Tag: Angus

3828. Upfest 2021 75×75 (23)

Angus is another of those Bristol artists without whom an Upfest event simply wouldn’t be an Upfest event. Originally a spray painter, Angus strayed into the world of tiles and mosaics a few years ago and he hasn’t really looked back.

Angus, Greville Road, Bristol, July 2021, Upfest 21
Angus, Greville Road, Bristol, July 2021, Upfest 21

Flying ducks are an integral part of British interior design history, and at one time were considered classy and sophisticated. Subsequently they have become a bit of a joke, only to become desirable icons once again. Angus has captured the essence of these flying ducks in a pixelated cartoon style in this narrow horizontal mosaic using the space very well. Lots of blues in these photographs. More Angus mosaics to be discovered at the Paintworks I believe.

3563. Greville Road (11)

I am taking the very unusual step of publishing an extra post today, because I can. I am on leave and should be walking the dog or on the allotment or doing the thousand other things lined up. But sod it, I thought I’d do this instead, besides which, my March 2021 folder is heaving – I have never had so many pieces to select from, ever and I need to share as many as I can.

Angus, Greville Road, Bristol, March 2021
Angus, Greville Road, Bristol, March 2021

This is a superb mosaic piece by an artist I’ve not posted for a very long time indeed. He does create new pieces fairly regularly, but they tend to be in places I very rarely visit, this being an exception.

Entitled (I guess) ‘Wanna Smurf’, this piece features one of the ghastly little creatures (I was never a fan) with a couple of floating hearts. I guess this might be a Valentine’s Day piece, but I am not sure. I like the location and originality/weirdness. I feel I need to hunt down more of these little mosaics from Angus.

2639. Stokes Croft

A cheeky little mosaic flower from Angus below the front window of what used to be the It’s All 2 Much art gallery in Stokes Croft. Now, either this is reasonably new (I don’t think it is) or I have been wandering around with my head in the sky. This particular design was used by Angus at Upfest 2017 and there are a few of them in Bedminster, but I’ve not noticed this one in Stokes Croft before.

Angus, Stokes Croft, Bristol, December 2019
Angus, Stokes Croft, Bristol, December 2019

Always witty and pushing for new ideas, Angus has created this Mario Brothers flower using mosaic tiles, which give it a pixellated look a la video game. So good to see his work in North Bristol… something of a rarity for this artist.

2431. Upfest 2018 (153)

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
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.

2292. Bath Road (1)

Well I have been very late to the party on this one. It is a magnificent mosaic piece depicting that once ubiquitous video game ‘Space Invaders’ by Angus. I believe it has been here for quite some time. Having looked at the piece on social media, I think that the background has faded quite significantly from its original dark sky blue.

Angus, Bath Road, Bristol, June 2019
Angus, Bath Road, Bristol, June 2019

I very rarely drive down this road, and I stumbled upon this and another couple of pieces in this spot by complete accident. It is funny, but it doesn’t seem to matter how much you hunt around in this city, there are always surprises waiting around every corner. I am a big fan of Angus and love his versatility and can-do attitude. Great fun nostalgic piece.

1994. Upfest 2018 (130)

You can always be sure that you’re going to get something pretty fun from Angus, and at Upfest 2018 he was playing around with a fusion of mosaics incorporating film/TV characters in a Banksy setting. Clever and engaging stuff.

Angus, Upfest, Bristol, July 2018
Angus, Upfest, Bristol, July 2018

In this piece, which must have taken days of preparation, Angus presents us with robots (in the place of chimps) from Star Wars, Futurama, Wall-E and one other that I can’t identify and the immortal words ‘laugh now but one day we’ll be in charge’. I rather hope that Banksy approves of this updated variant on his idea…another one made in Bristol.

Angus, Upfest, Bristol, July 2018
Angus, Upfest, Bristol, July 2018

In terms of scale, Bender, the Futurama robot on the right was about human size – this mosaic was no small undertaking, and this was just one of three (or more?) that Angus worked on at Upfest. Hats off to his lateral thinking and endeavour…a great piece.

1709. Upfest 2018 (34)

Ahhh, this is what you get when the Simpsons meet mosaic meets Banksy all orchestrated by the brilliant Bristol artist Angus. This young artist is usually one of the busiest people during Upfest, producing his creations all over the place, some official and one or two slightly less so.

Angus, Upfest, Bristol, July 2018
Angus, Upfest, Bristol, July 2018

I love this take on the famous Baloon Girl by Banksy, and I understand that ‘the people’ from The Simpsons rather liked it even though it was not strictly approved, as these things tend to be when dealing with enormous corporates or franchises.

Angus, Upfest, Bristol, July 2018
Angus, Upfest, Bristol, July 2018

I have been an admirer of Angus’s art over the last few years, and he is always so welcoming and accomodating when I bump in to him. Always adapting and seeking new ways to strecth his art, his great strength is in his ideas linking contemporary themes with wit. I like the man and I like his art.

1352. Upfest 2017 (138)

Angus was a very busy fellow at Upfest last year. Not only did he create this magnificent mosaic, but he also found time to collaborate with Chinagirl Tile and also lay down several other mosaics dotted about the place. Added to all of that business, he still had time to schmooze and chat with visitors over the two days.

Angus, Upfest, Bristol, July 2017
Angus, Upfest, Bristol, July 2017

This piece will be familiar to anyone who has played Street Fighter – I do not count myself amongst this happy crew – specifically it is move called ‘hadouken’…now go and consider yourself educated. Writing about street art really does take you on many new discoveries, tapping into the popular culture that influences the artists.

More from Angus to follow at some point.

Angus, Upfest, Bristol, July 2017
Angus, Upfest, Bristol, July 2017

1071. Upfest 2017 (77)

This is what you get when two mischievous artists collaborate, each with their own inimitable style. When Chinagirl Tile and Angus got together at Upfest this year, they produced this rather special piece which arguably was the most controversial of the festival, causing offence to some.

Chinagirl Tile and Angus, Upfest, Bristol, July 2017
Chinagirl Tile and Angus, Upfest, Bristol, July 2017

The raccoons are by Chinagirl Tile and the mosaic hand gesture is by Angus. Unfortunately the piece in its original state didn’t last too long at all before it was ‘redacted’ with some black tape.

Chinagirl Tile and Angus, Upfest, Bristol, August 2017
Chinagirl Tile and Angus, Upfest, Bristol, August 2017

Not long after that, the hand was completely replaced by yellow tiles, and the piece has really lost something. I will leave you to judge which version of this you prefer. For my part, this work challenges the ‘sanitised’ art you tend to get at festivals by being provocative and edgy, which is where most street art and graffiti art has its roots. Some really interesting perspectives being played out here.

Chinagirl Tile and Angus, Upfest, Bristol, August 2017
Chinagirl Tile and Angus, Upfest, Bristol, August 2017

I like the original, but I would wouldn’t I.