Tag: Duncan McKellar

2395. High Street

Rather difficult to photograph, but easy to spot and be curious about is this striking mermaid created from foam insulation material, by Bristol installation artist, Duncan McKellar. What I love most about his pieces is that they are placed in busy parts of the city and challenge people to stop and think and look and laugh and be curious, rather than burying their faces in their cell phones.

Duncan McKellar, High Street, Bristol, August 2019
Duncan McKellar, High Street, Bristol, August 2019

This is a clever ‘sculpture’ because it takes a little while to ‘get your eye in’ and interpret what you are looking at, then once you have got it, it is impossible not to see it. I am never quite sure with Duncan McKellar’s work whether it is done with the permission of Bristol City Council, or whether it is ‘guerilla art’. I rather hope it is the latter. I really love this.

Duncan McKellar, High Street, Bristol, August 2019
Duncan McKellar, High Street, Bristol, August 2019

1481. High Street

Only a few days ago I posted something a little different form Duncan McKellar, the foil butterflies on the tarmac of Frogmore Street. This creation, from the same artist, is designed to bring a smile to people’s faces. No piece of ‘street furniture’ is safe from his creative attention, with several statues receiving the same treatment.

Duncan McKellar, High Street, Bristol, February 2018
Duncan McKellar, High Street, Bristol, February 2018

The pineapple is ‘sculpted’ from hundreds of pieces of bright yellow foam (it looks like insulation foam to me), and attracts the attention of passers by. What I love about his work is its ‘guerilla’ style…he keeps the local newspapers and busybodies guessing about who he is and where his next project will take him.

Duncan McKellar, High Street, Bristol, February 2018
Duncan McKellar, High Street, Bristol, February 2018

I am a fan of all street art that challenges people to see the world through a different lens, and this work by Duncan certainly does this. I’ll try to hunt down more from this ingenious artist.

1472. Frogmore Street (6)

I have been aware of the work of this Bristol artist for some while now, but didn’t know much else about him. Well a little stroke of luck…a delay to my usual bus…encouraged me to walk home after work and I decided to take a slightly different route. As I dropped down the steps from Park Street into Frogmore Street I saw this beautiful display of foil butterflies pressed into the road tarmac.

Duncan McKellar, Frogmore Street, Bristol, April 2018
Duncan McKellar, Frogmore Street, Bristol, April 2018

The gentleman in the pictute is actually the artist, Duncan McKellar, who likes to bring a smile to the citizens of Bristol with his unusual artistic displays that appear from time to time. I guess one might describe him as an installation artist, but what he does brilliantly is bring to life many of the things we fail to see around us, such as statues and trees and puts them front and centre of our consciousness with his art.

Duncan McKellar, Frogmore Street, Bristol, April 2018
Duncan McKellar, Frogmore Street, Bristol, April 2018

I particularly like this foil piece because it is an unusual experimental technique which Duncan was trialling. We stopped for a lengthy chat, and I will certainly be following his artistic adventures with great interest. More from Duncan to come soon.