Pink tinged wisps scattered
across a darkening sky
as blackbirds chatter.
by Scooj
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.
627. The Bearpit (38)
Another political message and contorted body from the philosophical ObjectØØØ. The tunnels of the Bearpit provide probably the best space in Bristol for political comment as the area attracts some of the most socially deprived or uncared for people in the city. It is a place where culture and the impacts of government cuts converge in an angry outpouring and sense of injustice.
ObjectØØØ’s pieces always capture this sense of outrage – you are never in doubt about what he cares about. It is good that he chooses to do something about it through his artwork. This is a powerful piece, carrying the slogan ‘lucky not better’. In the piece, ObjectØØØ has painted a pained figure, a fallen angel maybe, appearing to crash to the ground. His trademark feathers and wing mark this out as one of his works. A really great piece.
626. North Street Green (6)
This is a rather lovely recent piece from Andy Council to celebrate the Chinese New Year and the year of the Rooster. The colours are fantastic and he has created a special Chinese take on the Clifton suspension bridge – a nice touch.
The piece is not very far away from the turkey that he sprayed back in November. Andy Council is probably one of the most well known street artists in Bristol, as he combines his pleasure spraying with all sorts of design commissions in the city. A popular artist who is at the heart of the Bristol street art movement.
Valentine robins
Flowerpot showers,
frantic feather ruffling,
Spring is in the air.
by Scooj
625. Upfest 2016 (95)
This piece is a really interesting collaboration between Ulysses Nevmer and Alexandr Hade both from Minsk in Belarus. Searching the Interweb to try and find out more about them, it would appear that they have worked together before.
The piece features two female portraits, looking towards one another. It is difficult to know if they are the same person or different people, but there is clearly a story going on. There is a confidence about Nevmer’s figure and on the left and Hade’s figure to the right is seeming to look on, longingly with some uncertainty.
Ulysses Nevmer tends to paint people, so she says in the Upfest programme biography, “because they are beautiful , also not only outside!” You can see more of her work on her Facebook page.
Aleksandr Hade has an interesting statement in his biography and it relates to the story in his pieces mentioned above:
“The front layer of Aleksandr’s works may seem pretty obvious and straightforward at first sight, though almost always it has its hidden meaning or a story to tell. The whole essence of his art concludes in prompting the audience to speculate on the real storyline and the idea beneath the seem-to-be-evident form. Aleksandr mostly touches on the themes of diverging time, people’s attitude to nature and mythology.”
Jack Sprat and his lovely wife
Though roles are reversed
the outcome is much the same;
be my valentine.
by Scooj
Jack Sprat could eat no fat
His wife could eat no lean
And so between them both, you see,
They licked the platter clean.
624. Upfest 2016 (94)
Peter Sheridan is an artist from Glasgow who is now based in Dorset having been raised in Manchester. He has been painting since 1982 when he returned from an inspirational trip to New York at the tender age of 12.
This piece was one of the first satirical pieces that I had seen, coming so soon after Theresa May had been appointed as leader of the Conservative Party in Early June 2016, and by default landed the job of Prime Minister.
Sheridan managed to combine May’s rise to the top with the Pokémon-go craze that was sweeping the nation at the same time.
This is a great commentary piece and presents us with a rather sinister view of the Prime Minister, something that I think chimes with a great many people who are not wedded to the right/far right of British politics.
623. Upfest 2016 (93)
There were an enormous number of works to look at and absorb at Upfest 2016, and inevitably some didn’t register at the time, but were snapped in the moment and retained. This piece, by Christian Boehmer, was one of those that I don’t recall, but that I am so pleased I captured so that I have been able to study it and enjoy it in preparing to write this post.
Boehmer, from Germany, is an artist who creates urban street art and drawings which have a common thread, all the figures have a paper bag over their head. I rather like this, in part because it satisfies my love of surreal art, but also because there is something very powerful in obscuring people’s faces and expressions. You need to study more their clothes, bodies, gestures, movements and so on without being distracted by the face. And then you are left being curious about the face and the personality. I like this piece a lot.
622. Upfest 2016 (92)
Gemma Compton was selected as the featured artist for Upfest 2016, and her work appeared on all the promotional material for the festival, including the maps, programmes, digital social media and even the painting a mural on the Upfest shop.
Having put in all the hard work she was rewarded with a nice white wall to work on, and she produced this fine piece in collaboration with Copyright.
I saw her busy at work on the piece, which took longer than the two days to complete, but I didn’t stop to chat, as I guessed she might have had enough interruptions over the two days. I regret that now, but I’m sure she’ll be back this year.
The other half of this collaboration, Copyright, is also no stranger to street art in Bristol and I have featured his work several times on this blog before. Gemma painted the left hand side of the heart, and Copyright the right. They are partners and this heart is a lovely way to mark their relationship.
Their styles are different, but complement each other well. One thing in common is that the subjects of both artists are pretty much always female. A nice piece…pity about the car parked in front.
Wake up from work
Blue tits flit about
in branches before me, a
welcome distraction.
by Scooj
Natural adventures 