Tag: Cheba

6059. Upfest 2024 (8)

Cheba, Lime Road, Upfest 24, Bristol, May 2024
Cheba, Lime Road, Upfest 24, Bristol, May 2024

I realise that it is a first world problem, but one of the things I am agonising over at the moment is how on earth I post as many pieces from Upfest as I possibly can, alongside posting the regular everyday graffiti and street art that appears on Bristols walls every day. I guess it is a good problem to have, but it vexes me nonetheless.

This lovely piece from Bristol artist Cheba has been painted over one of my all-time favourite pieces in Bedminster by Willl Cross, which makes me a little sad, but that is the nature of street art.

Cheba, Lime Road, Upfest 24, Bristol, May 2024
Cheba, Lime Road, Upfest 24, Bristol, May 2024

Cheba is known for his atmospheric cosmic pieces, many of which can still be found around the city if you know where to look. In this one he has created a nebulous composition dotted with bright stars, looking like some of those photographs taken in space of vast ‘cloudy’ areas by exploration probes. There is a sense of both scale and calm in this attractive small piece.

Willl Cross, Upfest 22, Bristol, May 2022
Willl Cross, Upfest 22, Bristol, May 2022

5531. Queen’s Road (5)

Cheba, Queen's Road, Bristol, August 2023
Cheba, Queen’s Road, Bristol, August 2023

Cheba is best known for his cosmic murals, many of which are still present after years, due to the locations of them, many being commissions on the sides of buildings. This piece painted as part of the 650 years of Bristol celebrations paint jam is something of a departure from what we are used to seeing, especially as it has been painted using brushes.

Cheba, Queen's Road, Bristol, August 2023
Cheba, Queen’s Road, Bristol, August 2023

The first thing I thought when I saw this painting was that it reminded me of Monet’s Water Lillies, which is a complement indeed. I think that scene could be of Brandon Hill and Cabot’s Tower, only a few hundred meters away from this spot. Bright, breezy and colourful, the piece is full of joy, and beautifully painted. Definitely a hidden aspect of Cheba’s talents.

5022. North Street

Cheba, North Street, Bristol, February 2023
Cheba, North Street, Bristol, February 2023

Cheba’s influence on the city of Bristol cannot be underestimated. His unusual cosmic murals can be found dotted about the place, although most famously on the walls of the Full Moon and Attic Bar in North Street, just south of Stokes Croft.

Cheba, North Street, Bristol, February 2023
Cheba, North Street, Bristol, February 2023

I spotted this piece last weekend while taking a young Japanese friend on a tour of some of the best spots for graffiti and street art in Bristol (a day to savour). Although Cheba’s work might look a bit random at first, there is some form and design in this piece with a diagonal row of stars and circles going bottom left to top right. There really is nobody else in Bristol who creates cosmic scenes as good as Cheba’s.

3822. Upfest 2021 75×75 (20)

I am well acquainted with the work of Cheba whose intergalactic spacescapes have become something of a speciality for him and which adorn several buildings around Bristol. However, in this piece for Upfest’s 75×75 event, Cheba has gone all Day-Glo on us, and it certainly has made an impact.

Cheba, East Street, Bristol, July 2021, Upfest 21
Cheba, East Street, Bristol, July 2021, Upfest 21

I must confess to not being a big fan of Day-Glo colour schemes, because they remind me of some of the dodgier aspects of 1980s design and fashion that are probably best left behind. Having said that, I do think that this is an energetic and interesting mural and has already become something of a landmark in the area. Great to see a new piece from Cheba, who has been fairly quiet over the last year or so.

1729. Jamaica Street (16)

Well this came as a bit of a surprise and something of a treat too. On my walk in to work a couple of weeks back, I thought I’d take a small detour down Jamaica Street, and there, big as you like, was this wonderful collaboration between Bristol’s Cheba and Lebanese calligraphy artist Ghaleb Hawila.

Cheba and Ghaleb Hawila, Jamaica Street, Bristol, August 2018
Cheba and Ghaleb Hawila, Jamaica Street, Bristol, August 2018

This kind of collaboration is quite unusual in Bristol, and I am not certain I have seen any calligraphy here before, although I have seen plenty in London. Additionally, this wall is an absolute bugger to photograph because it sits in a gated courtyard and the angles are all wrong…this is the best I could do.

Cheba has painted a silhouette clutching some bright object that is sending out shards of light. The silhouetted figure is filled decorated with Cheba’s trademark cosmic space scenery, which gives it some depth.

Ghaleb Hawila said this on his Instagram feed about the collaboration:

“You gotta believe in yourself; in the lights buried within you. Give yourself the permission to glow and grow.” A collaboration with my brother @cheba_bristol his magnificent work and personality. That’s exactly one year after meeting this crazy guy in Alay, Lebanon during the @ahlafawda and @risegallery cultural exchange.
I spent four days at his beautiful house, with his hyper dog and lovely wife. We explored a lot in his studio and i just can’t sum the experience with words. It was an intensive restless art residency were you get to explore yourself more and more.

It is great to get a bit of insight into how these things are achieved. A wonderwall.

 

 

1622. Park Street

We used to eat at Jamie’s Italian on Park Street reasonably often as it was a restaurant that the whole family liked. Sadly his business overstretched itself and had to close a whole ton of branches, including this one in Bristol. On the upside though, the hoarding on the outside has been beautifully decorated with a Cheba and Inkie collaboration.

Inkie and Cheba, Park Street, Bristol, July 2018
Inkie and Cheba, Park Street, Bristol, July 2018

This piece speaks volumes about the independent and individual culture of Bristol – that street art is sanctioned and even encouraged onto one of the most iconic shopping streets in the city and that the piece itself is bright and cheery and a bold statement of pride about the street itself. The work was sponsored by the Bristol Buisness Improvement District (BID) and was painted at the start of July.

Looking at the artwork itself, it is quite difficult to see an Inkie piece and not read the word Inkie in it. I swear I read Inkie whenever I see it. Cheba dose what Cheba does and provides a splendid cosmic backdrop for the letters. A fine collaboration and ‘in your face’ (in a nice way) piece of Bristol street art.

1583. Jamaica Street (15)

Some of you might be familiar with the cosmic work of Cheba, but I have never seen any of his pieces as dazzlingly colourful and ‘in your face’ as this one. This wall previously played host to another slightly unusual pink cosmic piece by Cheba, but this one completely trumps it.

Cheba, Jamaica Street, Bristol, June 2018
Cheba, Jamaica Street, Bristol, June 2018

You might notice from the feature image ast the top, a tiny little ceramic ‘my little pony’ which was sited there a couple of years ago by Chinagirl Tile. It is brilliant that it has survived intact. Perhaps people just don’t notice it.

Cheba, Jamaica Street, Bristol, June 2018
Cheba, Jamaica Street, Bristol, June 2018

The detail in this Cheba pieceshows you why he is one of the best at these stellar murals in the business – it is a bit of a niche thing, but he does it better that any of the others (in my view). Great to see something new and challenging from this Bristol artist.

1416. St Michael’s Hill (3)

Occasionally I vary my walk to work, and instead of sweeping through Stokes Croft and The Bearpit, where I am guaranteed to find some lovely new stuff, I take the hilly route and drop down St Michael’s Hill. This is not an area known for its street art, so finding this large wall by Cheba is a real find.

Cheba, St Michael's Hill, Bristol, December 2017
Cheba, St Michael’s Hill, Bristol, December 2017

What a lovely way to decorate a ‘dead’ wall like this one with one of his cosmos pieces. He really has nailed this technique and is quite the best at it that I have seen. I managed to get a shot of it before completion, and it was some time before I visited it again.

Cheba, St Michael's Hill, Bristol, February 2018
Cheba, St Michael’s Hill, Bristol, February 2018

I always like to see his work, it is something fresh and different.

1361. The Bearpit (126)

I haven’t posted anything by Cheba for what seems a very long while, although I do know of one or two pieces he has created recently of which this is one. It would seem that he likes this particular spot which he has sprayed in the past.

Cheba, The Bearpit, Bristol, February 2018
Cheba, The Bearpit, Bristol, February 2018

Cheba is the master of cosmic murals, it is his thing and he does it so very well. It is possible to immerse yourself entirely in this piece, looking at the stars and clouds in this imaginary scene. While it might not be to everyone’s taste, this is beautifully sprayed and brings something of outer space into the centre of a busy city.

 

741. Wilder Street (14)

I saw this piece a day or so after I met Cheba for the first time, while on my way to the ‘paint jam’ in The Bearpit on 8 April 2017. This wall and several others on the garage on Wilder street were being prepped by Cheba and Alex from Where the Wall, who ‘curate’ many of the walls in Wilder Street.

Cheba, Wilder Street, Bristol, April 2017
Cheba, Wilder Street, Bristol, April 2017

This piece is a classic cosmos fantasy space scene that Cheba specialises in. On the one hand, and perhaps at first sight, his works look quite simple, on the other hand they are complex and detailed, and he has mastered the technique for these cosmos scenes.

Cheba, Wilder Street, Bristol, April 2017
Cheba, Wilder Street, Bristol, April 2017

What I find interesting is that not many other artists spray these kinds of scenes, and when they do, they are rarely as well executed as this. I imagine though that they might not be to everyone’s taste.