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Archipelago
out of sight and out of mind
Galtieri strikes
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by Scooj
Tag: Bristol
4891. Dean Lane skate park (551)
Constantly out there in the background, rarely taking centre stage, is the magnificent Trafficity with his incredibly consistent form of letters spelling out ZIOM. This time, the PAD crew member ha painted on the swimming pool wall behind the railings.
Every time I see Trafficity’s work, I wonder if there is an extra line of letters running across the top, in this case the purple section, or whether it is just an artefact of his letter styling. I guess that I’ll just have to ask him next time I see him, although because He doesn’t paint all that frequently, it might be some time before that happens. It is always great to see his work.
4890. Upfest 2022 (65)
The 1M square boards at Upfest tend to lend themselves perfectly to small detailed stencil pieces which can sometimes be lost on larger walls, and this is a perfect example of an outstanding stencil piece in exactly the right format.
RJ77stencils has created this haunting and compelling piece of a girl with her head in her hands and the words: ‘Sometimes all I want to do is hide’. The greyscale stencil has at least five layers and possibly more, which bring out all the different textures in the piece, especially on the girl’s jumper. There is so much emotion conveyed in this clever and perfectly executed stencil, demonstrating how the technique comes into its own. Great work from RJ77stencils.
Frost
.
Accumulation
of perfect cuboid crystals
Freezing point drama
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by Scooj
4889. Upfest 2022 (64)
I love it when fine artists paint at Upfest, it affords them the opportunity to ‘go large’ and make a big impression with their studio skills in an open air environment. Lee Ellis is a Bristol-based artist best known for his abstract portraits, which have a slightly sinister or unsettling quality about them. In this Upfest piece, Lee Ellis has treated us to not one but five portraits in this piece.
The portraits feature a blue-faced man (or men) in black shirts, each with a cup of tea. It is the contrasting red background that helps to elevate the work into something quite extraordinary. While the style may not be to everyone’s taste, this was definitely a unique piece that I’m sure would have remained in visitor’s memories for a long while. Striking.
4888. Upfest 2022 (63)
I love challenging and controversial pieces, especially ones featuring cultural icons, although it has to be said that two same sex superheroes kissing is far less shocking these days than it would have been when I was growing up, which I would suggest is massive progress on our pathway towards tolerance, equity, respect and understanding,
Rich Simmons has produced this superb pop art piece featuring Batman and Superman in an intimate moment, with black and white repetitions of the embrace in the background. An accomplished piece from an accomplished artist that fits the spot in the Tobacco Factory car park perfectly.
4887. Upfest 2022 (62)
Sprite is not an artist I know well, although there was a memorable contribution from her for Upfest’s 50×50 event last year. Sprite’s website is well worth a visit to see some of her street work and art for sale. Dig a little deeper into her profile, and you find out that her partner is Snub23 – a talented artistic partnership.
This is a gorgeous little piece featuring a possum (I think) on a wall at the top of Greville Smyth Park, where the main body of the festival was held this year. The composition is neatly worked into the oval frame and oozes cuteness without being too cartoony. A lovely piece.
4887. Upfest 2022 (61)
I have only encountered Daub and his work at festivals, and so I conclude that he rather enjoys them. It would be nice to have him visit Bristol to paint a wall or two, but I just don’t think it is going to happen.
The fish eating fish is a familiar motif, but one that is given the Daub treatment, and looks fantastic. Daub tends to draw up his design with a white filled outline, to which the detailed black lines are added with black pen work. The outcome is always spectacular and full of fine detail. Fish and street art, what is not to like?
4885. Upfest 2022 (60)
This collaboration is an absolute belter from the RBF crew and brings together the talents of Bnie, Vozie, Pekoe and Evey in one magnificent board.
It was great to watch the crew paint this piece on a gorgeous day in late May, which felt like a genuinely joyous celebration of art and music in a totally Bristol context.
The colour scheme adopted was sustained across the whole collaborative piece and combines the colours pink and blue that seem to have been a bit of a thing this year. On the left, Bnie and Vozie spoilt us with two superb examples of great graffiti writing.
The centrepiece of the collaboration was this magnificent portrait piece by Pekoe and arguably her finest piece of the year, although the bar she set herself was pretty high.
On the right, Evey rounded the piece off with a huge shout-out to themselves with an RBF which I think might have been painted by Bnie at a guess. Some beautiful work from a beautiful group of people.
Thursday doors – 15 December 2022
Doors 203 – My favourite doors of 2022 – a review
It is customary on the last Thursday before the Christmas break to present a selection of favourite doors from the last year. This is my selection, and I had some real beauties to choose from this year. I hope you enjoy them this second time round. I look forward to seeing other Thursday door selections too.
So that’s it for the year. 2022 has been a very difficult year for so many reasons. I guess it is fitting that the final pair of doors in blue and yellow represent the colours of a country that I hadn’t given much consideration before dictator Putin’s “special operation” and invasion this year. I dedicate this gallery of doors to the people of Ukraine, keeping them very much in my thoughts this Christmas.
May I take the opportunity to wish you all a very happy holiday season, and Christmas. See you all on the other side.
If you have made it this far, you probably like doors, and you really ought to take a look at the No Facilities blog by Dan Anton who has taken over the hosting of Thursday Doors from Norm 2.0 blog. Links to more doorscursions can be found in the comments section of Dan Anton’s Thursday Doors post.
by Scooj
Natural adventures 