One of the most eye catching murals from this year’s Upfest must surely be this wonderful fox by artist Rob Wass.
The urban fox has become part of the furniture in Bristol, and has been studied over many years by Bristol University. It has become something of an emblem for the city.
Rob Wass, who lives and works in London creates some wonderful colourful works, but I think that these large scale murals are something of a slight departure.
This mural is one of several tribute walls in Bristol dedicated to Matt Hibbert known locally as ‘Mibsy’.
Mibsy had opened a spray paint shop (King of Paint) that supplied many of the local street artists, and he was much loved within the graffiti community.
His untimely death in July 2014, he was only 39, sparked a large number of tribute works, in particular in the Stokes Croft area.
This work, I believe, was a collaboration between Jon5, Silent Hobo, Sepr (see 19 and 22), Deamze and Dotcom, all Bristol artists.
The site is an interesting one. The once magnificent building dating back to 1868 was an ironmongery and hardware store but has fallen on hard times and is now derelict.
There is also a further interesting feature that accompanies the mural. On the left hand side is a statement that has been over-painted, but can be seen in relief, which reads ‘hate is foolish’. Layer upon layer.
6.5/10
On a wall opposite the Phlegm mural, previously featured, is a beautiful stencil of a tabby cat.
The cat, by Beastie, an artist from Gloucester, has left its blue paw prints behind. This is a lovely and somewhat understated work.
Beastie has been nicknamed the Banksy of Gloucester by the local media, and he would appear to be both prolific and popular.
7/10
This is a rather topical stencil which is by Stewy, whose dodo can also be found in Leonard Lane.
Stewy’s work includes stencils of iconic figures, and this one is of a well known celebrity in Bristol. DJ Derek is a 73 year-old disc jockey who plays sets in pubs and clubs in the Bristol area, and has also played at Glastonbury.
He went missing on 23 July this year, and has still not been found. Many fear the worst.
This stencil was produced before DJ Derek went missing, and the added graffiti makes sense when you understand the back-story.
7/10
With many thanks to a friend who told me about this tiny ‘shock wave’ by JPS, that is missed by most who walk this street. The pictures may give you some idea of scale.
In Weston-super-Mare, where JPS comes from, there is a full scale version of the same work on the side of a shop.
Weston-super-Mare is of course also playing host to Banksy’s Dismaland exhibition.
More JPS here and here, and also take a look at a great JPS post from Street Art Rat.
8.5/10
Only a stone’s throw away from the new Unify stencil, is a memorable work by one of Bristol’s most celebrated street artists.
Nick Walker was born in 1969 (which makes him almost as old as me) and has become a world famous artist, having emerged from the Bristol graffiti scene in the early 1980s. He tends to use stencils and freehand, and many of his works will be found in more than one place. More about Nick Walker can be found here.
This particular mural is known as ‘Rapunzel’ and features a recurring theme in his work of a ‘vandalism’ motif with a heart. It appeared in August 2008.
I will be posting more of his Bristol murals in time.
8/10
My mother told me I really should go and check out a beautiful bird mural in the centre of Chichester when I was visiting a week or two ago, so I did.
The mural, which overlooks the Baffins Lane car park, is by ROA, and was created during the Chichester street art festival in 2013.
Although his work appears throughout Europe and beyond, little is known about the artist from Ghent, Belgium.
He specialises in pictures of animals, often gracefully contorted in death poses. These birds however, are very much alive. I will have to look out his work in Bristol.
Strictly speaking this is street art, because it is a painting on a street, however it is likely to be a precursor to the rather more edgy stuff we are used to these days.
This small mural was painted by an artist, Tony Giles who lived in St Agnes from 1961 until his death in 1994. Originally from Taunton in Somerset he was known for his landscapes.
I wonder if he lived in the house behind the wall where this mural is.
The figure always reminds me of the cartoon ‘Pearly Kings’ in Mary Poppins.
I like it.
7/10
This brilliantly executed street art is one of my favourites of its type. Simple, witty and anarchic. I wrote a Haiku about it a little while ago.
There is not a lot of street art or even graffiti in this part of Cornwall, so this is a bit of a rarity
There is no point in trying to find out who did it, as I think it is a creative one-off.
7/10
I first saw this beautiful work before I really began to look out for street art when visiting Chichester a couple of years ago.
It is unmistakably a Stik mural and was painted during the Chichester Street Art Festival 2013.
Stik is based in London, but has created pieces all over the world. There is a large Stik in Bristol which I will post about when I get a decent picture of it.
I love this.
9/10
Natural adventures 