Tag: Graffiti

805. Raleigh Road, Tobacco Factory (7)

I had had a tip-off, via Stephen Quick’s Instagram feed that he and Hannah Adamaszek would be doing a collaboration at the Tobacco Factory, on the weekend of 13-14 May, so I managed to sneak over on the Saturday to see what they were up to.

Stephen Quick and Hannah Adamaszek, Tobacco Factory, Bristol, May 2017
Stephen Quick and Hannah Adamaszek, Tobacco Factory, Bristol, May 2017

What a treat. Stephen had organised for a few established, up and coming and debutant artists to spray the car park bays during what was a bit of a Bedminster festival. This work is really interesting because it brings together two distinct styles into a synthesis that joins them. The subject matter is the same, but the techniques quite different.

Stephen Quick and Hannah Adamaszek, Tobacco Factory, Bristol, May 2017
Stephen Quick and Hannah Adamaszek, Tobacco Factory, Bristol, May 2017

Stephen Quick works mostly with stencils and Hannah with freestyle paints and spray. It was interesting watching them concentrating on their respective halves of the collaboration.

Stephen Quick and Hannah Adamaszek, Tobacco Factory, Bristol, May 2017
Stephen Quick and Hannah Adamaszek, Tobacco Factory, Bristol, May 2017

It is possible to see that some elements of the original piece obviously didn’t work too well for the artists, so they were removed, for example the purple birds in the background.

Stephen Quick and Hannah Adamaszek, Tobacco Factory, Bristol, May 2017
Stephen Quick and Hannah Adamaszek, Tobacco Factory, Bristol, May 2017

I love the work of both of these artists, and I love the way they have collaborated on this piece. Does it work? I am not sure. Has it enhanced their styles or cramped them? On balance, I consider it a triumph, but it brings into sharp perspective the difficulties of working together. A bit like being married I guess…different styles, a collaboration.

Stephen Quick and Hannah Adamaszek, Tobacco Factory, Bristol, May 2017
Stephen Quick and Hannah Adamaszek, Tobacco Factory, Bristol, May 2017

803. M32 Cycle path (8)

For those of you not keen on Laic217’s work, I apologise. I, as you should know by now, am a big fan, and as long as he keeps painting them, and as long as I keep finding them, I will keep posting them.

Laic217, M32 cycle path, Bristol, March 2017
Laic217, M32 cycle path, Bristol, March 2017

This is a quick one from a little while back in a narrow cycling alleyway that runs alongside the M32 between the St Pauls and Eastville junctions.

Laic217, M32 cycle path, Bristol, March 2017
Laic217, M32 cycle path, Bristol, March 2017

A wall, an obscured face, a bucket hat, a tracksuit, letters…it is all here and all so beautifully done. I’m not at all keen on the yellow background, but I am just being a bit picky.

802. M32 roundabout J3 (38)

I haven’t seen much of Epok’s work of late, so it was great to see this trademark piece on the M32 roundabout back in April. His wildstyle writing is always perfectly executed, and the precision and geometry betrays the large amount of care that goes into his works.

Epok, M32 roundabout, Bristol, April 2017
Epok, M32 roundabout, Bristol, April 2017

He has made great use of accent colours and patterns in green and white, to make the black and brown lettering stand out. Another high quality piece from one of the best writers in town.

Epok, M32 roundabout, Bristol, April 2017
Epok, M32 roundabout, Bristol, April 2017

801. Stokes Croft, the Carriageworks (25)

A couple of weeks back, we were blessed. Aspire made a trip back to Bristol, from his new home in London, and while he was here, he sprayed a couple of pieces, one of which was this magnificent pigeon in one of the Stokes Croft arches.

Aspire, Stokes Croft, Bristol, May 2017
Aspire, Stokes Croft, Bristol, May 2017

Although Aspire himself talked this piece down…’painted with some dregs from a recent job in Bristol this week’, I happen to think it is yet another example of his mastery of his craft.

Aspire, Stokes Croft, Bristol, May 2017
Aspire, Stokes Croft, Bristol, May 2017

The gold background is inspired, and actually draws the piece closer to the breakdancing Jesus by Cosmo Sarson which has gilt paint stretching high on a wall some 50 metres away.

Aspire, Stokes Croft, Bristol, May 2017
Aspire, Stokes Croft, Bristol, May 2017

This was not the only spraying Aspire managed on his short trip, and I will be posting about another piece soon. So glad he could make time to brighten up our streets again.

799. Upfest 2016 (130)

Recently, I have posted quite a few pieces from the magnificent Georgie (artist), including a wonderful Michael Caine portrait in The Bearpit. However, when I took these pictures back in July 2016, I don’t think I really knew too much about her.

Georgie, Upfest, Bristol, July 2017
Georgie, Upfest, Bristol, July 2017

This is a fabulous stencil, impactful and eye-grabbing. The contrast of the grayscale stencil and the bright and colourful background work really effectively for the subject matter of the piece. I am too lazy to find out what it is called, but it seems many of her works have an obvious name. I like this very much.

798. Upfest 2016 (129)

I met Annika Wilkinson, who paints under the name of Annika Pixie, for the first time a couple of weeks ago at a local festival in Bedminster. She is a lovely, chatty and talented artist who is from Sweden (although I have to confess I thought her accent Scottish) but is now based in Bristol.

Annika Pixie, Upfest, Bristol, July 2017
Annika Pixie, Upfest, Bristol, July 2017

She tends to paint portraits that have a mysticism or dreaminess about them, which I rather like. I have found several of her pieces around Bristol, so it was lovely to finally meet her. Great news is that she will be back at this year’s festival,. which is easy for her, as she lives very locally.

797. Upfest 2016 (128)

This piece was one of the most mysterious and moving of the whole festival. It depicts, in a stained glass window style, a mother and child wrapped in a blanket. On first glance it looks like a Virgin Mary and Jesus depiction, and the mother has a halo effect around her head. Look closer and for a little longer and the horror of the image becomes clear. This is a contemporary study of the terrible refugee crisis of people from many of the world’s most troubled regions desperately crossing the Mediterranean Sea to get to mainland Europe.

Unknown artist, Upfest, Bristol, July 2016
Unknown artist, Upfest, Bristol, July 2016

The child is not dressed in swaddling clothes as one so young should be, but strapped into a life jacket and the pair of them are enveloped in a silver sheet to keep them warm. This is both distressing and compelling, and pretty much my favourite piece of the whole festival. One big hitch…The picture was not there on the second day, and I never got to find out who it was by. I scoured the Interweb but drew a blank. If anyone might know, I’d love to find out. I am still really moved by this piece. Brilliant. Bravo.

796. Upfest 2016 (127)

There is only one downside to Upfest, in my eyes, and that is that there is so much art on display, it can be difficult to take it all in. The senses are bombarded around every corner, and in every green space in Bedminster. Sometimes it takes a while…maybe months…for all the images to bed down. This is a case in point, where it is only now when sifting through all my photographs that I am reminded of it.

Steve Pinchess, Upfest, Bristol, July 2016
Steve Pinchess, Upfest, Bristol, July 2016

The artist Steve Pinchess was born in Leicester and brought up through the care system. He loved his art, and meagre resources led him to use the streets as a canvass (I paraphrase from his biography notes in the Upfest programme). He now lives in Bude in Cornwall (very nice too) and shares a gallery with his wife.

Steve Pinchess, Upfest, Bristol, July 2016
Steve Pinchess, Upfest, Bristol, July 2016

Unfortunately I wasn’t able to get a clean picture of the whole piece, so am unable to commentate too much on it. Maybe I’ll do a better job this year.

795. Upfest 2016 (126)

In a car park just off Raleigh Road, a double decker bus was given ‘the treatment’ at last year’s Upfest. This side of the bus was given over to Snub23, and he made a beautiful job.

Snub23, Upfest, Bristol, July 2016
Snub23, Upfest, Bristol, July 2016

Snub23 Uses his geometric patterning and shading to great effect, and then looming down from the left is one of his characters that seem to be inspired by the comic genre. Powerful stuff.

Snub23, Upfest, Bristol, July 2016
Snub23, Upfest, Bristol, July 2016
Snub23, Upfest, Bristol, July 2016
Snub23, Upfest, Bristol, July 2016

794. Dean Lane skate park (48)

Now that I know what I am looking for, and recognise the signature I will be featuring more of Hire’s work as and when I come across it. He is the artist who sprays the large buck toothed bunnies, which appear from time to time.

Hire, Dean Lane, Bristol, April 2017
Hire, Dean Lane, Bristol, April 2017

This is a wildstyle piece which, if you look carefully spells out HIRE, although it takes some convincing to be sure. This is a nice quick piece which all forms part of the rich mix you can find down at Dean Lane.