Category: 7.1. Upfest 2016

533. Upfest 2016 (72)

This energetic and rather curious looking tiger is by the artist Lewis Campbell who paints under the name of Lost Monkey. Lewis Campbell, who comes from London is an illustrator story board artist who turns his hand to street murals and larger canvasses from time to time.

Lost Monkey, Upfest, Bristol, July 2016
Lost Monkey, Upfest, Bristol, July 2016

This work has loads of energy and an element of menace about it, but also seems to have something of the child about it. The name ‘Lost Monkey’ is (according to his website) a symbol of the potential ideas and imaginings that fill an artist’s head – just bubbling under the radar of the subconscious. As he is a native Londoner, I’m not sure we’ll be seeing a lot of Lost Monkey in Bristol – maybe at Upfest 2017.

Lost Monkey, Upfest, Bristol, July 2016
Lost Monkey, Upfest, Bristol, July 2016

532. Upfest 2016 (71)

This was a lively piece created for Upfest by the curiously named Francois GotBuffed, who is based in Belfast. He works mostly with stickers and paste ups, creating playful cartoon characters.

Francois GotBuffed, Upfest, Bristol, July 2016
Francois GotBuffed, Upfest, Bristol, July 2016

I don’t have much more information on this artist/sticker maker, but you can see his Facebook page here.

513. Upfest 2016 (70)

I have long admired the work of Annatomix from the comfort of my PC or mobile phone through Instagram and other digital social media. It was a real pleasure then to see her at work at this year’s Upfest.

Annatomix, Upfest, Bristol, July 2016
Annatomix, Upfest, Bristol, July 2016
Annatomix is a self-taught artist from Birmingham who seems equally at home with fine art work as she does with street art or graffiti art. Her geometric folded paper characters are very distinctive, and her pieces certainly stand out from the crowd.

Annatomix, Upfest, Bristol, July 2016
Annatomix, Upfest, Bristol, July 2016
She has a lovely website and you can read more about her here. There are also some great examples of her street art work on this Global Street Art page.

Annatomix, Upfest, Bristol, July 2016
Annatomix, Upfest, Bristol, July 2016
As with many pieces I saw at Upfest, I never saw the final work, but I love the simple peace (anti-war) message and symbolism. I want to find more of her work, but I think I might have to go to London to see it.

 

512. Upfest 2016 (69)

I have said on a number of occasions that one of the great privileges of Upfest is that we get to see so many artists from all over the country and beyond. This amazingly moving stencil is by Mister Feeney who is a spray paint artist and maker of stupid videos, so his Facebook profile says.

Mister Feeney, Upfest, Bristol, July 2016
Mister Feeney, Upfest, Bristol, July 2016
I can’t put my finger on it, but there is something haunting about this stencil, or familiar, I’m not sure which. It reminds me of the famous National Geographic cover of the woman with the headscarf and amazing eyes.

Mister Feeney has been a stencil art prize finalist for the last three years and it is easy to see why. His Facebook stream is well worth a visit, and you get to see first hand just how accomplished he is. This is a fabulous piece.

 

511. Upfest 2016 (68)

Regular readers will know that I am particularly fond of paste ups and the artists who create them, such as Kid Crayon, Tian, 23 Magpies, D7606 and Phoebe New York. Another wonderful and highly distinctive member of this genre is C3 whose works can be seen not only in Bristol from this year’s upfest, but also all over the popular street art areas of London.

C3, Upfest, Bristol, July 2016
C3, Upfest, Bristol, July 2016

Her work is always thoughtfully designed and presented cleverly. In this case, her subject shares a space with Phoebe New York and a tin of Stella Artois. Placement is everything for wheatpasters. This is like a little shrine.

510. Upfest 2016 (67)

I first ‘discovered’ Stephen Quick in January this year, when I found one of his pieces in the Tobacco Factory car park. I was immediately drawn to it because of both its wonderful stencil technique and its subject matter – Harrison Ford and Carrie Fisher kissing. Brilliant.

Stephen Quick, Upfest, Bristol, July 2016
Stephen Quick, Upfest, Bristol, July 2016

I then found another of his pieces, again in the Tobacco Factory car park (a fine venue for street art), which features Alan Rickman as a ‘Severus Sane’ commemorating the sad passing of Rickman and David Bowie in one superb piece.

 

Stephen Quick, Upfest, Bristol, July 2016
Stephen Quick, Upfest, Bristol, July 2016

Imagine then my excitement then at not only finding another piece at Upfest 2016, but also at meeting Stephen and having a long chat about his work and compositions. He is a really, really nice guy.

 

Stephen Quick, Upfest, Bristol, July 2016
Stephen Quick, Upfest, Bristol, July 2016

This is a remarkable piece, presenting the unlikely couple of the Iron Man and Judy Garland’s Dorothy in a close and intimate pose. There is tenderness and a passion from her and a cold, metallic heartlessness from him. It works so well. This is a magnificent stencil, and one of the best pieces from Upfest this year. I look forward to meeting Stephen again, and if I am lucky enough interviewing him. Great work.

Stephen Quick, Upfest, Bristol, July 2016
Stephen Quick, Upfest, Bristol, July 2016

509. Upfest 2016 (66)

Time to post a few more pieces from Upfest 2016. This wonderful fish, in the playground of Ashton Gate School, is by Angerami, an artist from Sao Paolo but who now travels the world for his art. He has a Wikipedia page, but sadly it is in Portuguese (I think), and I don’t know what it says.

Angerami, Upfest, Bristol, July 2016
Angerami, Upfest, Bristol, July 2016

The biography for Angerami in the Upfest Programme is as follows:

‘Angerami uses travel as an immersive process in the nature, revealed through art in many different medias. Travelling is a passion, which allows connection with his perception of time, space, spiritual awareness and human presence on earth.’

Go figure that out…translated I guess from another source. He paints fish on walls, and that is good enough for me.

491. Upfest 2016 (65)

This is one of the most beautiful and sensitive pieces that I saw at Upfest this year. The artist, Sokar Uno has created something really touching and outstanding. This is without doubt one of my favourite pieces from this year’s festival.

Sokar Uno, Upfest, Bristol, July 2016
Sokar Uno, Upfest, Bristol, July 2016

Sokar Uno is a young German artist who has been painting and illustrating since he was twelve. Clearly he is very talented.

Sokar Uno, Upfest, Bristol, July 2016
Sokar Uno, Upfest, Bristol, July 2016

There is a wonderful explanation of the approach he takes to his art on his excellent website which is really worth a visit.

Sokar Uno, Upfest, Bristol, July 2016
Sokar Uno, Upfest, Bristol, July 2016

I am thoroughly taken with his ‘classical’ style and would really love to see more of his work. I fear I might have to travel to Berlin to see it though. It is a real privilege to see him at work in Bristol.

Sokar Uno, Upfest, Bristol, July 2016
Sokar Uno, Upfest, Bristol, July 2016

490. Upfest 2016 (64)

This is one of the slightly more bonkers pieces from Upfest this year. Surreal and vivid, it absolutely makes me smile every time I look at it. Unfortunately I never got to see the finished work, but I was pleased to get some pictures of the artist at work.

Jimmy Duggan, Upfest, Bristol, July 2016
Jimmy Duggan, Upfest, Bristol, July 2016
Jimmy Duggan is from the Isle of Man, and is the only Manx artist I have come across so far. He has an interesting Facebook page for his art work, which gives you a real feel for his expressive and creative work. I would dearly like to see more of his stuff in Bristol, but I think it unlikely. Maybe next Upfest?

Jimmy Duggan, Upfest, Bristol, July 2016
Jimmy Duggan, Upfest, Bristol, July 2016

489. Upfest 2016 (63)

Mr Draws is a busy Bristol street artist who specialises in spraying colourful impressionist mountain ranges. His style is simple and at times appears to be naive, but it is far from that, and some of his pieces demonstrate his sophistication.

Mr Draws, Upfest, Bristol, July 2016
Mr Draws, Upfest, Bristol, July 2016
Mr Draws has been spraying a lot since Upfest in July, but I haven’t been out as much as I would like recently and so have missed lots of his work. I know he is not everyone’s cup of tea, but like so many of the Bristol street artists his work has grown on me. I also like it that in amongst all the international ‘big name’ artists invited to Upfest, there are dozens of local artists upholding the Bristol graffiti tradition. Good work.