I only took this picture a couple of weeks ago and it has been buffed over at least twice since then. It is by the irrepressible Laic217 who never tires of creating these wonderful skulls and skeletons in various guises.
Laic217, Dean Lane, Bristol, August 2018
This skull is donning a gas mask, or is it a sophisticated protection mask from the fumes of spray paint? I guess perhaps the latter and the yellow patterns are the paint fumes. It works either way really. The detail in the eye sockets of the skull is awesome and the bucket hat with the smiley so full of character. Laic217 has smashed it with this one.
I have known about this mural for several years, but just never stopped to take a picture of it until very recently, and it looks as good close up as it does from a distance. It is by the hugely talented and lovely Bristol Artist Andrew Burns Colwill.
Andrew Burns Colwill, Westbury Hill, Bristol, August 2018
Painted in 2011, this mural depicts a giant looking out of a window and uses the trompe l’oeil technique to provide a false perspective that there is a window in the wall and that render has fallen, exposing brickwork underneath. It is in fact a flat wall.
Andrew Burns Colwill, Westbury Hill, Bristol, August 2018
I love the little details in the piece…the rose in the window sill and the ivy dropping down from the top of the window, and of course the cracks and the brickwork make this a truly magnificent piece, that I expect the good people of Westbury-on-Trym take for granted.
Andrew Burns Colwill, Westbury Hill, Bristol, August 2018
There is something rather forlorn about the giant’s expression and there is an untold story unfolding – the words ‘and the giant looks on, still waiting…..’ – tell us all is not well and I fear a broken heart is just around the corner. A most wonderful piece.
Unusually I find myself rather conflicted about this extraordinary recent piece by 3Dom on the M32 wall. I am such a big admirer of his work, but for reasons I cannot identify, this one doesn’t really tick my boxes. It is technically beautifully done, and the blue patterning around the outside is masterful, but there is something about the face that doesn’t work for me. It is peculiar, but I feel a little disloyal, though I don’t suppose that you can like everything all the time.
3Dom, M32, Bristol, August 2018
It is great to see more of his work about the place though, and this piece did manage to survive longer than the Sepr piece two to the left which had been buffed by the time I got there.
It is an extraordinary thing to travel to a foreign land and enjoy all that feels exotic and different, to bathe in a culture and history so different from your own. More extraordinary still is to stumble upon the familiar in such a context, but that is exactly what I did on a recent visit to Cortona in Tuscany.
qWeRT, Cortona, Italy, August 2018
Of course, while walking through the streets of the town I needed no encouragement to take a peek down the side streets to see what surprises might lurk. I have to say that wheatpastes by qWeRT were not exactly what I had in mind, but that is precisely what I found.
qWeRT, Cortona, Italy, August 2018
Altogether I think I discovered five pasteups by this ‘Natural Adventures’ regular, each in a different stage of decay. I would guess that these had been up for a few years, and I find it all rather touching that the civic authorities haver chosen not to take them down.
qWeRT, Cortona, Italy, August 2018
What also interests me is that there are copies of the same wheatpastes, but they appear each to have been hand painted separately rather than printed. I admire qWeRT’s choice of destination for these wheatpastes and am thrilled to have inadvertantly found them.
qWeRT, Cortona, Italy, August 2018
It also looks like qWeRT has dropped the Y from the signature since pasting these up.
It is always a pity when a nice piece gets dogged, especially when it has only been up for a day or two. This particular collaboration between NEVERGIVEUP and Soge was a perfect piece for the curved wall in Dean Lane skate park. It also marked a return of the monster by NGU, something I’ve not seen for a few months.
NEVERGIVEUP and Soge, Dean Lane, Bristol, August 2018
I had seen the Soge writing on Instagram, and it all really looked rather nice, but I guess some inferior talent had to go and goof it up. I’m all for the turnover of work, especially on ‘legal’ walls, but it is boring to see half-baked throw-ups going up over decent work. Still, we all know the (no) rules and just get on with it.
I was looking for the Andrew Burns Colwill piece (to follow soon) which I knew was a little off the beaten track for Upfest 2018 and spotted this brilliant little stencil by John D’oh on the wall of The Black Cat pub on the corner of West Street and Westbourne Grove.
John D’oh, Upfest, Bristol, August 2018
When I see small ‘hidden’ gems like this, I wonder how many Upfest visitors might have missed it in their quest for the ‘marquee’ artists – I don’t suppose it matters really, but as a street art hunter, I like to work hard for my trophies, it is what I do. This is a really accomplished little stencil and one that really chimes for me – a great little find – Thank you John D’oh.
I realise that this piece was not an official Upfest piece, but I don’t really care about that, because it is by one of Bristol’s finest artists, Tom Miller, and was painted in Dean Lane during the Festival – it counts in my book.
Tom Miller, Upfest, Bristol, July 2018
I managed to hook up with Tom Miller a couple of times over the festival, indeed we cowered from a heavy rainshower together on the Saturday morning under one of the skate park ramps.
Tom Miller, Upfest, Bristol, July 2018
Yet again, Tom Miller has absolutely ‘nailed it’ as he seems to do with every piece he creates. I only wish that my photography was up to the standard that he sets with his murals.
Tom Miller, Upfest, Bristol, July 2018
It is often difficult to fathom out what exactly is going on in Miller’s pieces and indeed, I think it is often open to interpretation – maybe only the artist really knows what this piece is about, but it incorporates all of his surrealist elements and the bright colours he uses. What is incredible about Tom Miller is that he seems to be just as adept with spray cans on walls as he is with paint brushes in the studio, and the end results are always unmistakably Miller pieces. Bravo two times over – I love this piece.
Cheo is a Bristol (and beyond) street art legend, and his involvement in Upfest is always eagerly anticipated. In the last few years Cheo has been quite dominant at the festival, so this year’s rather modest participation came as a bit of a surprise, his piece however reached all the high standards you expect to see from him.
Cheo, Upfest, Bristol, July 2018
Are we supposed to guess at who is hidden under the paper bag? My immediate assumption, given the Simpsons theme of the festival is that it is the mischievious Bart, but I may be wide of the mark and there may be another story going on here.
Cheo, Upfest, Bristol, July 2018
Somehow Upfest simply wouldn’t feel like Upfest without some contribution from Cheo, and it is great to see his work on a wall that he obviously enjoys, as he has had several pieces on this wall outside the Bristol Standard, in the past. Great stuff.
One of the great difficulties of writing posts from Upfest is that so many of the artists are new to me and it is difficult to comment on anything other than first impressions and a little bit about the artist. Often, as in this case, the piece is so good that my short ramblings don’t really do it any justice at all.
Akse, Upfest, Bristol, July 2018
Akse started as a graffiti artist back in 1992 in ther suburbs of Paris. He now lives in Manchester and is known for his photorealistic portraits. This incredible portrait of Frida Kahlo is one of the most memorable of this year’s festival and mirrors the great piece from Alexander Tadlock last year. As a subject, Frida Kahlo seems to hold interest for artists and I look forward to many more portraits of her in the future.
