanent’ wall – I suppose they have to take turns. I love this.

Wetting a line

.

Fishing the tide up

afternoon September sun

close to my perfect.

.

by Scooj

1705. St Werburghs tunnel (40)

At one time, maybe two or three years ago, there were new Mr Klue works appearing in the Stokes Croft area on a fairly regular basis. These days they seem to be something of a rarity until a recent spate of his pieces in St Werburghs tunnel.

Mr Klue, St Werburghs, Bristol, August 2018
Mr Klue, St Werburghs, Bristol, August 2018

This is a wonderful complex abstract piece with what look to me like floating wooden planks drawing the eye to a celestial central vanishing point. It is a clever piece and I find my eyes dancing all around looking at the detail of different sections and trying to work out what is going on. His style really is quite unlike anything else on the streets in Bristol and his return is a most welcome one.

1704. Dean Lane skate park (161)

Following on immediately from my last post is this collaboration in Dean Lane between Laic217 and Cort. You should be able to spot immediately the similarity of the Laic217 character here and the one he sprayed in Moon Street a few days earlier. This time the piece is complete with teeth and spray can.

Laic217, Dean Lane, Bristol, August 2018
Laic217, Dean Lane, Bristol, August 2018

I love this character and for me is reminiscent of the absurd ‘Far Side’ characters dreamed up by cartoonist Gary Larson. There is a lot to admire here, and the special detail of a Nirvana t-shirt with a spaced-out smiley just highlights how good this piece is.

Laic217, Dean Lane, Bristol, August 2018
Laic217, Dean Lane, Bristol, August 2018

I also am increasingly enjoying the work of Laic217’s painting partner, Cort, and although his style might take a little getting used to, it is good work. I am beginning to wonder if Cort and Corupt might be the same artist, as they share many characteristics, but I have nothing to confirm this idea. I’ll have to investigate. A fine collaboration.

Cort, Dean Lane, Bristol, August 2018
Cort, Dean Lane, Bristol, August 2018