One of the first pieces I saw from Upfest 2018 was this lovely mosaic by local artist, Angus. Over the last couple of years, Angus has concentrated on his part mosaic/part spray painted pieces, but he remains a highly versatile artist who appears to enjoy working with different materials and concepts. His ideas are key to his work.
Angus, Upfest, Bristol, July 2018
This piece I guess must be called something like ‘fishing for likes’, or at least that would seem to be the literal translation. Angus was very busy throughout the festival and this was one of at least three mosaic pieces in addition to other work by the artist. Always good to see his ideas coming to life in this way.
I think that this is the fifth stencil/wheatpaste by About Ponny that I have posted from Upfest 2018 and in my mind every single one of them is a belter. In each it is both the skill of the work and positioning and the extraordinary content that makes these outstanding wheatpastes.
About Ponny, Upfest, Bristol, July 2018
About Ponny has a knack of portraying human pain and suffering without sentiment or compassion. These are raw pieces which strike at your heart and made even more effective by their low-key sitings. I had not been aware of About Ponny’s work before Upfest 2018, but on the back of these have become a big fan.
I felt it was probably time to pick up on a few more Upfest 2018 pieces starting with this beautiful Whale and Gannet work with a very strong environmental message from Adelle Gough. The text says “You are not a drop in the ocean, you are the entire ocean in a drop”.
Adelle Gough, Upfest, Bristol, July 2018
I like the style Adelle has used for this piece very much, and it has quite an illustrative feel to it, like it could be the cover of a children’s book on plastic waste or something like that. There is a narrative in the piece that is clear to see, with tin can plastic binding caught around the gannet’s neck.
Adelle Gough, Upfest, Bristol, July 2018
Adelle likes to call Stroud her home, but appers to do quite a lot of travelling around the country. She has a fine website Green Bow Tie Works that houses a gallery of her works and there is an interesting profile/biography of the artist which outlines her love for nature and the natural world. Whale pieces always go down well with me.
On the news that Jo Johnson the Prime Minister’s brother has resigned as a Government Minister and from the Conservative party. This has not been a good week for Boris. Perhaps a little humility might help.
In the dim foot tunnels of the M32 it is very easy to miss pieces as the walls tend to be very congested with tagging and bombing. It is the job of a hunter to keep eyes wide open and try to see everything. I had actually walked past these two faces by an artist new to me, Rinsulin, before doing a comedy about turn and taking another look.
Rinsulin, M32 roundabut, Bristol, August 2019
The pair of colourful 3 eyed-skulls look rather better in photographs than they do in the tunnel and although naive in appearance are nicely thought out. I would guess that Rinsulin is reasonably new to street art, but I mugight be wrong about that.
Rinsulin, M32 roundabut, Bristol, August 2019
It is unfortunate that both pieces have been tagged by Apeks, a nobody whose contribution is negligible, but i have to say that overall I rather like the colourful and anarchic faces that have a style all of their own.
Just when you thought the Rezwonk/Decay partnership couldn’t possibly get any better, they pull this one out of the hat (see what I did there?). This is a remarkable and thoroughly enjoyable collaboration painted brilliantly in the style of Dr Seuss’ Cat in the Hat.
Rezwonk, St Werburghs, Bristol, August 2019
The left hand side of the collaboration is by Rezwonk where the writing almost takes second place to The Cat, Thing 1, the kite and flower pot and the general setting of the piece. I believe this piece to be utterly outstanding and is right up there with my favourite pieces of the year.
Rezwonk, St Werburghs, Bristol, August 2019
The Cat in particular is so well painted, like he has stepped straight off the page of a book, Thing 1 also is incredibly faithful to the book. Surely this can’t have been painted with spray cans alone?
Decay and Rezwonk, St Werburghs, Bristol, August 2019
The right hand side of the collaboration is by Decay who has introduced the character Sam I am from the book Green Eggs and Ham. He also included the goldfish in his bowl from Cat in the Hat.
Decay and Rezwonk, St Werburghs, Bristol, August 2019
Decay has gone for a simple piece of writing in his usual (2019) style which acts as a fabulous backdrop to everything else that is going on with the piece. Fortunately the colour schemes used are not polluted by the horrible light conditions in the tunnel, and the photographs of the piece have come out OK.
Thoroughly brilliant by this pairing – Bravo! Bravo!
I make no apologies. I dislike this man intensely. His far right Victorian values chime for some, but it seems as if the last 40 years of progressive attitude changes towards race, poverty, disability, environment, gender, freedom, equality and general decency have passed him by. He is the epitome of the privileged, white, wealthy, little Britain that cares not one jot about anybody except themselves and protecting their way of life at all costs.
This man, whose disappearance up Boris Johnson’s arse has been rewarded with the role of Leader of the House, should be an example to all MPs. At yesterday’s emergency motion on prorogation he spent the majority of the debate draped across three seats of the front bench of the House of Commons overtly displaying his contempt for parliamentary process and debate. He is utterly disgusting and I hope the negative exposure this toad has been given will set back his career forever. How dare he behave like this? Sadly under this new Johnson regime I fear we need to get used to this kind of flagrant disregard for the law and for common decency.
Bravo to Caroline Lucas (Green Party MP) for calling him out.
Even though I have heard of Acerone, I think that this is the first piece of his that I have knowingly seen. He paints with this fabulous photograffiti style and the wall that he has painted this amazing Clifton suspension bridge on would pretty much have this view were it not for all the concrete in the way.
AcerOne, Cumberland Basin, Bristol, August 2019
Acerone is busy with family and art projects so does not paint walls too much these days, but I have a feeling that painting this wall might well get him back into the groove. I certainly hope so, because this is a real stunner and sits at the top table of Bristol Street art this year.
Natural adventures 