A gallery of outstanding stencil art from the Bristol artist Lemak
Instagram: @lemak_art
all photographs by Scooj
Lemak
Tag: Lemak
6192. Upfest 2024 (37)
There was a time when Lemak, a Bristol-based artist used to paint his stencils reasonably regularly on the streets. These days he concentrates on his studio pieces and electronic art installations and only occasionally paints outdoors, however, an invitation to Upfest is usually enough to winkle him out of his studio work.
This is an utterly outstanding multi-layered stencil of a woman in a space suit, a theme that Lemak has returned to for this piece. To add depth, quite literally, Lemak has added a couple of free standing pillars in front of the piece as bookends to help frame it. Goodness only knows how many hundreds of hours it would take to prepare all the layers for this piece, but the end product is overwhelmingly brilliant. It was noticeable that there weren’t too many stencil artists at this year’s Upfest, perhaps because they tend to work smaller walls, and the focus this year was on large feature walls that suit muralists more. It is so good to see Lemak’s work like this, and I hope that maybe he will treat us to another street piece before too long.
4063. Brunel Way (132)
I knew about this piece, by Lemak, a long time ago, but never actually knew exactly where it was. I never found out at the time and then forgot it had even existed, so I was super happy to find it a week or two back, and although it has been a bit tagged, the quality of the piece shines through.
Lemak is an artist who spends a lot of time in his studio, but occasionally he treats us with one of his highly complex multi-layered stencils on the streets. I’ve not seen anything new since lock down, but that doesn’t mean to say there hasn’t been anything.
This piece, on the Greville Smyth Park side of Brunel Way was painted way back in April 2019 and features Daddy’s Lil Monster, Harley Quinn, a DC comics character. Superb work from a superb artist.
2119. North Street
I just don’t get to see enough of Lemak’s wonderful and complex stencils. Much of his work is studio work, but occasionally we get lucky and he takes to the streets. This outstanding piece is painted on the double doors that played host to Dr Love at Upfest 2018, and more recently to the gorgeous lips of Muckrock.
This work features a space scene in which two astronauts, dressed in pink and blue respectively are sharing a rather awkward space hug, in which their helmets kind of get in the way. The rest of the wall is decorated with fabulous starscapes and neon oriental letters.
Zoom in a little closer to the astronauts and you get a sense of just how outstandingly good this stencil is, in which the fabric of the space suits has extraordinary texture.
perhaps this is a projection of our future where the air can no longer sustain us and we’ll all be wearing such suits.
This is a beautiful, beautiful piece.
1848. Upfest 2018 (89)
Bart says “reach for the stars” and Lemak has done just that with this fabulous space stencil. Some of you might remember that I have already posted this stencil, in a slightly different format from Park Street a few weeks back.
There is little more for me to say than I have already said about Lemak and his superb artwork. His stencils are always precisely presented and always have some original thinking behind them. Checking out his Instagram account also gives you some real insight into the kind of works he is producing. Always good, never sub-standard.
1771. Park Street (2)
Park street seems to be in a continual state of refurbishment. Businesses appear and disappear with alarming regularity, something that has been particularly noticeable since the banking crisis began. I suspect shop rents are high and returns subject to the prevailing economic conditions. The upshot is that hoardings can be found covering up shopfronts…and these hoardings need decorating.
Step up Bristol Business Improvement District who commissioned this work by Lemak and another by Inkie and Cheba further up Park Street. This is an exceptional stencil by an exceptional artist and one which he used for his Upfest 2018 piece.
Take a good look at the multiple layers on the face and helmet of the astronaut – this is an incredible work. It is great to see these boards in a street with so much footfall – better to have great work like this on display than tags. I’ll post his Upfest version soon.
1572. Raleigh Road, Tobacco Factory (12)
Every year in May, Stephen Quick organises a live paint jam at the Tobacco Factory Sunday market and invites along a bunch of friends to paint with him. Somehow I managed to miss it this year, which is a pity, but I did manage to get down eventually to see the results.
This is a fabulous multi-layered stencil from Lemak who creates these incredible pop-culture pieces. This one is of the legendary Jean-Michel Basquiat whose place in street art history is hugely significant. The crowns around the piece honour the subject as the king. Crowns denote the respect in which a particular artist is held and tend to be reserved for the upper echelons of the street graffiti/art scene.
It is a while since I last saw a new piece from Lemak (I think he has been busy in his studio) so it was great to see this one. The quality of his work is really out of the top drawer.
1157. The Bearpit (108)
Sometimes it’s a case of blink and you’ll miss it, and so it is with street art. This gorgeous wheatpaste by Lemak didn’t last too long in one of the tunnels of The Bearpit, but the subtle colours and dim lighting meant that it was easy to walk past without stopping to take a look. Big mistake…it is a real beauty from this talented artist, and pushes his experimental approach in a satisfying direction.
The golden eagle is hand painted and pasted together in a collage effect, a technique that Lemak has used quite a lot recently and one that I admire. There is a lot to enjoy in this piece, and the hard work I know he puts in is all definitely worth it.
1053. The Bearpit (94)
I am really enjoying the direction that Lemak is taking his work in at the moment, and even better, he is pasting up his fragmented stencils in The Bearpit. I am not sure exactly how he produces these works, but I think they start with stencil work followed by a printing process before finally being pasted up.
This particular magnificent piece can be found on one of the staircases leading down into The Bearpit from the northern side. It is a sophisticated portrait of a girl wearing a native North American headdress, part in sepia and part in colour. The segments are arranged on the wall, and our brain fills in the gaps so that we see the full piece when we look at it.
I cannot really express how much I like this piece and the original art Lemak is turning out at the moment. Well worth a trip to The Bearpit.
988. The Bearpit (87)
On the north steps dropping down into The Bearpit there is this wonderful new piece from Lemak. It is a wheatpaste of a complex multi-layered stencil. I love the original work Lemak is producing at the moment, confining partial images within geometric shapes, with much of the image hidden beyond the confines of the boundaries, leaving much to the imagination.
It is a piece that is in a similar vein to the one he produced for Upfest this year (to follow). I am sure that many busy pedestrians miss this, as they trundle into The Bearpit buried in their thoughts or mobile phones. It is a little bit camouflaged by all the scrawls and tags around it, and only seems to jump out at you once you have spotted it.
Another fine piece from the brilliant Lemak.
Natural adventures 