Tag: Graffiti

650. Upfest 2016 (99)

It seems that everywhere I looked during Upfest, I was being stalked by this brilliant little creature, called Jake the dog, created by LostHills. In each of the paste ups, Jake the dog is striking a different pose with something different happening. I love this kind of themed approach to street art.

Losthills, Jake, Upfest, Bristol, July 2016
Losthills, Jake, Upfest, Bristol, July 2016

Although I don’t believe that Losthills was an official artist at Upfest, his wheatpastes brightened up every corner of Bedminster, and several still remain six months on.

Losthills, Jake, Upfest, Bristol, July 2016
Losthills, Jake, Upfest, Bristol, July 2016

Together with C3, 23 Magpies, Phoebe New York, Face the Strange, What have I done Now and D7606, paste up artists were very well represented at Upfest 2016, and I rather hope there will be more this year.

Losthills, Jake, Upfest, Bristol, July 2016
Losthills, Jake, Upfest, Bristol, July 2016

 

649. Upfest 2016 (98)

One of the most charming pieces of Upfest 2016 must surely have been this cat and mouse mural by Boe and Irony.

Boe and Irony, Upfest, Bristol, July 2016
Boe and Irony, Upfest, Bristol, July 2016

Unfortunately during the festival, I don’t think this piece got as much notice as perhaps it should have done for two reasons. Firstly, the scaffolding remained up until after the festival, and secondly it was tucked away in an area that was slightly off the beaten track. In a way this makes it almost more attractive and exclusive for Bristol street art fans.

Boe and Irony, Upfest, Bristol, July 2016
Boe and Irony, Upfest, Bristol, July 2016

I don’t know too much about either of the artists, there wasn’t even a biography in the programme for Boe. I have seen some of Irony’s work on social media before, but this is the first of his works I have seen ‘in the flesh’.

Boe and Irony, Upfest, Bristol, January 2017
Boe and Irony, Upfest, Bristol, January 2017

Irony describes himself on his Facebook page as a ‘painter, street artist, vandal’. That’s the spirit. Looking at his other works, it is difficult to believe that this London-based artist is self-taught.

Boe and Irony, Upfest, Bristol, January 2017
Boe and Irony, Upfest, Bristol, January 2017

This piece is so beautifully sprayed, the fur on both the cat and the mouse is amazing, and the electric-blue outline really makes the piece stand out.

Boe and Irony, Upfest, Bristol, January 2017
Boe and Irony, Upfest, Bristol, January 2017

Who wouldn’t want something like this on the side of their house?

 

 

 

 

648. Upfest 2016 (97)

In the car park of the Tobacco Factory, the far left area of wall space was taken up by the Spanish artist Rudiart. Reading from the Upfest notes, it seems that Rudiart began painting in the streets of Cacares in the early 90s, but the City simply wasn’t ready for this kind of art, so by the end of the decade he moved on to Madrid.

Rudiart, Upfest, Bristol, July 2016
Rudiart, Upfest, Bristol, July 2016

Since that time he has grown as an artist and travels around Europe to different festivals, exhibitions and events.

Rudiart, Upfest, Bristol, July 2016
Rudiart, Upfest, Bristol, July 2016

I managed to take pictures of his work on both days of the festival, and he was in full flow with spraying on the Saturday.

Rudiart, Upfest, Bristol, July 2016
Rudiart, Upfest, Bristol, July 2016

This piece comes in two halves. On the right is some wildstyle writing with a heavy 3D effect, something of a specialisation for Rudiart.

Rudiart, Upfest, Bristol, July 2016
Rudiart, Upfest, Bristol, July 2016

On the left hand side of the piece he paints a futuristic scene depicting a lady in a spacesuit, with a rather nice ‘R’ on her cap.

Rudiart, Upfest, Bristol, July 2016
Rudiart, Upfest, Bristol, July 2016

The two halves come together nicely, although I don’t have a very good picture of the whole. His Facebook page is worth a quick look, and he did post a decent picture of the whole piece in one shot. Nice to see him at the festival.

 

647. Upfest 2016 (96)

One of the pleasures of Upfest 2016 was the sheer volume of wheatpastes that appeared on billboards, lamp posts, letterboxes and other utility boxes. One of the busiest of these paste up artists was Face the Strange, who must have come to Bristol with a suitcase filled with his work.

Face the Strange, Upfest, Bristol, July 2016
Face the Strange, Upfest, Bristol, July 2016

This piece is really rather odd, odder than many of his other pieces and that is saying something. A raspberry lady in a business suit walking with crutches – what is going on here? It isn’t so much shocking as just weird. I rather like it though and you can see that a lot of thought and effort has gone into this small wheatpaste.

646. Unity Street (5)

Another delve into the archive for this brilliant little piece by Sled One. I’m not too sure why I didn’t post it sooner, I guess every now any then things get on top of me, and anyhow, I am never short of material. If I stopped taking pictures today (which I didn’t), I would still be able to post images for at least a year.

SledOne, Unity Street, Bristol, September 2016
SledOne, Unity Street, Bristol, September 2016

This is a playful piece spelling out ASK, the After School Klub crew which has about fifteen or so Bristol street artists in its ranks, including Deamze, Epok, Sepr and Soker.

SledOne, Unity Street, Bristol, September 2016
SledOne, Unity Street, Bristol, September 2016

I run out of words trying to describe how much I like Sled One’s work. He is so imaginative and creative, and the execution of his work is faultless. Making ducks out of letters or letters out of ducks, this is simply brilliant.

645. St Michael’s Hill (1)

Well it’s all Shabs at the moment. I said that there would be more to share with you, and so it is. This is a lovely piece on the side of a small café at the bottom of St Michael’s Hill, and in an area without much I the way of street art.

Shab, St Michael's Hill, Bristol, September 2016
Shab, St Michael’s Hill, Bristol, September 2016

This piece has the characteristic colourful outlines of a figure, and of course a beautiful signature eye. I have walked past this many many times on my way to work, and I believe it to be an outstanding work.

Shab, St Michael's Hill, Bristol, September 2016
Shab, St Michael’s Hill, Bristol, September 2016

The area is significant to me and my family as both of my children were born in St Michael’s Hospital just up the hill from here.

644. Grimsby Street, Shoreditch (2)

Today a look back at last Summer and a walk I took I Shoreditch. This is a great wheatpaste by D7606, and a fine tribute to the late David Bowie. D7606’s work often combines iconic figures with 20th century electronic appliances such as telephone boxes, telephones or televisions.

D7606, Grimsby Street, Shoreditch, August 2016
D7606, Grimsby Street, Shoreditch, August 2016

Always good and always quirky and fun.

643. Moon Street (21)

This piece is one from the archives going back to August last year and is by the enigmatic OHMS. I have had a major breakthrough recently in finding out a little more about the artist because I stumbled across his Instagram account @thelocknessmonster.

OHMS, Moon Street, Bristol, August 2016
OHMS, Moon Street, Bristol, August 2016

Now at the very least I will be able to see when he has created something new, and might even be able to work out where it is. I particularly like this piece because it has a marine theme and a rather nice feature lobster.

I get the feeling that OHMS or thelocknessmonster (what should I call him?) is in touch with his natural history side, because so many of his pieces feature wildlife. I do rather like his work.

642. M32 cycle path (5)

In one of the narrowest parts of the M32 cycle path, there is this rather nice Epok piece, which I think was sprayed at the same time as the Ments piece featured a few posts back.

Epok, M32 cycle path, Bristol, January 2017
Epok, M32 cycle path, Bristol, January 2017

As always Epok presents these lovely geometric shapes making up his moniker and again a great colour palette. A real bugger to photograph on a sunny Winter’s day though!

Epok, M32 cycle path, Bristol, January 2017
Epok, M32 cycle path, Bristol, January 2017

641. Moon Street (20)

This is a quick one from 45RPM on the long wall in Moon Street, opposite the Lakota. 45RPM has a broad range of pieces that he likes to spray, one of which is his graffiti burners. This is typical of many that can be found dotted around the city.

45RPM, Moon Street, Bristol, February 2017
45RPM, Moon Street, Bristol, February 2017

The colours are vibrant and eye-catching, and sets this piece out alongside other not-quite-so-good pieces.