Enjoyable night
an inaugural session
sharing our LPs
by Scooj
Tag: Bristol
2596. Upfest 2018 (167)
This extraordinary piece at Upfest 2018 wasn’t actually an official piece, but one of those ‘extras’ that we get in Dean Lane from visiting artists who didn’t get an Upfest pitch. I have tried to find out a little bit about the artist, but haven’t had much success. I found Mowcka’s website, but the ‘About’ section is beautifully lyrical and mysterious, but evasive and I expect that is the whole point.
I am troubled that on this day I managed to get water on my lens and didn’t check it or discover it until I uploaded the photographs. The result is presentationally disappointing, but the artwork magnificent. There is something very ‘mother Earth’ about these characters and a fair amount of symbolism going on too.
2595. Upfest 2018 (166)
The curious thing about Upfest is that one is exposed to so many pieces in the space of such a short time that it can be overwhelming, and my coping mechanism is to take as many pictures as I can so that recall is enhanced when it comes to posting some time after the event.
This fabulous piece from Bristol-based Hypo passed be by on the day I took this picture. I kind of remember seeing a piece by him, but I didn’t commit it to my deep memory – thank goodness for my archive. This is a clean and sharp piece with interesting and legible letter shapes and that central fill is rather special. Always great to (re)discover work by Hypo.
2593. Upfest 2018 (164)
This is the second great stencil I have seen from Random – the first was at Upfest 2017. There are a couple of features that are in common with these two pieces. The first is that they are multilayer greyscale stencils, presented on a black background and the second is that they have a political element to them.
This piece makes reference to the repeal of the 8th Irish amendment which was to remove the constitutional ban on abortion which was signed in to law on 18 September 2018. The piece itself I guess is in some way symbolic, but it is the execution of the technique that is very tidy indeed. A fine work from Random.
Miracle
.
Cast away your sticks
any old bush will suffice
you can walk again
.
by Scooj
2592. Upfest 2018 (163)
I had a horrible panic that I hadn’t taken a picture of this magnificent abstract piece by Paris in its final form, but on thorough inspection of my Upfest archive I found this one. I know it isn’t perfect, but it is virtually impossible to get pictures of this wall without cars parked in front of it. This wall has since been overpainted by Kin Dose and his Summer Editions piece.
I did however manage to get plenty of shots of the work in progress and had a nice chat with Paris on the Friday before the crowds gathered. This work is so rich in depth and colour and has something of a cosmic feel to it. The style is quite unique and probably the only other artist I know who does similar cosmic-scapes is Cheba, but they tend to be much more dark space pieces.
Because Paris finished the piece quite early, it was one of the few scaffolded walls to be revealed actually during the festival (from recollection). Great to see this lovely and refreshingly different piece by Paris
2591. Upfest 2018 (162)
More from Upfest 2018 with this fine trio of paste up balloons by D7606, each one with a face of Twiggy on them. D7606 pasted up 10 of these balloons (complete with string) to celebrate the tenth anniversary of Upfest.
I have a feeling that they are still intact after almost eighteen months, probably because they were secured high up and out of the reach. These three take my total posted up to six. Did I find them all? Actually I’m not sure, as I still have so many pictures in my Upfest folder yet to post. Keep watching this space. Always a pleasure to find D7606’s work.
2590. Upfest 2018 (161)
This is the kind of fantastic work that we are missing ever since Aspire left Bristol for London. How lucky we are that he returned to us for Upfest 2018 and painted this new wall with these magnificent puffins.
Aspire specialises in painting birds and he seems to be improving with every new piece he creates, it is just a pity that I don’t get to see much of his work ‘in the flesh’ any more, and have to rely on Instagram for my fix.
This particular piece is quite unusual for two main reasons. Firstly I can’t recall seeing any sea birds from Aspire before and secondly there are lots of birds in the one scene, where more commonly he will paint only one. Love this piece.
2589. Dean Lane skate park (264)
Another nice piece from the archive, this time from the brilliant Hire. I managed to snap this piece just as it was being overwritten, so kind of got lucky. You can see the outline of the piece that went over it.
I think that Hire is probably one of the overlooked heroes of the Bristol street art scene and his work is always on point. His gothic style is his trademark, and we mustn’t forget his rabbits that were being painted in Bristol before the arrival of his compatriot Nevergiveup. These letters, skilfully filled with black and yellow spell out HIRE… I think. A great Deaner piece.
Night sight
Curios visions
of toucans in Newcastle
life woven in dreams
by Scooj
Natural adventures 