This ‘find’ is another one that I can attribute to Upfest’s summer event because I would never have stumbled across it if I hadn’t been driving around Bedminster like a lunatic looking for new Upfest pieces.
Andy Council, Garnet Street, Bristol, July 2021
The pair of pieces on the walls of the Chessel Centre, BS3 Community, are of course by Andy Council. The pieces have probably been there for a little while because they are in the form of animals composed of architecture, including the Clifton suspension bridge, a landmark that makes an appearance in much of Andy Council’s work. His more recent pieces have moved away from architectural components instead being replaced with building blocks stitched together with cord.
Andy Council, Garnet Street, Bristol, July 2021
Both of these little murals are packed with animals and a wonderful sense of fun. I’m not sure what the Chessel Centre actually does, but the murals convey a sense of community. This is a wonderful way to brighten up our streets.
From my favourite Bristol artist, Andrew Burns Colwill, is this outstanding new mural for Upfest’s 75 walls in 75 days event. Everything about this triptych piece is pretty much perfect. From the wall selection and use of the spaces to the highly political content, let alone the brilliant execution using his soak stain technique.
Andrew Burns Colwill, Luckwell Road, Bristol, July 2021, Upfest 21,
My interpretation of the three suited figures in a pool represents the drowning of our Government and in particular senior ministers who, let’s face it, haven’t exactly covered themselves in glory over the last few years. On the left could be Sajid Javid, our SoS for health who took over the role from the utterly incompetent and indiscreet Matt Hancock. It doesn’t really matter who it is as they are representative of the Conservative Party political gang who care more about power than they do about the citizens who put them there.
Andrew Burns Colwill, Luckwell Road, Bristol, July 2021, Upfest 21,
The central panel is more obviously a caricature of our utterly ridiculous Prime Minister who is now completely under the control of his power-hungry wife Carrie Johnson who seems to have more influence over government policy than he does. The pantomime continues, although it is more of a tragedy as our country slips into isolation and irrelevance.
Andrew Burns Colwill, Luckwell Road, Bristol, July 2021, Upfest 21,
The final panel, with the red budget box, is obviously our beloved (not) chancellor Rishi Sunak who appears to have hoodwinked the entire country into thinking he is our saviour. I don’t feel particularly saved. The bar amongst the cabinet is so low, that anyone with the slightest talent shines like a beacon, but it is all comparative. So the piece certainly portrays a failing government and failing ministers and it is delivered in a tranquil, calm and resigned manner that gives the piece so much power. It is brilliant.
Andrew Burns Colwill, Luckwell Road, Bristol, July 2021, Upfest 21,
Andrew Burns Colwill is also amazing at creating those tiny little details that add so much to a piece, like this little drip of water oozing from a real crack in the wall. A sensational piece and commentary on our current political state. Bravo!
Watching Zake apply the light and dark shading to this fabulous piece during Eman’s birthday paint jam was a real pleasure. He has become something of a specialist at refining the effects of light and dark on his faces with the light source in this case coming from the left hand side. This clever shading exaggerates the features and created more of a 3D effect.
Zake, Cumberland Basin, Bristol, August 2021
Although his English isn’t great, it was nice to be able to talk with him for a while about his technique. Like all the artists around him on the day, he really seems to enjoy what he does. My only regret from the day is that when I returned the next day to take photographs of the finished pieces, three of them, including Eman’s, had been painted over.
It is always so good to see a new piece from Taboo, and it feels like a little while since his last one. This magnificent piece of graffiti writing is on the M32 roundabout, a wall that is seeing an ever-increasing turnover as artists compete for limited space I. The city.
Taboo, M32 roundabout, Bristol, August 2021
The letters, naturally, spell out Taboo, although it takes a little time to work it out if you aren’t used to reading his letters. Unusually for one of his pieces there is no accompanying character, although there is an animated paintbrush in the middle of the piece. His organic and unconventional style is what marks out his work as being rather special and I love it.
This is the second recent piece from Tasha Bee that appeared at the other end of St Werburghs tunnel to her collaboration with Antikki. It is such a pleasure to see her painting again. Although she is really busy with her Pot Heads business, I hope that she finds time to splash a little paint at walls more often.
Tasha Bee, St Werburghs, Bristol, July 2021
This is classic Tasha Bee. A stylised portrait with eyes shut, this time wearing a rather colourful and fetching cap. The criss-cross patterning on the cap I think is a technique she picked up from Soap a while back. Let’s hope this is not a one-off return to painting.
This is such a wonderful piece on one of the most tricky walls to photograph in Bedminster (and there are a great many of them), but SkyHigh has worked with it rather than against it, and told me all about it when I met him while painting it.
SkyHigh, Dean Lane, Bristol, June 2021, Upfest 21
The wall is in front of a little green which has been planted with trees, so photographing the full wall can only be achieved from the sides or through the trees. Taking this into account, SkyHigh has introduced a woodland scene as a backdrop and added a beautiful Bristol fox.
SkyHigh, Dean Lane, Bristol, July 2021, Upfest 21
The block letters spell out SKYHIGH and are painted in a vibrant blue colour that contrasts brilliantly with the woodland greens and browns.
SkyHigh, Dean Lane, Bristol, July 2021, Upfest 21
The whole scene might be a little more visible in the winter when the young trees have shed their leaves. I don’t think it really matters though because of the way the artist has approached the piece and incorporated the trees as part of the overall effect.
SkyHigh, Dean Lane, Bristol, July 2021, Upfest 21
SkyHigh is a highly skilled artist and demonstrates this with the stunning fox portrait to the right hand side of the piece, one of the best street art foxes I have seen. SkyHigh is always, always welcome in Bristol.
Here we have another fine piece of graffiti writing from Rezwonk in St Werburghs tunnel with a multicolour splash. I think it was painted at roughly the same time as the Sunday Funday paint jam a few weeks back.
Rezwonk, St Werburghs, Bristol, July 2021
I am a little short on time to write too much about this piece as I am heading off for another fishing trip this morning and have to sort myself out and write another post before I go. Suffice it to say that Rezwonk has used his metal panelling and rivet style again which is great to see.
It was really great to catch up with DFC1848 when he was painting this piece during a paint jam for Eman’s birthday at the beginning of August. The sun was out, there was a fabulous turnout of artists and all was good with the world.
DFC1848, Cumberland Basin, Bristol, July 2021
DFC1848 has painted a few of these ‘double’ characters and in this one continues to add in title flashes and decorations, always looking to add complexity to his designs. One of the things I really like about this is how he has ‘stitched’ the two halves together with a bit of cord, rather like Andy Councils recent pieces.
DFC1848, Cumberland Basin, Bristol, August 2021
A nice clean piece and a fun character, DFC1848 is going from strength to strength. During our chat he kept on telling me to get out and paint. I really do need to do something about this state of affairs having talked about it for the last couple of years.
One of the street artists I admire the most is Zabou. Her portraits are legendary and I am constantly left in awe and admiration every time I see one of her pieces. This huge wall on the Redpoint Climbing Centre is her contribution to Upfest 75×75 and is jaw-droppingly brilliant.
Zabou, Redpoint Climbing Centre, Bristol, July 2021, Upfest21
The portrait is of a fellow artist called Slim Safont, who is a bit of a global superstar, and whose works are not too dissimilar in size and style to this one. Zabou is a French artist who, I think, lives in London, and there are plenty of examples of her incredible work in the capital.
Zabou, Redpoint Climbing Centre, Bristol, July 2021, Upfest21
I like the way she has combined the grey-scale portrait with lots of colour around it, something that our own Kosc has been playing with lately. I guess that this would be classed as a photorealistic piece set on an abstract background. Whatever it is called, it is a truly magnificent piece and painted on such a grand scale. She will have worked her way through several cans of paint on this one.
Zabou, Redpoint Climbing Centre, Bristol, July 2021, Upfest21
It is so good that Zabou comes to Bristol from time to time, and she has also painted in Cheltenham for the festival there. Zabou is without one of my all time favourite street artists.
Natural adventures 