Tag: Graffiti

483. Upfest 2016 (57)

I have featured Dale Grimshaw a few weeks ago with one of his Shoreditch pieces. Well, we were lucky enough in Bristol to have him pay us a visit for Upfest 2016.

Dale Grimshaw, Upfest, Bristol, July 2016
Dale Grimshaw, Upfest, Bristol, July 2016

His works are instantly recognisable, usually being portraits of people from around the world, many of whom face political struggles. The faces are usually adorned with face paint, and the works are usually accompanied by a little piece of wildstyle writing.

Dale Grimshaw, Upfest, Bristol, July 2016
Dale Grimshaw, Upfest, Bristol, July 2016

I managed to get a couple of pictures of Dale Grimshaw finishing off the piece on the Saturday, and I returned on the Sunday, and made subsequent visits to capture the finished article.

Dale Grimshaw, Upfest, Bristol, July 2016
Dale Grimshaw, Upfest, Bristol, July 2016

This work simply has to be admired, as do all of his works. Let’s hope for a quick return to Bristol.

Dale Grimshaw, Upfest, Bristol, July 2016
Dale Grimshaw, Upfest, Bristol, July 2016
Dale Grimshaw, Upfest, Bristol, July 2016
Dale Grimshaw, Upfest, Bristol, July 2016

482. Upfest 2016 (56)

As a naturalist by training, I find it difficult not to be enthralled by these magnificent frogs painted by JXC at Upfest this year. I was lucky enough to see this piece half way through its creation and again on completion.

JXC, Upfest, Bristol July 2016
JXC, Upfest, Bristol July 2016
I met the artist briefly late on the Sunday afternoon while he he was chatting with one of his friends who had been creating a piece nearby.

JXC, Upfest, Bristol July 2016
JXC, Upfest, Bristol July 2016
JXC is a London artist who takes inspiration from popular culture, or so the programme notes say. I’m not too bothered about that, I simply love these frogs and am intrigued with the way he approaches his work. It would appear that he painted this piece using a zonal approach rather than painting one frog, then the other, then the background etc. I’m not sure if that makes sense, but look at the half-finished pieces, and you might get the gist.

JXC, Upfest, Bristol July 2016
JXC, Upfest, Bristol July 2016
JXC has a rather lovely website, and you can read more about the artist here.

481. Old Bread Street (8)

Another masterclass in street art from the magnificent Sled One. The hoardings in Old Bread Street  tend to get refreshed roughly fortnightly, so it can be difficult sometimes to photograph everything. In fact it is something of a miracle that I get to photograph anything at the moment. Work and family are occupying most of my time…I don’t mind the family bit, but work…

Sled One, Old Bread Street, Bristol, June 2016
Sled One, Old Bread Street, Bristol, June 2016
This picture is full of mischief, but it is also the work of a very talented young man. I’m not sure what direction he will take, but I think the world is his oyster. Whatever choices he makes in the future, I hope he will always make a little time to brighten up the Bristol streets with his joyful street art.

Sled One, Old Bread Street, Bristol, June 2016
Sled One, Old Bread Street, Bristol, June 2016

480. Moon Street (14)

I don’t know quite why, but I have held on to these pictures for some time now. I think it is because I was worried that I might have already posted them. I have to confess that my blog is becoming a bit of a logistical challenge…dozens of folders and thousands of images…sometimes I lose track.

Aspire, Moon Street, Bristol, April 2016
Aspire, Moon Street, Bristol, April 2016
Forget all about my admin issues because once again Aspire has produced another masterpiece tucked away in a neglected corner of Bristol. I love his work, I have always loved his work, and I suspect I always will love his work. If I am honest, I envy his talent, I wish I could do something like this, but I struggle even to draw the curtains. I must be content with admiring the talent of others.

478. Jerome Street, Shoreditch (1)

Back to Shoreditch where I found this great stencil by Unify. It is called Go Fly Your Kite and features a teddy bear that has been used in other works by the artist. I first came across Unify in Bristol with this No Blowing Bubbles piece on the wall of the Highbury Vaults. It is still there.

Unify, Jerome Street, Shoreditch, September 2016
Unify, Jerome Street, Shoreditch, September 2016
I haven’t seen any more of his work in Bristol, but the more I wander around Shoreditch and Camden Town, the more pieces I am finding. I like his work a lot, and will post more when I am able to.

Unify, Jerome Street, Shoreditch, September 2016
Unify, Jerome Street, Shoreditch, September 2016

477. M32 Roundabout, J3 (21)

I still know nothing about the artist OHMS, but I know I like their work. This is an incredibly colourful and intricate piece tucked between some bushes on the side of the M32 roundabout between St Pauls and Easton.

OHMS, M32 Roundabout, Bristol, September 2016
OHMS, M32 Roundabout, Bristol, September 2016
OHMS is quite different from many of the graffiti artists in Bristol. There seems to be more of a narrative about the work, hidden depths maybe. The whole thing is quite organic, none of the crisp clear lines one sees with work by Epok, Deamze, Voyder and Soker. This appears altogether more spontaneous, although I am sure there is plenty of preparation involved.

OHMS, M32 Roundabout, Bristol, September 2016
OHMS, M32 Roundabout, Bristol, September 2016
I love the toucan in the centre of the piece…such magnificent birds. A great piece of work by OHMS.

476. M32 Roundabout, J3 (20)

Wildstyle writing is an acquired taste, and one which I have developed a hunger for, but it was not always that way. When I first started writing about street art, I was often left cold or baffled by writers (burners, throw-ups of wildstyle). I just didn’t get it.

Epok, M32 roundabout, Bristol, September 2016
Epok, M32 roundabout, Bristol, September 2016
One of the first writers who helped me develop an interest was Epok, one of the fantastic group of Bristol graffiti writers. His clean works usually feature large block letters spelling EPOK on a slant. His choice of colour palette really marks his work out as special too, and he finishes his pieces with bright stripes and flashes. I really admire his work.

475. Kentish Town Road (1), Camden

I really did enjoy my recent tour of Camden Town, and one of the first pieces I saw was this lovely Dan Kitchener work in a tiny car park area off the Kentish Town Road. The three walls were festooned with street art, but this piece had pride of place along the entire length of one wall.

Dan Kitchener, Kentish Town Road, Camden, September 2016
Dan Kitchener, Kentish Town Road, Camden, September 2016
Whenever I see Dan Kitchener’s works I am reminded of the book by Judith Kerr, ‘the tiger who came to tea‘. I can’t really explain why, but there is a street picture in the book which I think of every time I see Dan’s work.

Dan Kitchener, Kentish Town Road, Camden, September 2016
Dan Kitchener, Kentish Town Road, Camden, September 2016
I can’t really get enough of his extraordinary murals, which is a good thing really, because they are everywhere…more to come soon. 

474. Ashley Road (9)

Aspire sprayed this a little while ago, and within a very short space of time, a rather ‘jobsworth’ enforcement notice went up over the top of it. Some people are really stupid, or don’t really care, but when you look at the whole scene I know which bit I consider ugly and which out of place.

Aspire, Ashley Road, Bristol, September 2016
Aspire, Ashley Road, Bristol, September 2016
Aspire continues on his run of fantastic bird art for the citizens of Bristol. We are lucky to say the least.

Aspire, Ashley Road, Bristol, September 2016
Aspire, Ashley Road, Bristol, September 2016

473. Hawley Street (1), Camden

Continuing for a little while with my Camden adventure, just around the corner, from the Fanakapan flies was this amazing rhinoceros by Osch. Both Osch and Fanakapan are unbelievably prolific. Hardly a week goes by without one or both of them creating something new.

Osch, Hawley Street, Camden, September 2016
Osch, Hawley Street, Camden, September 2016

In this piece, Osch uses his unfurling ribbon style to create the illusion of a solid creature, which is clever as painting itself could be considered to be an illusion. Layers. The rhino is superb, and reminds us (it’s function) about the plight of these creatures in the wild.

Osch, Hawley Street, Camden, September 2016
Osch, Hawley Street, Camden, September 2016

Rounding off the picture, and something that is a part of photographing street art, is the context of the piece, and in this particular piece there are some discarded flower pots that somehow add to the whole scene. A street art photographer’s dilemma is always to balance the perfect clean image, with the actual image in its context. I, like others, try to get both…but parked cars are a real menace!