Tag: Cheo

676. Upfest 2016 (103)

This is one of the premium walls at Upfest, and last year was the proud home of this magnificent Martin Ron piece. This year it was the turn of one of the Godfathers of Bristol graffiti/street art – Cheo.

Cheo, Upfest, Bristol, August 2016
Cheo, Upfest, Bristol, August 2016

Sticking to the brief, or theme of Upfest 2016 Cheo’s piece features Mr Graff, an addition to the Roger Hargreaves community of Mr Men and Little Miss’.

Cheo, Upfest, Bristol, August 2016
Cheo, Upfest, Bristol, August 2016

My honest opinion on this piece is that I don’t think it was the right piece for this wall. This wall deserves a huge imposing and impressive piece and this feels like it does not fill the space properly. It is a very safe piece, and so I can see the appeal of having it in a supermarket car park, but to me the proportions just feel wrong.

Cheo, Upfest, Bristol, July 2016
Cheo, Upfest, Bristol, July 2016

Don’t get me wrong, I think it is a great piece, beautifully sprayed and full of incredible detail and characters that Cheo brings to life so well. I feel it would have been better on a different wall that you could get up close to.

Cheo, Upfest, Bristol, July 2016
Cheo, Upfest, Bristol, July 2016

The crazy worm and flowers at the bottom are wonderful, but seem detached from the main piece almost like a bonus afterthought. I concede that I may have got this completely wrong, but we all have a view.

333. Raleigh Road, Vector (1)

On Raleigh Road, just opposite the Tobacco Factory, is the car park for a small company called Vector. There are four available walls in the car park which are frequently sprayed…the turnover here is very high. I have only ever been there when the car park gates are shut. This is both good and bad. It is good because there are no obstructions in front of the cars. It is bad, because I have to photograph through the railings and for the walls on the right hand side, I only ever get oblique views. It will be one of the venues for Upfest 2016.

Cheo, Raleigh Road, Bristol, June 2016
Cheo, Raleigh Road, Bristol, June 2016

I took this photograph recently, but already it has been replaced. This is a lovely work by Cheo. This is one of his busier pieces, with so much going on in the mural.

Cheo, Raleigh Road, Bristol, June 2016
Cheo, Raleigh Road, Bristol, June 2016

Unusually, he appears to have abandoned his bee in this work and replaced it with an animated spray can. It is always good to see Cheo busy on the streets.

168. North Street Green (1)

It was a gorgeous sunny day yesterday, and now that I am back in work after the holidays, I couldn’t wait to escape for a long lunchtime walk. I was rewarded with some new street art that I haven’t seen before. This cheeky piece is by the ubiquitous Cheo – I knew he had recently been busy from his Instagram account, but wasn’t sure where this work was.

Cheo, North Street Green, Bristol, April 2016
Cheo, North Street Green, Bristol, April 2016

I think it might be called ‘gorilla gubbins’, although that might just be a label he gave it.

Cheo, North Street Green, Bristol, April 2016
Cheo, North Street Green, Bristol, April 2016

This particular wall has changed at least three times in the last 6 months or so, and it will change again during Upfest 2016, which I am getting rather excited about. I have pictures of two other works on this wall.

Cheo, North Street Green, Bristol, April 2016
Cheo, North Street Green, Bristol, April 2016

I love the bad gorilla smoking a cigar. I think the piece is only a few days old.

 

7/10

123. North Street, Standard (1)

This seasonal piece by Cheo is quite a contrast from its political predecessor that adorned this wall during Upfest 2015. I am constantly excited by the range of subjects and styles that the street art scene is capable of producing in Bristol.

Cheo, North Street, Bristol, February 2016
Cheo, North Street, Bristol, February 2016

This is a cheerful and fun cartoonesque piece so typical of Cheo who must be one of Bristol’s most prolific artists. I will try to dig out the piece that was on this same wall before. Watch this space.

Cheo, North Street, Bristol, February 2016
Cheo, North Street, Bristol, February 2016

7/10

112. Millennium Parade

One of the unintended consequences of developing the Bristol harbourside has been the erection of hoardings in front of unrented retail spaces. Being Bristol, these would have been magnets for graffiti of all kinds. It would appear that the developers commissioned Cheo, a prolific local artist, to paint the hoardings to brighten up the area, and to prevent others from scrawling.

Cheo, Millennium Parade, Bristol, December 2015
Cheo, Millennium Parade, Bristol, December 2015

This four panel mural tells a story of a giant squid and pirates; a suitably nautical theme for Bristol.

Cheo, Millennium Parade, Bristol, November 2015
Cheo, Millennium Parade, Bristol, November 2015

People seem to take these murals for granted. Every time I go to Millennium Parade I watch, and I have never seen anyone stop to look at the art although I am sure they are conscious of it.

Cheo, Millennium Parade, Bristol, December 2015
Cheo, Millennium Parade, Bristol, December 2015

As always Cheo has plastered the panels with his trademark bees.

Cheo, Millennium Parade, Bristol, December 2015
Cheo, Millennium Parade, Bristol, December 2015

7/10

105. Moon Street (5)

The Lakota nightclub in Moon Street is famous, not only in Bristol, but countrywide (as I have just found out from reading the wikipedia entry), and has had something of a turbulent recent history.

Cheo, the Lakota, Moon Street, Bristol
Cheo, the Lakota, Moon Street, Bristol

The area is a magnet for street artists, but the commissions on the walls of this club are outstanding. Cheo and Gregor Minto have given one of Bristol’s landmarks a remarkable identity.

Minto, the Lakota, Moon Street, Bristol
Minto, the Lakota, Moon Street, Bristol

If you live in Bristol, Moon Street is well worth a visit just to see these magnificent walls.

8.5/10

103. Frogmore Street (5)

This collaboration rounds off, for the time being, the different works of Bristol artists in this area. The wall in question is directly below the Banksy, and adjacent to the 45RPM and RichT wall.

It is a cheerful piece by Silent Hobo, Cheo and Deam (who seems to sign himself with variants of Deam, Deamz or Deamze). Each artist has sprayed a separate part of the wall in their own distinct styles.

Cheo Silent Hobo and Deamze, Frogmore Street, Bristol, July 2015
Cheo Silent Hobo and Deamze, Frogmore Street, Bristol, July 2015

The wall has been repainted reasonably regularly, although this has remained for a couple of years. I fully expect it will change again this year. The wall gets a load of attention from visitors who come to look at the Banksy above it.

I am fond of this work.

8/10.

95. New John Street (2)

I took this picture on a sunny day back in September 2015. This wall is a collaboration between Soker and Cheo, each with their own distinct style. Soker and his wildstyle burner and Cheo spraying a cartoon and the signature bee.

Soker and Cheo, New John Street, Bristol, September 2015
Soker and Cheo, New John Street, Bristol, September 2015

I would guess that Cheo’s work is a selfie of the two of them, but this is only a guess.

Soker and Cheo, New John Street, Bristol, September 2015
Soker and Cheo, New John Street, Bristol, September 2015

7/10

 

49. Hepburn Road

In September I took this picture of a mural by Cheo. There are a couple of things worth pointing out. The first is that he has not included one of his signature bees – perhaps not cool enough for the subject material.

Cheo, Hepburn Road, Bristol
Cheo, Hepburn Road, Bristol

Secondly, this picture does not look like a commission and is in an area where there is a lot of ‘permissive’ and ‘illegal’ art. I would always put Cheo into the former of these two categories.

7/10

4. Redland Station

Another mural by Cheo, that I have never really paid too much attention to, despite seeing it frequently.

Cheo, Redland Station, Bristol, July 2015
Cheo, Redland Station, Bristol, July 2015

This piece, which includes his signature bees, can be found on the end wall of the garages, at the entrance to the station. It is a cheerful, rural theme.