I think that the first thing I should say at the start of this post is that I know nothing about the artist of this curious piece for Upfest’s 75 walls in 75 days event. Certainly the piece is striking and unusual, and the artist, George J Harding, is more used to painting canvasses than walls, but it all comes together nicely in a rather unconventional way.
George J Harding, Stanley Street, Bristol, September 2021, Upfest 21
I have taken a quick look through George J Harding’s work and although there are a couple of street art pieces on his website, they don’t much look like this. I think he has gone for a creative freestyle approach, and by the look of it, did it quite quickly. It is great to see fine artists hitting our walls though and enjoyable to see the crossover in action.
I will begin this post with an apology – the photographs aren’t up to much because of the parked cars, and I don’t think that is ever going to change, so this is the best we can hope for. I found this extraordinary piece by 3Dom while I was hunting down Alex Lucas’ wonderful mural on the Easton Business Centre.
3Dom, Felix Road, Bristol, July 2021
I had to do several double-takes with this mural, because of its rather interesting content. On first inspection it might look like some innocent patterns and flowers, but look more closely and you might recall some of your reproductive biology lessons from school. The whole piece is an homage to the creation of life, presented as a growing shoot.
3Dom, Felix Road, Bristol, July 2021
The ‘flowers’ represent eggs in the process of being fertilised, although you have to look pretty hard to see evidence of this, but it is possible to make out little sperm cells doing their best.
3Dom, Felix Road, Bristol, July 2021
I’m sure that most passers-by probably won’t appreciate what is going on in this mural and the location is an interesting one, being on the perimeter wall of a children’s adventure playground. Initially I raised my eyebrows, but then thought that celebrating the gift of life where children play is probably the best place to site a mural of this nature.
3Dom, Felix Road, Bristol, July 2021
The root end of the shoot is rather more overtly phallic, with additional layers of symbolism. The planed earth is ejecting a stream of sperm which spells out freedom (3Dom) and the shoot of the plant is growing out as if from a seed. As I said, this is an extraordinary piece, and well worth a closer look if you find yourself in the area.
Yep, even more from Eman, a Bristol graffiti artist who appears to be tireless in his pursuit of happiness. Eman has painted a lovely old-school flat-capped character on the long wall that runs alongside the River Avon, opposite the paintworks. There are several of his pieces along this stretch which he obviously favours.
Eman, River Avon, Bristol, September 2021
Eman is developing, and at the moment his characters are reasonably simple in their composition. The cartoon design is bounded with a black outline and the fills are solid with a little shading around some of the leading edges to lift the piece. Over time, I expect to see him add more depth and detail to his work, because this is an artist who doesn’t like to stand still.
In recent weeks, I have noticed a few of these Smut pieces appearing about the place, of which I think this might have been the first. Smut is obviously not a beginner, the letters are beautifully crafted and the lines crisp and clean, but perhaps is new to Bristol, I don’t know.
Smut, Purdown Battery, Bristol, July 2021
Although quite tricky to photograph, the writing is beautifully presented i9n red and gold, a fine combination. The white accents add a beautiful touch and provide a 3D effect. It looks like they might have been painted with a bit of a mask, because the curves are very neat and tidy. Nice work from an artist whose Instagram handle is @everybody.loves.smut.
I have had these pictures lurking in my archive for a little while, and at last find a moment to bring them to you. The column piece (they can be a real pain in the backside to photograph) is by Mudra, and is characteristically rather fun.
Mudra, Brunel Way, Bristol, July 2021
Mudra has painted all the way around the column and on one half is a portrait of a white-haired gentleman compete with moustache (of course) and a little speech bubble with Mudra’s @ signature.
Mudra, Brunel Way, Bristol, July 2021
On the other half of the column is a hand holding what looks like a match or a candle, but it might be something altogether different. Mudra has a very strong, chunky style which hits you hard and is difficult to ignore. Head-turning stuff.
This was perhaps one of the lower-key pieces to be painted for the Upfest 75×75 event, tucked away in the car park of the Tobacco Factory. I don’t think I have come across Kappa V Kappa Art before, but it appears that they are a Bristol-based outfit who describe themselves as chaotic, colourful art. I am not sure of the identity of the artist(s) so have used the ‘they’ pronoun to overcome embarrassment.
Kappa v Kappa Art, the Tobacco Factory, Bristol, July 2021, Upfest 21
The piece itself, while certainly colourful, I wouldn’t describe as being chaotic, on the contrary, I think that there is a clear form to this delightful abstract piece, bursting with energy. Really rather nice, and I will be looking out for more work from Kappa v Kappa.
What an absolutely fabulous classic from Face 1st. It is pieces like this that first led me to appreciate the work of this rather underrated graffiti artist. Face 1st has been relentless in his pursuit of bringing smiles to people’s faces, and with this blue face girl he succeeds perfectly.
Face 1st, M32 roundabout, Bristol, September 2021
The colours used are really attractive and easy on the eye, and the typical smiling girl with the letters FACE for hair is pure Face 1st at his very best. I love this piece to bits.
Natural adventures 