Unai Emery
and his red and white army
a new football chant.
by Scooj
1765. Upfest 2018 (59)
This was not the main piece by Si2 (Hull Graffiti) at Upfest this year, but a lovely gift to leave behind. Si2’s wheelie bins can be found all over the place, generally wherever the artist has been. To get a utility box thrown in for good measure is an extra treat.
Si2 has a great knack for creating deep shadows on his monster faces that give them a texture and almost 3D feel to them. The strong prime colours might also help them to stand out. You would have a heart of stone not to raise at least a small smirk on seeing these creations.
I was not 100 percent convinced my his official piece this yer, but will need to take anothert look before writing a post about it. These are however, delightful.
1764. Upfest 2018 (58)
Some readers will know that Dice 67 is one of my favourite artists and that I have been really enjoying his transition from stencil artist to freehand and from practitioner to festival organiser – an inspirational artist and one I was fortunate enough to interview in this post published in July last year.
This striking piece features American teenager Alyssa Carson who is working towards being one of the first astronauts to journey to Mars some time in the 2030s. I have watched a couple of videos of her, and her youthful ambition is inspiring.
Dice 67 is creating some outstanding work and this piece is probably my favourite freehand work to date. The proportions on the board work well and the feeling of space to the left of Alyssa is cleverly done. I love the quote…
“Always follow your dream and don’t let anyone take it away from you”
…oh to be young again.
Party
.
An ice cream parlour
filled with happy teenage girls;
happy birthday P.
.
by Scooj
1763. Upfest 2018 (57)
The candle has blown out on the European project for the UK and this wonderful piece by Christian Boehmer (Böhmer) a German artist whose work I first saw at Upfest last year and have tracked on Instagram ever since. His trademark is that all the people in his works have paper bags over their heads to play with the idea of anonymity.
I still find our national vote to leave Europe deeply embarrassing and depressing and can’t believe what a pig’s ear we are making of it. The ‘Britain first’ narrative does not chime for me. It stinks of arrogance and intolerance – behaviours I and many others dislike. This piece I find quite a poignant reminder of our collective folly.
I do like Christian Boehmer’s work and was pleased to have seen his return to Upfest. I rather hope he comes again next year and that I get a chance to meet him.
1762. Upfest 2018 (56)
One of the more unusual pieces at Upfest 2018 was this absolutely wonderful tile installation on the gates of the Tobacco Factory by Chinagirl Tile. As the years go by, her work becomes more and more ambitious, and this ceramic Giraffe is certainly the largest work I have seen from this Austrian (international) artist.
The incredible giraffe is entitled ‘it’s a zoo up there’ was funded by the Austrian Cultural Forum London and BMEIA, and that got me thinking that her work must be rather expensive to produce and that funding and sponsorship must be an important factor in her ability to work. spray can artists probably don’t have the same kind of overheads.
Unfortunately I don’t think I have been able to do this piece justice, mainly because when I took the pictures, the sun was directly behind it. I think this is a wall that needs photographing early in the morning or in the evening. If you look closely, you can see the individual tile sections that are placed together to make the whole. I guess this is for ease of modelling and firing as well as transportation.
Another unusual feature of this piece is that the head of the giraffe is 3 dimensional, not a flat tile that one expects from Chinagirl Tile. I really love her work and am proud that she has chosen Bristol to play host to several of her pieces over recent years.
Mañana
Procrastinator
it’ll be on my headstone
or maybe it won’t.
by Scooj
1761. Upfest 2018 (55)
At last year’s Upfest, one of the most distinct cartoon pieces was by the brilliant Kid30, and this year he has followed up with this rather gory, but equally excellent piece. His work is so very crisp and clean and the shadows work well to lift the characters up from the background.
I think Kid30 has a bit of a thing for stitching, and his characters and often stitched in a bit of as Frankenstein monster way. I guess it is probably better not to delve too deeply into the artist’s mind to understand what is underlying here, rather just to sit back and admire his talent.
The speech bubble is rather fun too, which brings me to a question which is why is it always blah, blah, blah and not Blah or Blah, Blah or even blah, blah, blah blah? The symmetry of three.
1760. Upfest 2018 (54)
Wowzer, a staggering work in blue from Ketones6000 in South Street park at this year’s Upfest. A piece as striking as this is hard to overlook…it simply draws you in to get a better look. The artist, AKA Jerome Davenport is an Australian who has been working out of London during 2017 and 2018, and Upfest was just one of several festivals he painted at this year.
This photorealistic vision in blue is rather haunting and clearly has a maritime theme going on. The face is the first and most obvious component that you see in this piece, but when you get up close, some other interesting details emerge.
On the right hand side of the portrait you can see a tall ship emerging from the fog, so I am guessing the hero is probably a sailor of some kind. I love this piece and the atmosphere it creates – it would be great to get Ketones6000 back for next year.
Firsts
They say it’s the firsts
the first birthday, first Christmas…
it is every day.
by Scooj
In memory of my dad whose birthday would have been yesterday.
Natural adventures 