If only I felt a little better, I could do a fabulous write-up of this remarkable and innovative piece by Victoriano for this year’s Upfest. Painted on a wall that hosted my favourite Upfest 2021 75×75 piece, this had quite a lot to live up to.
Victoriano, Upfest 22, Bristol, May 2022
When I first saw the piece, it was a work in progress, but it was only when I checked out the artist on Instagram that I realised that there were several versions of the work in progress, each of which was photographed and then stitched together to make a time-lapse video of the dog running – You can see this innovation on Victoriano’s Facebook page, and on his Instagram feed, both well worth a look to see the creativity of the piece, and his first augmented wall.
Victoriano, Upfest 22, Bristol, May 2022
Right, that’s your lot for today, I am off to bed.
I am not well today and don’t feel particularly inclined to write any posts or do anything, frankly. Then I saw who was up next for today’s posts and felt a little better.
Andy Council, Sparke Evans Park, Bristol, June 2022
This piece by Andy Council Looks like a beautiful Chinese dragon, and has been painted in muted colours using his stitching style. A pink tongue cleverly joins this piece to the writing next to it, both of which were painted during a paint jam in Sparke Evans Park. The pictures were taken in the evening, and the colours haven’t ‘travelled’ very well.
Some walls simply blow you away, and it can be difficult to do them justice with words alone, and perhaps less is more in such instances. This three-way collaborative wall in Nelson Street is by Kin Dose, s,w,a,l.t and Stiiv (or Swick) (not to be confused with our own calligraffiti writer Stivs), the latter two who were visiting Bristol as guests of Upfest. It is always a real pleasure to have these ‘spill-over’ extras from the festival.
Kin Dose, Nelson Street, Bristol, June 2022
The Tiger is by Kin Dose, and makes the most of his ‘airbrush’ approach to spraying, managing to create an extraordinary sense of depth in the fur and hairs of the creature. A stunning piece, which on its own would satisfy, but, wait for it… two more beauties sit alongside.
s.w.a.l.t, Nelson Street, Bristol, June 2022
The middle piece is from s.w.a.l.t and is a miracle of portrait work in greyscale augmented with graffiti writing, in the style of Pichiavo. This portrait is probably my favourite piece of the year so far. Simply stunning.
Stiiv, Nelson Street, Bristol, June 2022
Rounding off this beautiful wall is a robin perched on a fragmented branch, by Stiiv (Swick). There is life and character in this little robin, and as with Kin Dose’s Tiger, the fluffy feathers give this piece real depth. A beauty.
Perhaps take a moment, not to read my words, but to enjoy this wall.
Kin Dose, s.w.a.l.t. and Stiiv, Nelson Street, Bristol, June 2022
Visiting artists are always welcome in Bristol, and certainly the city does tend to draw a great many of them, probably due to its well known and mature graffiti sub-culture. Recently we have been graced by the presence of an extraordinary artist, Posea, who visited Bristol from his home in Sheffield.
Posea, Sparke Evans Park, Bristol, June 2022
This piece in Sparke Evans Park was part of a paint jam, I think, for Turoe’s birthday a couple of weeks ago. The character piece is so different from the hand and lighter piece he painted in Dean Lane around the same time, demonstrating the versatility of this amazing artist. Here we see a man in a bear mask, with a crazy duck on top, with a double-barrelled shot gun. All rather sinister, but exquisitely painted and finished. It would be great to see more of his work.
Once again, the famous curved wall in Dean Lane gets a makeover by Ceus, who seems to have really taken to Dean Lane for his artwork. It will be interesting to see if he will start to spread his wings (literally-metaphorically-artistically), further afield and starts spreading his talent along the M32 or in the tunnel etc.
Ceus, Dean Lane, Bristol, June 2022
You can be sure that when Ceus paints, he will be turning up the dial on his colour selections and creating a piece of beauty. His letters spell out Ceus and feature the pair of wings we see in much of his work. It would be quite interesting to introduce Ceus to Tom Miller and Paul Monsters… what an explosion of colour that would be.
When you are familiar with the street art scene in a place, it is amazing how quickly you notice something slightly out of the ordinary, a new artist for example, and how that piece immediately fires up one’s curiosity. This was one of those pieces. I knew the second I saw it that it was not by a Bristol artist, but rather annoyingly I had no clues who the artist might be – it turns out that one of my fellow street art photographers/chroniclers had a bit of luck and unintentionally discovered the pairing that collaborated to create this striking piece.
Ansley Randall and Britt, Cumberland Basin, Bristol, June 2022
The piece is one of those Upfest ‘spill over’ pieces that are a real bonus for Bristolians, where we get to see free art on our streets beyond the confines of Bedminster. Both Ansley Randall and Britt (paints a lot) were in Bristol for Upfest, and both had travelled from America, which gives you some indication of the draw of the festival.
Ansley Randall and Britt, Cumberland Basin, Bristol, June 2022
The eyes are by Britt and the design and patterning by Ansley Randall. The overall effect is superb, and this really is a rather special piece. I don’t know if these two artists have collaborated before, or whether they hooked up at Upfest and gave it a go, but however the piece came about, I am pleased that they did it, and they chose a great wall to decorate too. Added benefits of Upfest keeping us all happy.
After a reasonably long absence, Laic217 has treated us with another of his skeleton pieces at Sparke Evans Park. Laic217 is one of those artists whose work I make every effort to photograph and post on Natural Adventures, and I would say that my gallery of his work is probably my most complete gallery of any artist.
Laic217, Spake Evans Park, Bristol, June 2022
This one looks like it is a tribute piece to Holls, and carries several themes that Laic217 uses in his work. The ghetto blaster, the brick wall and the folds of material in the hood and hat, all identify this piece as a Laic217 production. I don’t think I’ll ever tire of a skeleton out spraying. This is another fine piece from Laic217.
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