Tag: Graffiti

1854. St Werburghs tunnel (51)

Well, well, well it would seem that Mr Klue has rediscovered his mojo, which is absolutely brilliant news for this king of abstract street art in Bristol and is also pretty good news for me too.

Mr Klue, St Werburghs, Bristol, November 2018
Mr Klue, St Werburghs, Bristol, November 2018

Over recent weeks Mr Klue has been turning out a whole load of excellent pieces, mostly in St Werburghs tunnel, and this one was form the very end of October. I mentioned before that there had been a great crop of Halloween pieces this year and this is one of them.

Mr Klue, St Werburghs, Bristol, November 2018
Mr Klue, St Werburghs, Bristol, November 2018

Much of Mr Klue’s work is peaceful and calming, but a quick glance of some of the detail in this one shows a fair amount of menace…the chainsaws are particularly horrific. I love this piece, and it really brings out another side to the talents of Mr Klue. One of my all-time favourite Halloween pieces.

1853. Hebron Road (1)

I think this one from qWeRT goes back to roughly the time of Upfest 2018 and is pasted on a door, along with multiple other wheatpastes – you can see one from Losthills just to the left – that is opposite one of the Upfest feature walls.

qWeRT, Hebron Road, Bristol, June 2018
qWeRT, Hebron Road, Bristol, June 2018

I am always happy finding qWeRT wheatpastes, it is a little bit of a game to hunt them down, and I am pretty safe in the knowledge that there are others in Bristol that I have yet to find. The googly-eyed character is in loving mode in this piece.

1852. St Werburghs tunnel (50)

I realise that it must get a bit wearing for regular readers of Natural Adventures to keep seeing pieces by some of the more productive street artists in Bristol, but I shall not apologise for it. Artists like Face 1st are the lifeblood of any urban street art scene and without them we would be left with high-end commission-based artists painting in sterile environments, and frankly who wants that? Not me.

Face 1st, St Werburghs, Bristol, May 2018
Face 1st, St Werburghs, Bristol, May 2018

This is a beautiful piece from Face 1st, and the colour selection is rather special. For those not in the know, you should be able to make out the letters FACE in the hair/decoration around the face…for example the C is around the left of the face, and the E is to the right. So good.

1851. M32 Spot (31)

The M32 spot is a sprawling area of columns and walls underneath the M32 where skateboarders like to congregate when it is raining. The ramps and obstacles in this ‘unofficial’ skatepark are cobbled together by what I think is called DIY – a group of enthusiasts who create skating opportunities. It is also an area where street artists like to spray, and although turnover can be quite high, there are some pieces that have remained for ages and ages.

NEVERGIVEUP, M32 Spot, Bristol, July 2018
NEVERGIVEUP, M32 Spot, Bristol, July 2018

This piece, it will come as no surprise to you, is by NEVERGIVEUP or as he calls himself Nevergiveup Familia or NGU. It is one of his ever-multiplying rabbits, that really are hopping out of pretty much every piece of concrete in the city. This particular one is one of my favourites – the colours and his slight plumpness make him most endearing. This is not the last of his bunnies I will be posting here.

1850. M32 Spot (30)

I took this picture a little while back, and thught I had published it, because it is quite similar to a couple of other pieces by Kool Hand. But I hadn’t so here it is now. Kool Hand creates distinctive natural world creatures, such as this orangutan with strong black outlines and bold solid colours. The pieces are simple, but effective and he has carved out this neat style.

Kool Hand, M32 Spot, Bristol, May 2018
Kool Hand, M32 Spot, Bristol, May 2018

Most of his work is set on a white background, which probably brings out the pieces in a clearly defined way, uncluttered. He is a tidy artist. I haven’t yet met Kool Hand, but as with all artists in Bristol, it is just a matter of time before we both pitch up at the same place at the same time.

1849. Upfest 2018 (90)

Kin Dose is a Bristol artist who doesn’t hit the streets too often, but at Upfest 2018 he really excelled himself, spraying several wildlife stencils along the North Street area. This is the second one I have featured in Natural Adventures.

Kin Dose, Upfest, Bristol, July 2018
Kin Dose, Upfest, Bristol, July 2018

This piece, a bat of some description, is perfectly fitted to the utility box on which it appears, and kind of blends in a little so as almost to be invisible to the passer-by. You can tell, at Upfest, the difference between general visitors and street art ‘hunters’ as the latter are always looking at every wall, every door, every side street, every lamp-post, every utility box, in fact pretty much everything, whereas the former tend to stroll along chatting and seeing art almost passively.

Lost my thread a bit there…anyhow, this piece, along with its partners is something really special, which is what Kin Dose does so well. Special.

 

 

1848. Upfest 2018 (89)

Bart says “reach for the stars” and Lemak has done just that with this fabulous space stencil. Some of you might remember that I have already posted this stencil, in a slightly different format from Park Street a few weeks back.

Lemak, Upfest, Bristol, July 2018
Lemak, Upfest, Bristol, July 2018

There is little more for me to say than I have already said about Lemak and his superb artwork. His stencils are always precisely presented and always have some original thinking behind them. Checking out his Instagram account also gives you some real insight into the kind of works he is producing. Always good, never sub-standard.

Lemak, Park Street, Bristol, October 2018
Lemak, Park Street, Bristol, October 2018

1847. Upfest 2018 (88)

Shade One is a Bristol artist who has been spraying since 1985, so can probably be considered as one of the godfathers of street art in the city. Having said that, I am relatively new to the street art scene here and anything older than about five years is a bit of a murky area and I need to do extra research.

Shade One, Upfest, Bristol, July 2018
Shade One, Upfest, Bristol, July 2018

This is a striking cartoonesque portrait that for me has Disney written all over it. Something about it reminds me a little of Cruella de Vil. Fabulous crisp lines and solid fills, this is the work of an expert.

 

 

1846. Upfest 2018 (87)

When I write these posts, I like to think about an audience that probably doesn’t know too much about what they are looking at and maybe, just maybe, want to find out more. I started blogging about street art in Bristol because I found it almost impossible to find out anything about what I was seeing on the streets where I live, and as an inquisitive person I found this mind blowingly irritating. So I had to dig deep and spent many hours finding out what I could. The massive leaps in learning come from actually meeting the artists and getting a little under the skin of what they do. This is all a bit of an aside, but one that was prompted by a train of thought that arose because I had to do a fair bit of research before posting this piece.

The Real Dill, Upfest, Bristol, July 2018
The Real Dill, Upfest, Bristol, July 2018

This is by The Real Dill who is a co-founder of Gums and tongue crew/collective/magazine. Based in London, this collective have made the trip to Bristol for Upfest for at least the last two years, in fact I still have a whole ton of their work to post from Upfest 2017! Sticking to The Simpson’s brief, The Real Dill has turned out an absolute gem with this piece, and one that really sticks in my mind. Bright green and pink always a winning combination .

1845. Upfest 2018 (86)

Octofly Art is the creation of an Italian artist called Sylvia who likes to paint monsters and creatures, and let’s face it, who doesn’t love a cuddly monster? Reading the profile of the artist in the Upfest programme, it would seem that she has only recently started using spray cans for her street pieces when previously she used to use brushes.

Octofly Art, Upfest, Bristol, July 2018
Octofly Art, Upfest, Bristol, July 2018

There is a definite style here with strong clean lines and solid fills, and it is really interesting to see from the ‘in progress’ picture how she is building up the layers before adding in the outline and details.

Octofly Art, Upfest, Bristol, July 2018
Octofly Art, Upfest, Bristol, July 2018

I notice that she was painting next to Stelle Confuse (Stelleconfuse) another Italian artist whose Upfest 2018 piece I have already posted on Natural Adventures.

Tea or Spray? – not entirely sure I know what she means, but surely there is only one answer to that question at Upfest.