Tag: Graffiti

1063. Upfest 2017 (75)

These are two really beautiful pieces that I wish I’d spent more time looking at during my walk around North Street Green at Upfest. Each of them is calming and serene, and they make a fine pair. I am not sure if the co-location was by accident or by design, but it works very well.

Paintily, Upfest, Bristol, July 2017
Paintily, Upfest, Bristol, July 2017

The left hand side is by Paintily, a Bristol-based artist originally from Brighton. There is something about this stencil that I like a lot, and the stripes on the face of the girl finish the piece off beautifully. I have not seen any of her work before, but would love to see her take her work to the streets.

Taina, Upfest, Bristol, July 2017
Taina, Upfest, Bristol, July 2017

The right hand side is by Taina, and has the feel of a children’s book illustration. Such a simple idea and so beautifully painted, there is a whole story unfolding here, and one I want to know more about.  Taina is a Swiss-Finnish artist based in Zurich whose work I think I could very well fall in love with. A quick look at this website might give you an insight as to why I like her work so much. I definitely want her to return next year.

Paintily and Taina, Upfest, Bristol, July 2017
Paintily and Taina, Upfest, Bristol, July 2017

1062. Upfest 2017 (74)

This stunning work was the official piece from Oze Arv this year, although he left behind several other pieces in Bristol before he departed. I had not seen his work before Upfest, but everything I have seen I like a lot.

Oze Arv, Upfest, Bristol, July 2017
Oze Arv, Upfest, Bristol, July 2017

There is something about black and white check in street art that I really like, and here it blends beautifully with the softer abstract shapes. There is a story being told here, and the two orange circles contain elements central to this story. I like pretty much everything about this piece, and look forward to posting more from this Portuguese artist before too long.

Oze Arv, Upfest, Bristol, July 2017
Oze Arv, Upfest, Bristol, July 2017

1061. Upfest 2017 (73)

More mischief from Jake the Dog and his master costume designer Losthills at Upfest this year. In the first picture we see Jake as a late 1970s punk, complete with colourful mohican haircut, chain and earring, holding an anarchy badge.

Losthills, Upfest, Bristol, July 2017
Losthills, Upfest, Bristol, July 2017

In the second picture, which was taken in the back yard of The Steamcrane pub, Jake is dressed as some kind of robot with a heart. This is probably influenced by a film or something, but I am not too sure. All good fun though. Plenty more to come.

Losthills, Upfest, Bristol, July 2017
Losthills, Upfest, Bristol, July 2017

1060. Upfest 2017 (72)

Spot the Badger has an interesting story to tell about how badgers became the ‘thing’, and the Upfest programme biography reads:

Why Badgers? I’ve always been drawing and making things but lacked direction in my output. I needed a focus, and ‘Spot The Badger’ is where I found it. A weekly competition in my local paper to ‘spot’ a tic-tac sized Badger hidden in one of the paid-for ads, I created a stencil of this little Badger and began to draw him in different styles, leading me to where I am today.

For a self-taught artist, there are some really nice design features in this piece, but of course the badger is king.

Spot The Badger, Upfest, Bristol, July 2017
Spot The Badger, Upfest, Bristol, July 2017

Spot the Badger is a Bristol-based artist and this piece for Upfest contains that most iconic of Bristol landmarks, the Clifton suspension bridge. I do love these reference points that Bristol artists add to their works. (Yet another note to self…post a special suspension bridge collection).

1059. Upfest 2017 (71)

There is a lot of fun in this piece by Mas972, and I enjoyed watching it progress over the Upfest weekend. I managed to grab a little time chatting with the artist and told him I remembered his piece from last year. What I didn’t say to him though was that I thought this piece was much better, but that is just a personal opinion.

Mas972, Upfest, Bristol, July 2017
Mas972, Upfest, Bristol, July 2017

I was interested to see how Mas972 went about this piece and by the time I first visited he had already completed the background and begun work on the characters.

Mas972, Upfest, Bristol, July 2017
Mas972, Upfest, Bristol, July 2017

I have huge admiration for these artists and the way the approach their work. They have vision, talent and experience which they apply adeptly to create these marvels.

Mas972, Upfest, Bristol, July 2017
Mas972, Upfest, Bristol, July 2017

The characters in this piece are beautifully crafted and so full of mischief. I like the way the yellow eyes and teeth really stand out, bringing them alive.

Mas972, Upfest, Bristol, July 2017
Mas972, Upfest, Bristol, July 2017

A nice touch is that these cheerleading characters are wearing bibs which carry the letters M A S. I do very much hope Mas972 returns next year.

 

 

1058. Armada Place (13)

Moon Street remains one of my favourite graffiti spots in Bristol, but it has to be said that lately turnover there has been pretty slow, and some of the works not even worth photographing. This is an exception from a little while back by Thelochnessmonster.

Thelochnessmonster, Armada Place, Bristol, June 2017
Thelochnessmonster, Armada Place, Bristol, June 2017

I’m never too sure what is going on in Thelochnessmonster’s pieces, but they are always colourful and very different from most of the stuff you see on the streets. I have a feeling this has something to do with the nuclear industry and the consequences of it, some of which might be mutations of an interesting sort.

Thelochnessmonster, Armada Place, Bristol, June 2017
Thelochnessmonster, Armada Place, Bristol, June 2017

Always good to see these unusual pieces.

1057. Bristol Museum

For a short while, this incredible piece by Banksy, could be viewed in Bristol Museum. For a shorter time still (hours) it could be viewed in Clement Street, on a door where it was sprayed. The ownership of the work was hotly disputed between Bristol City Council and Broad Plains Boys’ Club and the furore that it caused (see this BBC news story), not uncommon with Banksy pieces, somewhat overshadowed the utter brilliance of the the work, entitled ‘Mobile Lovers’.

Banksy, Bristol Museum, Bristol, May 2014
Banksy, Bristol Museum, Bristol, May 2014

I saw this piece in the museum sometime before I started posting about street art, and sadly I only have this single iPhone image (is there something ironic there?). The title has a double meaning and the piece, not only brilliantly executed, is a fabulous commentary on our modern lifestyle and love-affair with mobile technology. This is absolutely one of my favourite pieces by Banksy, and it is such a pity that it now sits on the wall of somebody who can afford it. I firmly believe street art is for all, but when it carries such a high value as Banksy pieces do, this is what happens.

1056. Dean Lane skate park (80)

This is a lovely sharp piece of wildstyle writing from visiting artist Mario Messina (MM.Pat). I believe that this Sicilian artist is a tattoo apprentice, who must have been passing through Bristol sometime this summer.

Mario Messina, Dean Lane, Bristol, September 2017
Mario Messina, Dean Lane, Bristol, September 2017

The letters are beautifully picked out in chrome over a colourful cloudy background. This particular spot is behind a set of high railings, and anything that is sprayed here tends to stay a while because it is a bit of a fag to scale the railings with all your gear. I passed by today, and it is still there. A lovely piece.

1055. The Bearpit (95)

Sirens has this great way of combining the natural world with hard-edged urban landscapes. The result is the creation of beautiful pieces, often full of colour and strangely optimistic. Often, these kinds of urban landscapes can be dull depressing affairs, but Sirens brings out the best from these imagined environments.

Sirens, The Bearpit, Bristol, September 2017
Sirens, The Bearpit, Bristol, September 2017

In this piece the eye is drawn past a crimson sky to a crane (Sirens loves cranes – or so he says on his Instagram). On the cab of the crane is a reference to Team Robbo, which would appear to be a tribute to a friend. His Instagram feed says “you might be gone but your work will live on with us it touched, we miss you king Robbo”.

Sirens just keeps those sunsets coming.

Layers

 

Peel back the layers.

We are the sum of our parts

there is beauty here.

 

by Scooj