Tag: Hand

1792. Upfest 2018 (68)

On the long car park wall of The Tobacco Factory one of the most eye-catching pieces is what I would describe as a still life study by the talented Envol. I first became aware of the artist at last year’s Upfest and his style is so very distinct.

Envol, Upfest, Bristol, July 2018
Envol, Upfest, Bristol, July 2018

There is something rather pleasing about this assemblage of recognisable things, the hand and the Swiss cheese plant leaf together with rather more abstract shapes. The painting draws the eye from one side to the other (in my case from left to right) before settling on the whole.

Envol, Upfest, Bristol, July 2018
Envol, Upfest, Bristol, July 2018

During the festival this area is a real squeeze, and it can be rather difficult stopping to take pictures without getting nudged in the back or caught up in the tide of human impatience sweeping towards the street food area. Last year’s piece is shown below.

Envol, Upfest, Bristol, July 2017
Envol, Upfest, Bristol, July 2017

1171. Upfest 2017 (110)

I have featured Skor85 a few times on my blog, and had some confusing information about her identity. I have decided to disregard everything I thought I knew and defer to her Upfest profile, which reads:

Skor85 is a Bristol based creative of Polish origin. She is a self taught artist experimenting with any media available at the time from sand grains to spray paint. She has started her graffiti adventure 4 years ago being influenced by the diversity and music scene of some of the most lively European cities like beloved Bristol Barcelona and Berlin. She is heavily involved in Bristol drawing scene organizing sketching events immortalizing city landscape and live music events as well as running the Sketch Factory (themed life drawing sessions). Creative freedom of expression with others is one of her biggest pleasures in life and paint jams are a big part of it. Characters she paints are pure fantasy and often represent current mood- happiness and worries of the day. Often dreamy or scary but always true to that moment.

Part of the confusion arises out of the fact that her online profile is utterly different from his (sic) printed profile. The one above is more aligned with my previous posts.

Skor85, Upfest, Bristol, July 2017
Skor85, Upfest, Bristol, July 2017

This is a terrific piece and has had a lot of care and attention poured into it. Many of her pieces feel quite raw, often because of the locations she chooses, but this has a finesse to it whilst maintaining her unusual style. There is some symbolism here which is tricky to decypher. Nice piece.

766. North Street Green (7)

This piece from our very own Jody (when I say ‘our’, I mean Bristol’s) was something of a promotional stunt for Huff Post. He had been lined up to do a live spray, during which he unveiled the new Huff Post logo – the video has had more than 200k views…not bad really.

Jody and Cheo, North Street, Bristol, April 2017
Jody and Cheo, North Street, Bristol, April 2017

Not long after the piece was completed and the brouhaha had subsided, the logo was painted out, and then not too long after that, Cheo sprayed a bee on the hand. One in the eye for the corporates.

Jody and Cheo, North Street, Bristol, April 2017
Jody and Cheo, North Street, Bristol, April 2017

This coming together, albeit a bit haphazardly, leaves us with a really rather wonderful piece. The grayscale hand, so beautifully crafted, is the prefect partner for the vibrant and rather cheeky bee. Glad I got to see the completed thing before I knew about the backstory.

716. The Bearpit (57)

A little while back I posted a piece by Skor85 – it was of a dog on a cloud, and there was some discussion as to what animal it actually was. This piece is by the same artist and in almost exactly the same spot but it carries quite a different message.

Skor85, The Bearpit, Bristol, March 2017
Skor85, The Bearpit, Bristol, March 2017

I am not too sure what the piece is articulating in the line ‘what are you proud of’ nor am I clear what the brick hand holding the earth is about. Clearly full of symbolism, there is a good story here somewhere. It would be nice to know a little more.