Tag: Greville Road

3991. Upfest 2021 75×75 (69)

Although access to this wall can be a little limited, it is possible to photograph it reasonably well – I haven’t yet been to the spot when the gate was open into the yard, so my pictures are offset, taken over/through the fence. It is a new wall for Upfest, and they really must be congratulated on sourcing so many new walls for this year’s extended event.

Farrah, Greville Road, Bristol, September 2021, Upfest 21
Farrah, Greville Road, Bristol, September 2021, Upfest 21

The mural, entitled, ‘World on Fire’ is by Farrah and my first impressions are very much that the work resembles the style and colours that Vincent van Gogh might have used, although this is purely an abstract piece. It is beautiful, and the eye is pulled around the piece, drawn into the battling and swirling patterns and colours.

Farrah, Greville Road, Bristol, September 2021, Upfest 21
Farrah, Greville Road, Bristol, September 2021, Upfest 21

This is the largest piece I have seen by Farrah, and the first to have made it on to Natural Adventures, but definitely not the last. I don’t know too much about the artist, but her informative Facebook page is worth a quick look, and her Instagram profile offers this insight:

Paintings inspired by the natural world and delicate ecosystems of our beautiful planet, from fragile coral reefs 💦 to the lush green rainforests 🍃.

Watch this space for more

3889. Upfest 2021 75×75 (45)

It feels like a very long time ago since I last saw a new Copyright mural but my goodness, it has been well worth the wait. Copyright has produced this outstanding and colourful piece for Upfest’s 75 walls in 75 days, and I am grateful to both artist and organisers for making this happen.

Copyright, Greville Road, Bristol, August 2021, Upfest 21
Copyright, Greville Road, Bristol, August 2021, Upfest 21

This wall has had some notable occupants in the past, but I think that this one might eclipse them all. The piece would appear to be a reference to rebuilding a broken nation maybe, and doing it brick by brick. Of course it might be something else altogether.

The female portrait, in black and white, is wearing a most incredible headdress bursting with colours and designs and even a Felix with a crown. There is a lot of symbolism here and I am not sure what it all means, but the ensemble is quite an eye full with flowers, butterflies, a jewel and even a couple of ‘toilet door’ figures to the left. If all of this was not enough, Copyright has set the piece on a nicely decorated and eye-catching background. The whole mural is stunning… it would be great to see more of this more often from Copyright.

3828. Upfest 2021 75×75 (23)

Angus is another of those Bristol artists without whom an Upfest event simply wouldn’t be an Upfest event. Originally a spray painter, Angus strayed into the world of tiles and mosaics a few years ago and he hasn’t really looked back.

Angus, Greville Road, Bristol, July 2021, Upfest 21
Angus, Greville Road, Bristol, July 2021, Upfest 21

Flying ducks are an integral part of British interior design history, and at one time were considered classy and sophisticated. Subsequently they have become a bit of a joke, only to become desirable icons once again. Angus has captured the essence of these flying ducks in a pixelated cartoon style in this narrow horizontal mosaic using the space very well. Lots of blues in these photographs. More Angus mosaics to be discovered at the Paintworks I believe.

3795. Upfest 2021 75×75 (12)

This little gateway at the back of The Malago was until recently home to a lovely mural by Alex Lucas featuring two white rabbits hares on the phone. Now it has been re-painted as one of Upfest’s 75 new walls in 75 days by Natasha Kirby.

Natasha Kirby, Greville Road, Bristol, June 2021, Upfest 21
Natasha Kirby, Greville Road, Bristol, June 2021, Upfest 21

The new mural is very beautiful indeed, bursting with colourful flowers on a deep blue background and creating a little bit of summertime in this otherwise sunless summer. Natasha is a self-confessed flower obsessive and flowers are at the heart of her design and print work which can be seen on her website. You can see that the mural has a very strong design element and has such balance making it very easy on the eye. This spot is a devil to photograph, because there is nearly always a car parked in front of it. 

This is another Upfest classic.

Alex Lucas, Upfest, Bristol, July 2018
Alex Lucas, Upfest, Bristol, July 2018

3727. Upfest 2021 75×75 (1)

In Bristol, one of the most anticipated festivals each year is Upfest, where much of Bedminster turns its attention to a celebration of street art over a long weekend. Upfest is the largest festival of its kind in Europe and attracts artists from all over the globe as well as many closer to home. The last festival was held in 2018. In 2019, the Upfest organisers, Steve and Emma, decided to have a gap year to give all the people involved in the festival a break and prepare for 2020. We all know what happened next…

This year Upfest are hoping to hold a live event in Greville Smyth Park in August, but this looks to be in jeopardy because of the continued likelihood of restrictions due to the Delta variant of COVID-19. However, Upfest have also instigated another initiative called 75 walls in 75 days, which starting on 15 May aims to complete 75 walls by 75 different artists, thus spreading the activity and keeping it appropriately coronavirus-friendly. Although this piece by JXC is not the first to be completed, it is the first that I am posting.

JXC, Greville Road, Bristol, May 2021
JXC, Greville Road, Bristol, May 2021

JXC is an outstanding artist whose mastery of the spray can is legendary and his ability to create such fine detail is his trademark. This piece of a fly and his block capital letters and with dents smashed in the wall is absolutely outstanding, and it is difficult to know how he manages to do it. This is real high-end street art at its very best. World-class.

JXC, Greville Road, Bristol, May 2021
JXC, Greville Road, Bristol, May 2021

This piece shows not only the incredible skill of the artist, but the willingness of the very best in the game to come to Bristol and participate in Upfest. Look out for more of the 75 over the summer.

3664. Greville Road (12)

One of the notable things about Stewy is that he skulks around, a little bit like the fox depicted in this stencil, without fanfare or pomp and with great modesty leaves us with some beautiful and lasting art to enjoy. Stewy selects his spots very carefully and few if any get tagged or over-painted because of where they are.

Stewy, Greville Road, Bristol, March 2021
Stewy, Greville Road, Bristol, March 2021

Stewy is a well known artist who gets a lot of commissions, and alongside his animal work, he is famous for his stencils of well-known people such as pop stars, politicians and other notable figures. In this gorgeous piece he has painted a fabulous Bristol fox in this three-layer stencil. This fox might have been there forever, or might be relatively recent, but that is the thing with Stewy, it is hard to know sometimes.

3563. Greville Road (11)

I am taking the very unusual step of publishing an extra post today, because I can. I am on leave and should be walking the dog or on the allotment or doing the thousand other things lined up. But sod it, I thought I’d do this instead, besides which, my March 2021 folder is heaving – I have never had so many pieces to select from, ever and I need to share as many as I can.

Angus, Greville Road, Bristol, March 2021
Angus, Greville Road, Bristol, March 2021

This is a superb mosaic piece by an artist I’ve not posted for a very long time indeed. He does create new pieces fairly regularly, but they tend to be in places I very rarely visit, this being an exception.

Entitled (I guess) ‘Wanna Smurf’, this piece features one of the ghastly little creatures (I was never a fan) with a couple of floating hearts. I guess this might be a Valentine’s Day piece, but I am not sure. I like the location and originality/weirdness. I feel I need to hunt down more of these little mosaics from Angus.

2649. Greville Road (10)

Happy Christmas everyone. For those of you reading this at some point in the future, this post was published on Christmas Day 2019. Well what a sensational piece from Bil Giles for what I am guessing was an Upfest Summer Editions contribution that I photographed late and have posted very late.

Bill Giles, Greville Road, Bristol, July 2019
Bill Giles, Greville Road, Bristol, July 2019

The brilliantly colourful piece is typical of Bill Giles’s monster design style, and a little less grotesque than some of his past work. I just don’t know how this one slipped through the net, but for those of you suffering the wettest December ever, ever in the history of the Earth I bring you a ray of sunshine (albeit overcast sunshine) from July 2019.

2381. Greville Road (9)

Another wonderful piece painted as part of the Upfest Summer Editions celebrations outside the Hen and Chickens. This one is by Upfest stalwart Karl Read. The very large stencil is beautifully proportioned to fit this space and has a serene look about it.

Karl Read, Greville Road, Bristol, July 2019
Karl Read, Greville Road, Bristol, July 2019

The stencil is interesting because it has some simplicity to it, with large areas of single colours, but also in other parts it has complexity. I have seen Karl Read at work before and he uses large sheets of paper for his stencils that look quite unwieldy, but somehow he makes it all work.

Karl Read, Greville Road, Bristol, July 2019
Karl Read, Greville Road, Bristol, July 2019

The jewel in the crown of the piece is the girl’s hair which, if you look closely, is in the style of a Hokusai wave. The result is most effective, and the whole piece a triumph. Karl Read has absolutely nailed this blend of simplicity and complexity. I fully expect him to return for Upfest 2020.

2377. Greville Road (8)

Some pieces are good, others, very good, and just ocassionally you get lucky enough to see something outstanding. This stunning piece ‘self-portrait 2019’ is by Irony and has been 10 years in the making, after he created his first screen print in 2009 with a version of this work.

Irony, Greville Road, Bristol, July 2019
Irony, Greville Road, Bristol, July 2019

I managed to have a quick chat with Irony as he was painting it, but at the time I didn’t know who he was, nor did I recognise his style (obviously not from round these parts). I asked him who he was, but he said I’d have to wait until he’d finished before he would reveal who he was. Fair do’s I suppose, although perhaps I should have been a little more attentive to the line ups for Upfest’s Summer Editions, which might have given me a clue.

Irony, Greville Road, Bristol, July 2019
Irony, Greville Road, Bristol, July 2019

The concept of a piece of art creating itself is a tried and tested theme, but rarely is it executed with such passion, skill and emotion. This piece is awe-inspiring and would sit comfortably in the company of any of the great Italian renaissance artists. I can imagine this piece adorning the wall of a side chapel of any of the great Italian cathedrals (although I think the Catholic church might have a word or to to say about that).

Irony, Greville Road, Bristol, July 2019
Irony, Greville Road, Bristol, July 2019

This is not my favourite wall to photograph, because there is a wide expanse of white light behind it. If I were a proper photographer I would be able to accommodate for that, but I am just a ‘point and shooter’.

Irony, Greville Road, Bristol, July 2019
Irony, Greville Road, Bristol, July 2019

The closer you get to this picture, the more beautiful the angel becomes. It really is quite incredible that such a fine piece can be created with spray cans. If I could be just one tenth as good as this, I would be happy. Many years of hard graft and study ahead of me, but I fear I lack the raw talent bit that Irony has in spades. A brilliant piece, worth a trip to see it.