We are living in a country whose government has brought it to its knees. This conservative government has destroyed so much that I and others hold dear. I honestly don’t think I share any of their values at all, and every day I feel disgusted by their announcements and ashamed to be British. On the upside, I know that I am not alone, as this piece by Georgie suggests. We must be careful not to lay all the Blame on Mr Johnson. The mess began with David Cameron who gave in to the right-wingers, and we now have a far right cabinet doing their incompetent worst. Unspeakable really.
Georgie, Upfest 22, Bristol, May 2022
This piece is a direct reference to ‘partygate’, which is symbolic of the contempt Mr Johnson and his government have for the people they serve. The piece features The nasty man holding up a glass in a toast to Lee Cain, at a leaving party that wasn’t a party in lockdown. Georgie has captured the moment well. The balloons are real balloons attached to the piece creating a fabulous effect. Hear, hear Georgie.
Nol is another artist who is no stranger to Upfest and appears to really enjoy himself with his lighthearted and rather geeky monsters. This year Nol introduced an element of gamification to his work. His main piece was an identification parade of four monsters, each of which could be found dotted around Bedminster, and could be ‘collected’.
Nol, Upfest 22, Bristol, May 2022
I managed to find three of the four monsters, and I have a feeling that the fourth had been painted over before I ever managed to photograph it, which I guess is the story of street art all over… you snooze, you lose.
Nol, Upfest 22, Bristol, May 2022Nol, Upfest 22, Bristol, May 2022Nol, Upfest 22, Bristol, May 2022
Alongside all the newcomers to Bristol’s Upfest festival, there is a cohort of ‘regulars’ who turn up and wow us with their talent, year after year. One of these regulars is RTC (Rich Turner) who has been present at several festivals and presented us with this magnificent British bulldog stencil piece this year.
RTC, Upfest 22, Bristol, May 2022
RTC manages to produce these massively detailed and multi-layered stencil pieces that are photorealistic in their appearance. The backgrounds too are beautifully constructed with hexagons bubbles and stars all adding to the structure of the piece. What is most amazing is that it is all contained with; one of the small 1m squared board.
This post marks a small milestone in the development of Natural Adventures, being my 4,500th street art/graffiti post. I never thought that this would happen when I first set up this blog, but it is funny how things happen in the most unexpected ways. This Upfest 2022 piece is by Bjor, and is a striking and beautiful piece, a little reminiscent of some of Jody’s work.
Bjor, Upfest 22, Bristol, May 2022
I guess the contrast between the greyscale portrait and the abstract colourful swirl of thought/imagination/soul is what makes this piece so intriguing, there is a story happening somewhere in this splash of colour.
Bjor, Upfest 22, Bristol, May 2022
I have not seen any of Bjor’s work before (one of the joys of Upfest is seeing the work of so many artists for the first time), and it is very fine accomplished stuff. Bjor comes from Norway and his artwork, which you can see on his Facebook page, is definitely worth a look.
I have said many times on this blog that one of the great things about street art is that much of it chronicles the times we live in, either overtly in a political context or sometimes in more subtle ways through visual cues or references. This Upfest stencil piece from Daisy Mae Morris is an overt reverence to the war in Ukraine and features Volodymir Zelensky.
Daisy Mae Morris, Upfest 22, May 2022
The piece is a take on the famous Lord Kitchener poster of the First World War and seeks to gain the support of Britons in the struggle Ukraine face against dictator Putin and his Russian army. It is a nicely done stencil and I was lucky enough to watch her doing the very final touches to the piece, but not lucky enough to stop for a chat. Great work from Daisy Mae.
Like many other established artists in Bristol, Soker is emerging from a rather quiet couple of years, and we are beginning to see his work about the place more frequently. This, for any fan of top-drawer graffiti writing, is good news indeed.
Soker, M32 roundabout, Bristol, May 2022
This fine piece, on the M 32 roundabout, is classic Soker, spelling out SOKEM, with beautifully presented letters sharply contrasting with the fully buffed and decorated background. It is easy to spot great quality when you see it, and this is right up there with the best.
More abstract fantasticness from Mr Klue, who after a long absence from the streets has now hit a rhythm and it turning out some lovely pieces in the St Werburghs tunnel on a regular basis.
Mr Klue, St Werburghs, Bristol, May 2022
This one is in his prime spot, which I am sure will have made him very happy, and reintroduces another of his recurring themes, floating stairs or steps. I don’t quite know the significance of the steps, but Mr Klue uses them in a lot of his work. A stairway to heaven perhaps? Such is the new productivity of the artist, I am struggling to keep up with posting his work, especially with Upfest and a trip to Porto to report on. Never been so blog-busy.
The Bristol Womxn Mural Collective are a wonderful group of femxle (to use their convention) artists who come together several times a year to get out of their studios and try their hand at painting on the street. The outcome is invariable something rather special and different from the more conventional work we are used to seeing.
Nina Raines, Cattle Market Road, Bristol, May 2022
This is a superb study of a toadstool by Nina Raines, whose works are so incredibly diverse and don’t conform to a style, on account of her ‘proper’ profession as a theatrical scenic artist. This piece definitely works for me, with its different layers and textures. Great work… more to come from this paint jam.
My wife was a little late for work a couple of weeks ago, so I gave her a lift in the car. Our route takes us onto St Michael’s hill, and I glanced (as I always do when passing by) down a little alleyway favoured by John D’oh and by total luck he was there spraying a new stencil. Of course, after dropping my wife off, I made a bee-line for the alley way and stopped for a quick chat with John D’oh. As always it was a genuine pleasure to catch up, and great to see the artist at work. While we were talking, a bird pooped on one of the freshly painted faces… the perils of being a street artist!
John D’oh, St Michael’s Hill, Bristol, May 2022
The piece is a fantastic awareness work that talks about mental health, in particular depression and anxiety, a topic that resonates for me and my family, and I expect for a great many people in today’s troubled landscape. The words on the stencil piece read:
“Pretending you’re okay is easier than having to explain to anyone why you’re not.
Mental health – don’t suffer in silence
Depression is when you don’t really care about anything, anxiety is when you care too much about everything, and having both is just like hell.”
John D’oh, St Michael’s Hill, Bristol, May 2022
I believe this to be one of John Doh’s finest pieces. The topic aside (a massively important one), he presents four stunning colourful stencils perfectly and seamlessly joined and topped and tailed with a banner and footer. The whole thing is expertly produced and beautifully proportioned.
John D’oh, St Michael’s Hill, Bristol, May 2022
The stylised comic-book characters are cleverly selected to be both eye-catching and, to a degree, nostalgic. It was interesting to see that John D’oh brought elements of this piece to his collage of pieces for Upfest this year – the joy of stencil art.
John D’oh, St Michael’s Hill, Bristol, May 2022
I drove past the spot this morning, on a repeat wife-lift scenario, and saw that he has added another piece to his expanding gallery, so I’ll have to pop up there for another photo session soon. Utterly fabulous work from John D’oh.
DJ Perks, St Werburghs, Bristol, January 2023DJ Perks, Dean Lane, Bristol, November 2022DJ Perks, St Werburghs, Bristol, September 2022DJ Perks, Upfest 22, Bristol, May 2022DJ Perks, L Dub, Bristol, April 2022DJ Perks, L Dub, Bristol, April 2022DJ Perks, L Dub, Bristol, April 2022D J Perks, L Dub, Bristol, April 2022D J Perks, L Dub, Bristol, April 2022DJ Perks, Dean Lane, Bristol, January 2022DJ Perks, L Dub, Bristol, June 2021DJPerks, LDub, Bristol, June 2021DJ Perks, L Dub, Bristol, January 2021DJ Perks, Dean Lane, Bristol, December 2020DJ Perks, L Dub, Bristol, June 2020DJ Perks, Dean Lane, Bristol, May 2019DJ Perks, L Dub, Bristol, October 2019DJPerks, Dean Lane, Bristol, July 2019DJPerks, L Dub, Bristol, July 2019
