Tag: Graffiti

352. Upfest 2016 (11)

One of the artists I was most keen to meet at Upfest 2016 was Hannah Adamaszek. Her amazing works have only recently crossed my path, and put simply, I love her art. It is weird really, because her subject matter, and even her style, is not something I would naturally gravitate to, but I am so very taken with it. That is a good thing I suppose.

Hannah Adamaszek, Upfest Bristol, July 2016
Hannah Adamaszek, Upfest Bristol, July 2016

Sadly, I didn’t get to the area where she was working on the Saturday, and when I got there on the Sunday, she wasn’t there. I’m sure I’ll get to meet with her before too long, but in the interim, I will be more than satisfied with writing about her pieces.

Hannah Adamaszek, Upfest Bristol, July 2016
Hannah Adamaszek, Upfest Bristol, July 2016

This is a beautiful piece that was worked onto the walls of a primary school – lucky school children I say. This wonderful face is in the company of about a dozen other great street artists that I will post about in due course. It is all good.

351. Upfest (10)

On the Monday of Upfest, everything went a little strange. I had to dash over in my lunch break, so didn’t have much time and was walking pretty fast. What I noticed first was that there were very few people compared to the previous two days, and most of the people I saw were street artists from the weekend leaving a few ‘extras’ for us to admire.

Goin, North Street, Upfest, Bristol, July 2016
Goin, North Street, Upfest, Bristol, July 2016

One such ‘extra’ was this piece by Goin, a French stencil artist with his roots in punk culture (sounding a bit like Tian). I posted about one of his works back in November 2015, but at that point I didn’t know who the artist was. This time I was there just as he sprayed the red writing. I asked who he was, but as this was a ‘naughty’ piece, he didn’t seem too keen to talk to me, and just wanted to get moving quickly. I then spotted this piece on his Instagram account a day or two later. I especially like this because it is witty, beautifully worked, subversive and I was there at its genesis.

350. Upfest 2016 (9)

Sometimes you see a piece and you just say to yourself ‘yes’. That was what I felt when I saw this beautiful dog by Loughborough street artist Buber Nebz. Perhaps he is better known for his Lego men that he paints, but his creation at Upfest is simply wonderful.

Buber Nebz, Upfest , Bristol, July 2016
Buber Nebz, Upfest , Bristol, July 2016

The whole composition just works really well. The gray shades and technique, but for me the composition is just perfect. The grumpy ginger bread man with legs missing and the fabulous expression on the dog possibly showing remorse.

Buber Nebz, Upfest , Bristol, July 2016
Buber Nebz, Upfest , Bristol, July 2016

I love this piece, but especially have in mind Frankie Beane while writing this post. One for the dog-lovers.

349. Upfest 2016 (8)

In the Upfest brochure…yes there was a brochure…there is an entry for ArquiCostura, but I think it may have been translated directly from her website using Google translate, and it is a little peculiar. I think it attempts to say that her work builds up pictures from the pixel size upwards, which I guess is how cross-stitch kind of works anyhow. Her work in the Steam Crane pub is absolutely wonderful, and set subtly at the back of the yard.

ArquiCostura, Upfest, North Street, Bristol, July 2016
ArquiCostura, Upfest, North Street, Bristol, July 2016

I believe from reading her Facebook page that she did another piece in Raleigh Road at the Tobacco Factory, but I don’t recall seeing it. I’ll have to go take another look. It is so refreshing to have needlework represented at Upfest which really does seem to embrace all forms of street art.

348. Upfest 2016 (7)

Meeting the artists was, for me, one of the great pleasures of being at Upfest this year, and so it was with stopping to chat for a while with ObjectØØØ. Heaven only knows how he and other artists managed to get on with their work with all the interruptions.

Object000, Upfest, Bristol, July 2016
Object000, Upfest, Bristol, July 2016

ObjectØØØ is an artist I have been watching develop over the last year, as he has taken more to the street art scene. His works are so very distinct…unlike anything else I have seen on the streets. More of his works here and here.

Object000, Upfest, Bristol, July 2016
Object000, Upfest, Bristol, July 2016

This is another great piece by him and carries all the hallmarks of his work: a contorted body, a bird wing, tentacles and a phrase he uses a lot ‘eat the rich’. I find his work unusual and also rather inspiring. His work oozes with angst and rage but to me also seems to be striving for a freedom just out of reach.

I do hope I’m not turning into too much of a street art critic/bore.

347. Upfest 2016 (6)

RIP seemed to have a lot of fun during Upfest this year. His works were not only confined to The Rising Sun (his designated temporary ‘canvass’) but also to the streets and hoardings of North Street.

RIP, Upfest, North Street, Bristol, July 2016
RIP, Upfest, North Street, Bristol, July 2016

The dodo was very low down on a hoarding passageway. Who can resist a dodo eh? There is a lovely Stewy dodo in Leonard Lane…one of my earliest posts. The pun here links to the rather annoying, but very popular Wham! song of the ’80s.

RIP, Upfest, North Street, Bristol, July 2016
RIP, Upfest, North Street, Bristol, July 2016

The philosophical chimp is another winner for me. I really like RIP’s work. It is fast, edgy, raw, humerous and keeps the streets alive for those of us who like to look, see and discover.

RIP, Upfest, North Street, Bristol, July 2016
RIP, Upfest, North Street, Bristol, July 2016

346. Upfest 2016 (5)

At this year’s Upfest I have been struck by how many female street artists there are, which is really great, because I think there is a perception that most street artists tend to be male. Well, there was a great mix of gender, nationality and style, and perhaps Danielle Clough, who comes from South Africa and works with thick bright embroidery thread most embodies this extraordinary diversity.

Danielle Clough, Raleigh Road, Upfest, Bristol, July 2016
Danielle Clough, Raleigh Road, Upfest, Bristol, July 2016

Danielle was working hard in the hot sun on Saturday creating this magnificent piece, and continued her work through Sunday in the slightly cooler and at times wetter weather. The outcome is absolutely beautiful, and I hope it will be there for some time to come.

Danielle Clough, Raleigh Road, Upfest, Bristol, July 2016
Danielle Clough, Raleigh Road, Upfest, Bristol, July 2016

I believe this work by Danielle is the first time I have posted work by a known ‘yarn bomber’, but it certainly will not be the last. Refreshing and beautiful.

345. Upfest 2016 (4)

I was really taken by this fantastic work by Belgian artist Din Din who describes herself as a ‘one woman artistic movement’.

Din Din, Lime Road, Upfest, Bristol, July 2016
Din Din, Lime Road, Upfest, Bristol, July 2016

On Saturday afternoon, when I watched her working, she was putting down the stencil at the bottom of the piece. I noticed that she used plastic stencils and asked her if she used them because they were stronger (seemed sensible to me), but she answered that with the plastic stencils you can work in the rain…so she came well prepared for a festival in Britain then!

Din Din, Lime Road, Upfest, Bristol, July 2016
Din Din, Lime Road, Upfest, Bristol, July 2016

On her website it looks very much like she did two other stencils in the area during her visit to Bristol, so I will have to hunt these down.

Din Din, Lime Road, Upfest, Bristol, July 2016
Din Din, Lime Road, Upfest, Bristol, July 2016

There is something about the piece that reminds me a little of Tian’s works that he pasted up around Stokes Croft during his ‘tour’ earlier in the year – photographic works with monochrome tones.

Din Din, Lime Road, Upfest, Bristol, July 2016
Din Din, Lime Road, Upfest, Bristol, July 2016

A wonderful piece to see and to get a glimpse of the artist at work.

344. Upfest 2016 (3)

One of the first pieces I saw that had already been completed by the time I arived on Saturday, was this fine and controversial work by Pegasus.

Pegasus, Upfest, Bristol, July 2016
Pegasus, Upfest, Bristol, July 2016

It is highly accomplished stencil work that one expects from Pegasus and the content of his work is often edgy and possibly uncomfortable for some. I imagine that any work representing Mother Teresa (a Saint) is going to be tricky.

Pegasus, Upfest, Bristol, July 2016
Pegasus, Upfest, Bristol, July 2016

I love this piece. It is quite shocking and at the same time so beautifully put together. I think this might be his first visit since his Trump/Hitler conflation in Greville Road, back in April 2016…another controversial one.

343. Upfest 2016 (2)

I still haven’t worked out how I am going to present all of the works that I captured and admired during Upfest over the last few days, but I have to get cracking because there is so much wonderful stuff to share.

Angus, Upfest, Bristol, July 2016
Angus, Upfest, Bristol, July 2016

This post has four works produced by Bristol street artist Angus over the duration of the weekend. It was a pity that I didn’t get to meet Angus, it just seemed that we were in different places at different times. I’m sure we will catch up soon. The first image is his ‘showcase’ piece that was on his designated board and is quite stunning.

Another couple of pieces sit either side of a large wall by Inkie (coming soon) at the Southbank Club on Dean Lane. On the left is a great face in reds and blacks…

Angus, Dean Lane, Upfest, Bristol, July 2016
Angus, Dean Lane, Upfest, Bristol, July 2016

…and on the right is a door that says it all really.

Angus, Dean Lane, Upfest, Bristol, July 2016
Angus, Dean Lane, Upfest, Bristol, July 2016

His fourth piece was in one of his favourite spots on Raleigh Road, where this recent work which I wrote about, resided.

Angus, Raleigh Road , Upfest, Bristol, July 2016
Angus, Raleigh Road , Upfest, Bristol, July 2016

I like this work a lot, with Muttley from Whacky Races, a message that he has been working with for a while, and some great colours and design. His work just gets better and better.