6282. L Dub (54)

Acer One, L Dub, Bristol, August 2024
Acer One, L Dub, Bristol, August 2024

L Dub (Lawrence Weston) is a funny old spot, really. It involves a 15-minute walk alongside the M5 motorway on a pathway which runs through a kind of brownfield site of scrub and thickets. The place is absolutely bursting with wildlife, which thrives in and around the drainage ditches, which I presume take excess water away from the motorway. It is interesting that these dilapidated ‘forgotten’ spots are often some of the most biodiverse in the country. The place is festooned with all sorts of interesting plants, dragonflies, beetles and butterflies,,, an unlikely nature hot spot.

It also plays host to a water pumping station which offers several walls for painting, and a pedestrian underpass which takes you under the motorway and some other roads and provides plenty of graffiti opportunities, for those that can be bothered to find the place. Acer One has recently painted a couple of pieces here, away from the crowds.

Acer One, L Dub, Bristol, August 2024
Acer One, L Dub, Bristol, August 2024

This is a complex piece, which demonstrates how his mind works (in his own words) and is also a little bit experimental. The letters spell out ACERONE, but are alternately coloured, so it starts with a dark blue A, followed by a gold C, then a blue E and so on. Fascinating stuff that can take a little while to work out and keeps those brain cells ticking over.

998. Upfest 2017 (44)

One of the most striking and rather psychadelic pieces of this year’s Upfest was this portrait incorporating a glitched abstract background in the form of 3D colouring. The work is from the Brisish artist (Dan) Newso.

Newso, Upfest, Bristol, July 2017
Newso, Upfest, Bristol, July 2017

This is quite a difficult and busy piece to look at. Do you look at the face and get distracted (I do), or look at the abstract surround and get pulled into the face? Either way it is amost impossible to look at the whole. A very clever piece.

Newso, Upfest, Bristol, July 2017
Newso, Upfest, Bristol, July 2017

On his website, Newso has published a biography, which reads:

‘Throughout 2016 Dan Newso developed his work combining figurative with abstract content in a glitch or implied collage style. This work is often painted on compressed cement board to give the feeling of a painting on a concrete wall.

Since 2008 he has been well known in Birmingham’s post-industrial creative quarter Digbeth, painting murals in public spaces. This work has largely been self funded and has been a process of getting to know the community to open up spaces to paint.

He paints commissioned artwork and murals in varied styles to suit clients needs; he has painted internationally with the latest project of 2016 being a residency in Perth, Western Australia.’

Newso, Upfest, Bristol, July 2017
Newso, Upfest, Bristol, July 2017

I like this piece, even though it confuses my ageing eyes. I hope he makes it back to Upfest next year.