Tag: Face

789. M32 roundabout j3 (37)

Yet another excellent Face F1st piece, in fine colours and exhibiting yet another beautiful and simple face.  The wildstyle outline of the word FACE is becoming more cryptic, and he is really going for the beaded decorations.

Face F1st, M32 roundabout, Bristol, May 2017
Face F1st, M32 roundabout, Bristol, May 2017

I have always loved his work, from the very first one I saw, It just does something for me. Face F1st has taken to spraying a lot recently, and it is difficult to keep up with his faces. There are a couple that I have not published from the subways at this roundabout, which are difficult to photograph on account of the poor lighting and narrow passages. Be assured however that there is more from this quiet artist in the pipeline.

Face F1st, M32 roundabout, Bristol, May 2017
Face F1st, M32 roundabout, Bristol, May 2017

783 North Street Savana (1)

A little while ago Frankie Beane posted a piece by Telmo Miel which was absolutely stunning. We had a short exchange of comments, and I looked into whether or not Telmo Miel had been to Bristol for Upfest. It turns out they have been a couple of times before, the last of which was in 2015. It also just so happens that I photographed their shutter piece not knowing who they were, and only now am I able to share it.

Talmo and Miel, North Street, Bristol, June 2016
Talmo and Miel, North Street, Bristol, June 2016

Telmo Miel is/are two artists who paint as one. This was the Dutch duo’s biography from the Upfest website:

‘Telmo Pieper and Miel Krutzmann are the names behind Telmo Miel artistic machinery. Telmo Pieper was born in Rotterdam, Netherlands where he graduated from the Willem de Kooning Academy. He is a creator, image maker and a contemporary graffiti artist. Miel Krutzmann also received his degree from the Academy in Rotterdam, and he is a mural painter and illustrator, who started drawing as a child and never stopped. Together, they share a fascination for (sur)realistic imagery and are currently making life-sized wall paintings using spray-paint all over the globe.’

I hope they return soon as their work is actually rather good.

 

 

753. Upfest 2016 (115)

I saw this magnificent piece at a couple of different stages in its genesis and what a masterpiece it turned in to. It is by Pikto, an artist who has been working on street art and graffiti art for some ten years. He has created pieces in London and all over the UK, in Poland and Denmark.

Pikto, Upfest, Bristol, July 2016
Pikto, Upfest, Bristol, July 2016

This is really eye-catching and different, combining a photorealist technique with a rather surreal image. I love this piece, it is one of the outstanding images of Upfest 2016 in my view.

Pikto, Upfest, Bristol, July 2016
Pikto, Upfest, Bristol, July 2016
Pikto, Upfest, Bristol, July 2016
Pikto, Upfest, Bristol, July 2016

724. Stokes Croft, Metropolis (1)

For a long while now, there have been hoardings outside the Metropolis in Stokes Croft, but this is the first piece I have seen there, since they were erected, worthy of photographing.

Face F1st, Stokes Croft, Bristol, April 2017
Face F1st, Stokes Croft, Bristol, April 2017

I saw the piece being sprayed when I drove past it, but had to return with a camera. What I didn’t know at the time is that it was the elusive Face F1st at work. So now I have seen him, and I know he has a beard, but that is about it.

Face F1st, Stokes Croft, Bristol, April 2017
Face F1st, Stokes Croft, Bristol, April 2017

This time there is no FACE lettering, instead an octopus (something he has sprayed before) and a face emerging from the centre of the piece. It is certainly quite unusual, and the colours give it a rather understated appearance but it is a good piece and a slight extension of Face F1st’s usual format.

679. Moon Street (25)

Face F1st seems to have upped his game recently, producing pieces all over the city, and continuing to develop his style. Together with Laic217, he seems to be ‘in the groove’ at the moment.

Face F1st, Moon Street, Bristol, March 2017
Face F1st, Moon Street, Bristol, March 2017

This piece is on a famous wall with pieces from several Bristol artists on it including a piece by Mr Sleven (the three-eyed characters). I really like this piece by Face F1st, it feels like more time and effort has gone into its production and the face is simple and also wonderfully expressive.

Face F1st, Moon Street, Bristol, March 2017
Face F1st, Moon Street, Bristol, March 2017

I have more pieces by Face F1st in my pending folders, but I think this is the best so far.

673. North Street, In Recovery

I took this picture during Upfest 2016, and was going to enter it as one of the pieces from the event. What a mistake that would have been. The piece is a collaboration between Copyright and Gemma Compton and was sprayed some years ago.

Copyright and Gemma Compton, North Street, Bristol, July 2016
Copyright and Gemma Compton, North Street, Bristol, July 2016

Of course I never usually get to see shutter pieces, because they tend to be up during the times I am out on the streets taking pictures. The work of these two artists works so well in combination; they both like bold colours, reds and blues, and both usually include female subjects. Gemma in particular likes to incorporate natural motifs setting the pieces off nicely.

Copyright and Gemma Compton, North Street, Bristol, July 2016
Copyright and Gemma Compton, North Street, Bristol, July 2016

This is a striking and enduring collaboration from this couple.

 

 

670. St Werburghs tunnel (9)

Face F1st has been rather busy lately, and I am struggling to keep up with posting all his new works. This is a nice piece from St Werburghs tunnel, but as with all of the tunnel pieces, the photographs just don’t do the work justice.

Face F1st, St Werburghs tunnel, Bristol, February 2017
Face F1st, St Werburghs tunnel, Bristol, February 2017

I couldn’t quite get the shots I wanted of this piece, because there was some kind of a photoshoot going on in the tunnel, and someone had parked a car in the way. The colours are really great, and the characteristic face is nicely folded into the C of FACE. I still get a bit of a kick out of finding a Face F1st piece.

Face F1st, St Werburghs tunnel, Bristol, February 2017
Face F1st, St Werburghs tunnel, Bristol, February 2017

662. Dean Lane skate park (33)

There is absolutely no stopping Laic217 at the moment, and there is more to come, I know he has just done two new pieces at the time of writing this post. This work is a character piece which plays of his theme of distortions and presents us with a fairly ugly weird face.

Laic217, Dean Lane, Bristol, February 2017
Laic217, Dean Lane, Bristol, February 2017

This feels like the visions experienced on a bad trip. Monstrous to say the least. Of all the Bristol street artists, I would say that Laic217 is the one who is developing his technique most at the moment. I’m not sure where he finds the time to do all this work, but it is fairly typical for artists to have productive phases and quiet phases, often related to work or travel.

Laic217, Dean Lane, Bristol, February 2017
Laic217, Dean Lane, Bristol, February 2017

I had a bit of trouble photographing this piece as the low sunshine was casting a shadow across the bottom portion of it. It will be great when the Summer begins as the sun tends to be higher in the sky and there are fewer shadows to ruin the photographs.

 

655. The Bearpit (43)

Only a few days after I had taken the picture of the Decay piece in this exact spot (see previous post), Kid Crayon had overwritten it with one of his trademark faces. In recent times he has moved away from his wheatpastes (which I loved) and his faces, and tends to do more spray work, in particular in collaboration with SPZero76. So it was nice to see him revert, if only for a little while.

Kid Crayon, The Bearpit, Bristol, February 2017
Kid Crayon, The Bearpit, Bristol, February 2017

Although the piece looks like a wheatpaste, because of the creasing of the lining paper, it is in fact a spray piece. The blue face, great expression and peculiar proportions are what I would expect to see from this growing Bristol artist. More of his collaborative works to come soon.

604. Wilder Street (12)

Lately it appears that Laic217 has dedicated a huge amount of time to his street art, with pieces popping up all over the place. I am really pleased to see it since I have a soft-spot for his work. Rather excitingly he has just started an Instagram account, which will make it easier to track down his pieces, however there is no biography and he continues to keep himself to himself.

Laic217, Wilder Street, Bristol, January 2017
Laic217, Wilder Street, Bristol, January 2017

His works tend to take two forms, the wildstyle writing or burner with a character incorporated, or an image like this one, often demonstrating some kind of distortion…melting or in this example cracked glass (frequently there is a nod to drugs and acid-house music). All the time his work is improving, his concepts developing and the artwork becoming more skilled.

Laic217, Wilder Street, Bristol, January 2017
Laic217, Wilder Street, Bristol, January 2017

I think Laic217 tends to spray solo, and unusually for a Bristol graffiti artist, will work in any of the common sites north and south of the river. I am not certain that he belongs to any crew, and I am not aware of any collaborations to date. I am enjoying the journey watching his work unfold. And hey…anyone notice the Feoflip to the left?