Tag: Mural

486. Upfest 2016 (60)

You just have to love a picture of a chimpanzee in a space suit, and if you don’t, then leave this post immediately. Interestingly this is not the first such simian astronaut I have written about, Zase and Dekor sprayed one some time ago near Eastville.

Achim Szabo, Upfest, Bristol, July 2016
Achim Szabo, Upfest, Bristol, July 2016

The artist of this chimp is Achim Szabo, a German artist who works out of Stuttgart. A look at his website shows you the incredible range of styles he adopts, and of course he isn’t restricted to walls, he can work in watercolours, design and digital as well. It seems that so many street artists have this broad set of skills. I wonder which branch of their work they enjoy the most.

Achim Szabo, Upfest, Bristol, July 2016
Achim Szabo, Upfest, Bristol, July 2016

In this piece, I particularly like the rough style that has been used to create it, almost a sketch, and it is topped off by the yellow banana. Lovely work.

484. Upfest 2016 (58)

It was impossible not to notice this bright and arresting piece by Kier (Chiara Frei) at Upfest this year. The three panels spelled out the phrase ‘Be the one you want to be‘ showing three green and purple portraits with interchangeable face parts.

Kier, Upfest, Bristol, July 2016
Kier, Upfest, Bristol, July 2016

From her website, Chiara describes herself as a graphic designer who loves her job and is happy to learn new things. Beyond that she prefers not to say too much about herself.

Kier, Upfest, Bristol, July 2016
Kier, Upfest, Bristol, July 2016

Her choice of colours and subject for Upfest meant that her piece really caught the eye. I went back to it two or three times, just to take another look. There was something about it.

Kier, Upfest, Bristol, July 2016
Kier, Upfest, Bristol, July 2016

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

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. 

470. West Street (1)

I have been aware of this wonderful Andy Council horse for some time now, but was never quite sure where it was. I actually found it when taking pictures of some other works from Upfest that were a bit of a trek away from the main drag.

Andy Council, West Street, Bristol, September 2016
Andy Council, West Street, Bristol, September 2016
Andy Council is a favourite son of Bristol, and has produced countless murals around the city, many of which remain in place after several years. The distinctive style of blending architectural and urban features (such as the Clifton suspension bridge) with biological form to create his animals is unmistakable and really interesting. One can spend a long time studying all the little details that make up the whole.

Andy Council, West Street, Bristol, September 2016
Andy Council, West Street, Bristol, September 2016

469. Backfields Lane (2)

This really is an astonishing wall by Kleiner Shames. It is outstanding not only in its sheer scale, but also in the colours and designs incorporated. The mural seems to be telling several stories.I love Kleiner Shames’ work, indeed I have some of it hanging on my walls at home. Rather than string out a laboured description of each photograph I will simply show them below as a series of pictures, taken from left to right of the mural. Simply superb work.

Kleiner Shames, Backfields Lane, Bristol, September 2016
Kleiner Shames, Backfields Lane, Bristol, September 2016
Kleiner Shames, Backfields Lane, Bristol, September 2016
Kleiner Shames, Backfields Lane, Bristol, September 2016
Kleiner Shames, Backfields Lane, Bristol, September 2016
Kleiner Shames, Backfields Lane, Bristol, September 2016
Kleiner Shames, Backfields Lane, Bristol, September 2016
Kleiner Shames, Backfields Lane, Bristol, September 2016
Kleiner Shames, Backfields Lane, Bristol, September 2016
Kleiner Shames, Backfields Lane, Bristol, September 2016

468. Moon Street (13)

At risk of getting a bit samey, I simply have to share this exceptional recent piece by Sled One. This time we see one of his wildstyle pieces, where you can make out the letters SLED and the word ONE at the far right.

Sled One, Moon Street, Bristol, October 2016
Sled One, Moon Street, Bristol, October 2016
The colours are absolutely wonderful and in keeping with the season (I’m not sure if this is intentional). The whole piece has a metallic quality to it and is really easy on the eye. This is wildstyle writing at its best.

Sled One, Moon Street, Bristol, October 2016
Sled One, Moon Street, Bristol, October 2016

463. Dean Lane skate park (23)

There are many things I love about photographing street/graffiti art and one of them is that I am constantly discovering new (to me) artists. Although he is well established, I have only recently registered the utterly incredible Ments.

Ments, Dean Lane, Bristol, October 2016
Ments, Dean Lane, Bristol, October 2016
His unusual organic style of wildstyle writing is really impressive and so different from most of the other writers in Bristol. On his Instagram feed, Ments said of this, “wasn’t keen on  this one but it’s all fun and games”. If only I had a tenth of his artistic talent.