Unusual sound
baby cries in the office
to mixed reactions
a human reminder in
a sterile environment.
by Scooj
1883. M32 roundabout J3 (109)
I’m not sure how often Andy Council participates in paint jams (I can’t recall any recent occasions) but he certainly joined in the spirit of this one down on the M32 roundabout between St Agnes and Easton.
Andy Council is well-known for creating pictures of animals or birds that are composed of natural of built features. He has excelled himself with this beautiful duck-billed platypus swimming through a watery scene. This is a wall that just keeps on giving and will continue to do so until its next makeover and then its next.
1882. M32 roundabout J3 (108)
I may be imagining it or it might be a real thing, but Soap seems not only to be doing a lot more work on the street recently, but also is doing more writing. This is a lovely colourful little piece in one of the tunnels of the M32 roundabout combining his writing with his trademark mouths.
These tunnels must be a nightmare to paint, because they act as both footpaths and cycle paths and seem to be forever busy. Anyone who can produce art of this quality in these tunnels gets my instant admiration.
Juxtaposition
Northern hemisphere
writers scribble winter thoughts;
its sunny down south.
by Scooj
1881. Upfest 2018 (100)
My hundredth post on Upfest 2018 and I have been saving this piece to mark the occasion. Sometimes in this game you get to see something very special, and when I heard that Odeith was coming to the festival I had high hopes. This piece not only met, but far exceeded my expectations, and it was a real privilege to see this master of anamorphic street art at work.
I have seen a lot of Odeith’s work on social media, most of it of insects and spiders stretched across a corner, but this is the first time I have seen anything on three walls and under water. The effect is quite astonishing and how well it plays tricks with your eyes and mind. Even with the artist standing in the middle of the space, disrupting the effect, it still looks amazing.
The water level is so brilliantly devised that it feels like the viewer is swimming about a foot or so under the surface, and the water distorts the back of the scene where the crocodile’s head breaks the surface.
The walls of the tank are composed of large stone block letters, spelling out ODEITH. Not only is the concept of this piece extraordinary, but the skill and attention to details, light, shade texture and so on is second to none. I think that in most people’s eyes, this was the piece that stole the show. A technical masterpiece.
1880. Upfest 2018 (99)
Antonia Lev is one of those lucky artists who managed to paint two walls at Upfest 2018. The first, in The Hen and Chickens yard I covered a few posts back was complemented by this hoarding piece in South Street Park.
Her work has a really interesting feel to it and the colours are in the bright pink/purple/blue range which makes it stand out from the crowd. I think there is a story going on here, part of which is a social media commentary, which is rather pertinent as the artist (on the far left of the picture) is herself using the keypad on her smart phone in these pictures. Great to get an introduction to this artist from Russia.
Decay
A collection of wonderful abstract street art by Bristol artist (formerly of Cheltenham), Decay (DK)
Instagram: @dk_tmp_lrs
All photographs taken by Scooj
Specs
Fast failing eyesight
depressing, irritating,
debilitating.
by Scooj
1879. Upfest 2018 (98)
This gateway is a particular favourite of mine and has played host to some lovely pieces by 3rdeye and Aspire in previous Upfests. This year it was the turn of Dr Love, an artist from Tbilisi in Georgia.
The piece is a large stencil, and you can see just how tricky it is to put together a stencil of this size from the picture above. Looking at this stencil, I can’t quite work out the layering, but that is why I write about these things rather than try to do them myself.
Dr Love likes to spread love with his work and I think with this piece you can sense the tenderness of a skeleton holding a butterfly on his finger and the message is conveyed loud and clear with the large word LOVE across the middle of the piece. Sadly the work only lasted a few months before it was tagged, and I believe that a Muckrock piece is there now, but I’ve not managed to get down to see it yet.
1878. Upfest 2018 (97)
I think that this Paul Monsters piece counts as an Upfest work, even though it was completed a few days before the festival itself. Upfest simply wouldn’t be the same without Paul Monsters, and I mean that quite literally, as he is at the core of the organising work and biography gathering for the festival and works in the Upfest shop in North Street.
Paul Monsters is a master of creating these geometric 3D patterns which he does both as small prints or enormous walls like this one. What was preciously a bland and unremarkable wall has been transformed into a thing of beauty which lifts the mood of the area and those that look upon it.
In this piece he uses his trademark colours of orange, brown, purple, green and blue using shades of these colours to create the 3D effect. A remarkable wall from a lovely chap.
Natural adventures 