5. Street Art – Page 163 – Natural adventures

6042. Upfest 2024 (1)

Maybe, Merrywood Road, Upfest 24, Bristol, May 2024

Right, strap in! Upfest 2024 is in full swing in Bristol. For those who don’t know, Upfest is a street and graffiti art festival which has been running intermittently for a decade or so and is touted as Europe’s largest festival of its kind, bringing local national and international artists to the city to show off their talents. The format this year is a little different from pervious years, where there is no central ‘festival’ element with music, food and hundreds of artists spraying boards in one of Bedminster’s parks. Instead, over three weekends (this being the middle one) more than 200 artists will be painting selected walls of south Bristol. I will try to include as many as I can in Natural Adventures, but alongside the everyday painting in Bristol, this will be a serious challenge.

First up is this piece by a local artist Maybe (@maybepaints), who has been rather quiet on the streets over the last 12 months. This is a classic, incorporating all the elements he has been fine-tuning over the years, such as his incredible planets and starry space. Humour plays a large part in his work, and a moon face eating a banana fits the bill nicely. This is a wonderful piece that fits the spot perfectly. You can see more of his work in this Maybe gallery.

6041. M32 roundabout J3 (577)

Hemper, M32 roundabout, Bristol, May 2024

Regular visitors to Natural Adventures might have noticed that I am posting three street art pieces a day more frequently than I used to, as if I were a man in a hurry. The truth is, I am. The sheer intake of new artists in the city, and the large number of established ones, means that there has never been such a high turnover of art in Bristol before, and I have never had more wonderful pieces to share. An added complication is that we are in the midst of the Upfest 2024 paint festival, and there is a huge influx of international artists whose pieces I’d like to share. This is a great first-world problem for me to have, but also means I have to post more often, and leave more pieces languishing in my archives.

This outstanding piece is from one of the best graffiti writers around, Hemper, and quite frankly is pretty much perfect in every way. Spelling out HEMS, the multicoloured fills are utterly sensational, blending and bleeding through the piece with consummate ease. Hemper is a master of his craft, and I can only stand back and admire the rich depth of this masterpiece.

6040. Peel Street Green (30)

Grimes, Peel Street Green, Bristol, May 2024

It feels a little odd that this is only the 30th piece that I have posted from Peel Street Green. Admittedly, I arrived at the show very late with this spot, and have only been swinging by the place since November 2021. What I particularly like about the long wall here is that it has delineated large sections which tend to be occupied by one artist in each, creating an informal outdoor gallery atmosphere. The artwork here can be very hit-and-miss, but this one from Grimes is most certainly a hit.

The letters in this busy work spell out the artist’s name in lime green and khaki colours, augmented with some wonderful black accents, and a cheeky grin in the ‘G’. The drop shadow is expertly done, helping the piece to pop from the wall. The graffiti writing is set on a swirly patterned red backdrop, contrasting nicely with the greens. I like the little shout-out to Cort whose piece Grimes painted over. Respect.

6039. Cumberland Basin

j9449j, Cumberland Basin, Bristol, May 2024

The Bristol street art and graffiti scene is so broad that it welcomes all styles and all levels of talent. We get to see it all here. Some towns and cities in the UK embrace street art through holding festivals, but have no underlying culture 365 days of the year. While there is nothing wrong with that at all, what remains is a sanitised selection of high-end art, keeping the place pretty. Upfest provides us with a microclimate of high-end art in the Bedminster area, but the rest of the city is up for grabs, and I like it that way.

A great example of Bristol’s artistic diversity comes in the form of artists like j9449j, whose abstract fills are really quite unique. There is a wonderful organic feel to his work, with plant-like forms cropping up through the lettering. j9449j’s work feels quite ‘designed’, if you know what I mean, and although some of the borders could be a little cleaner, there is an element of anti-style that works well. This is a bright and colourful calming piece.

6038. St Werburghs tunnel (426)

So here we have, in this piece from Stivs, the coming together of outstanding writing style with subversion. Every time I look at this piece, which is kind of two pieces joined together, I begin to wonder whether Stivs has issues… he certainly seems to be letting it all out in his work at the moment, and there is an almost obsessive trait appearing on this wall.

As well as his customary calligraffiti, beautifully produced here, Stivs reminds us that he is a very talented character artist as well. The demonic character is depicted in shades of purple, and contains a lot of detailing. Of course, the elephant in the room is the outrageously sweary backdrops. I would suggest that we could name this as Stivs’ ‘blue period’.

6037. Cumberland Basin

Daz Cat, Cumberland Basin, Bristol, May 2024

From what I can gather, Daz Cat has been away for a little while travelling in Southeast Asia, and has recently returned to Bristol not only with some vigour but also with a newfound inspiration that is coming across very clearly in his new pieces, like this one in Cumberland Basin.

I can’t say I have really seen anything like this from Daz Cat before, it is like his work has taken a significant step change. There is more sophistication and depth to his character portrait, who appears to be a hybrid between a human and a cat. There are some great colours used in this piece, and the hair is just something else. Daz Cat has come a long way, and his journey is getting really interesting.

6036. Dean Lane skate park (717)

I think that it is fairly common knowledge that ACAB is a subversive acronym derived from the phrase ‘all cops are bastards’. I am guessing that it was coined in North America, because we don’t generally use the word cop in the UK, preferring the terms Police, bobby, old Bill, ‘pigs’ or even ‘copper’ but rarely cop. ACAB is used liberally in street/graffiti art, and this piece on the curved wall by Mr Draws, has a humorous take on the letters.

Firstly, I would say that this is a really attractive piece by Mr Draws, who continues to gently push his boundaries all the time whilst retaining his style and identity. The design is great, the letters are nice and tidy and the fill colours work surprisingly well. Mr Draws has softened the tone of the acronym so that it reads ‘all cats are beautiful’, and has added in a cat character for good measure. Perhaps one could term this piece ‘fluffy subversion’.

6035. Lawrence Hill roundabout (19)

Slakarts, Lawrence Hill, Bristol, April 2024

In amongst the dross in the tunnels of the Lawrence Hill roundabout, there are some real gems, but you need to hunt them down. This beauty by Slakarts stands out from the crowd, conspicuous on account of its superior quality in terms of both design and execution.

Although the character piece is on the small side, Slakarts has worked it into the location perfectly, following the contour of the handrail, rather than fighting against it. The winning combination of pink and blue colours is easy on the eye, but it is the crispness and clean lines that really grab me. I guess the piece is ll the more enjoyable for being in this location, where I wouldn’t ordinarily expect to find a Slakarts piece. Worth the trip alone.

6034. St Werburghs tunnel (425)

Laic217, St Werburghs, Bristol, April 2024

Ha ha! This outrageous portrait piece by Laic217 at the entrance to the tunnel just makes me laugh. It has all the hallmarks of his work, that takes the grotesque to a new level, softened by some superb paint craft (by which I mean tone and depth) and a brilliant background.

I wouldn’t ordinarily associate Laic217 with St Werburghs tunnel, but it is great to see him painting here. The distorted face features an enormous toothy mouth and protruding chin, but the character seems happy enough with it. Street artists often add an edge to portraits by omitting to include pupils in the eyes, which gives a bit of a sinister appearance, unsettling for the viewer. The material of the character’s clothes is as you’d expect perfectly painted, and the backdrop of blue smiley faces on a pick background, is suitably trippy. This is a great piece from Laic217.

6033. Lawrence Hill roundabout (18)

Mind 49, Lawrence Hill roundabout, Bristol, April 2024

Lawrence Hill roundabout is a spot that is a little off the beaten track, and most of the graffiti down there is average at best, with a lot of bombers and taggers getting in some practice. Decent pieces tend not to last too long in a pristine state, but having said that turnover is pretty slow. I was therefore privileged on a recent speculative visit to find this beauty from Mind 49.

It has been wonderful to watch Mind 49’s development from a young artist at Upfest 17 when he was a youthful 16 year old painting under the name Mind Control. This piece follows the theme of concealed portraits that he has been painting in which parts of the face are obscured by hoods or glasses or other things and in this case by the fact that the subject is looking away. This style leaves more to the viewer’s imagination and is quite unusual in the street art world. This is a really wonderful piece tucked away from the more common spots.

	equinoxio21 on 7613. David Street
	M. on 7612. M32 roundabout J2 (…
	Sheree on 7613. David Street
	paulh121 on 7611. St Werburghs tunnel…
	cjsmissionaryministe… on Morning motivation

	equinoxio21 on 7613. David Street
	M. on 7612. M32 roundabout J2 (…
	Sheree on 7613. David Street
	paulh121 on 7611. St Werburghs tunnel…
	cjsmissionaryministe… on Morning motivation

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