Tag: North Street

2545. North Street

I’m on a roll now with another wheatpaste to share with you, this one from a session about a month ago is by Jimmer Willmott who went out on a spree with Kid Crayon. Jimmer’s surreal style is instantly recognisable and obviously influenced by great artists such as Magritte.

Jimmer Wilmott, North Street, Bristol, October 2019
Jimmer Wilmott, North Street, Bristol, October 2019

I think that this might be an original hand drawing that he has pasted up, rather than a print which is what many wheatpasters do. If it is, it makes the piece all the more valuable to me at least. Earlier on in the year at a small art event I remember talking to Jimmer Willmott and Kid Crayon expressing my thoughts that there was not enough wheatpaste work in Bristol and that it was a bit of a neglected art. I would like to think that in my small way I might have in part influenced this paste up session. I probably didn’t though.

2526. North Street

With a name like Zoe Power, you are never going to be easily forgotten. Marry that up with great talent and you get stunning memorable pieces like this one in North Street. Painted above Zara’s Chocolates in North Street, next door to the Upfest shop and Gemma Compton’s outstanding mural, this piece was created as part of Upfest’s Summer Editions and for me is one of the highlights.

Zoe Power, North Street, Bristol, October 2019
Zoe Power, North Street, Bristol, October 2019

I met Zoe Power at the Cheltenham Paint Festival, and I fear I may have bored her rigid, but she was polite and humoured me and my barrage of questions and natterings. I am an enormous fan of her work and love this Matisse-inspired mural (he is one of my all time favourite artists). There is a lot to like here, the female figures symmetrically placed around the windows of the building holding up symbols of the solar system, set on a plant-patterned background. I love, love, love it. I want to see a lot more of her stuff.

2478. Dean Lane

I have waited a very long time for this, so I will enjoy it while it lasts. It was the wheatpastes of Kid Crayon that first drew me in to the world of Bristol street art some five years ago, but then he moved on to spraying and left his paper days behind him, until a week or so ago. This was a little trip down memory lane with his partner in crime Jimmer Willmott.

Jimmer Willmott, North Street, Bristol, September 2019
Jimmer Willmott, North Street, Bristol, September 2019

These two got together and pasted up some rather fun greyscale pieces. Jimmer Willmott opting for a sketch of one of his figures with a ring doughnut for a head. Surreal, quirky and fun, I could ask for no more.

Kid Crayon, North Street, Bristol, September 2019
Kid Crayon, North Street, Bristol, September 2019

Alongside doughnut head Kid Crayon has pasted a party animal who doesn’t look too much like he is enjoying the party. Great also to see the Crayon making a comeback. Hurrah for this little foray into wheatpasting from these two… more to come from this session. Please don’t leave it quite so long before the next batch.

2477. North Street Standard (6)

I think that I happened to be passing by this piece very shortly after it had been completed by Goin, judging from the presence of the scissor lift just below it. This striking piece is yet another remarkable work organised by Upfest as part of their Summer Editions project in lieu of an Upfest festival this year.

Goin, North Street Standard, Bristol, September 2019
Goin, North Street Standard, Bristol, September 2019

Goin is no stranger to Bristol, but his pieces tend to be associated with his visits for Upfest related initiatives. This magnificent and really rather large stencil entitled ‘Add to cart’ is clearly a commentary on consumerism, but I don’t know the original artwork upon which this is an elaboration. Any ideas? I suspect that knowing the root piece would add significance to the story being told. I might have to have a little Google session to see if I can find out. In the meantime, enjoy this excellent work.

2470. North Street, Weston-super-Mare

There is a fascination among street artists with Tim Burton films. Maybe it is because the characters in them lend themselves so well to being copied and spray painted or maybe there is some kind of connection with his slightly macarbre subjects. In the heart of Weston-super-Mare is this superb stencil of Emily from Corpse Bride.

 

PZY, North Street, Weston-super-Mare, August 2019
PZY, North Street, Weston-super-Mare, August 2019

The artist is PZY whose work is often sited near the work of JPS and Fawn – these three seem to be fairly tight, and there seems to belittle room for other artists in town. This multi-layer stencil is beautifully worked and is about half life-size. Some fine work indeed – it would be great to see some of her pieces in Bristol.

2379. North Street Standard (2)

There are many hazards and obstacles to taking street art picures. This was in fact the second visit I had made to photograph this lovely eye by My Dog Sighs (his second Summer Editions piece for Upfest). On the first visit, there was a shadow cast right across the middle of the piece, and in this one I managed to capture a customer at the North Street Standard, and being alone he obviously had to be texting someone to give the illusion that he wasn’t in fact alone… but he was, so there.

My Dog Sighs, North Street, Bristol, July 2019
My Dog Sighs, North Street, Bristol, July 2019

The eye is everything you might expect from My Dog Sighs, and is beautifully presented. It would be easy to fall in to the trap of saying that he is a one-trick pony and indeed I know some people who think that, I happen to disagree with that particular assertion. He has certainly nailed his technique for painting eyes, but it doesn’t stop there, he still works on the background and the silhouette in the eye and creates an atmosphere or story individual to each piece. Here he has used some stencils with Japanese characters falling like a digital rain around the eye.

You might spot a slight ‘blemish’ on the eye which is caused by a little vent pipe in the wall – My Dog Sighs has concealed it brilliantly. Well done Upfest for organising yet another triumphant Summer Editions piece.

2348. North Street

Everything about this magnificent piece by Dale Grimshaw is awesome except for one thing… the wall. I don’t like this wall. It is the most difficult Upfest wall to photograph, and the only time I have seen it done properly is from a drone looking down. All other photographs are a complete fail.

Dale Grimshaw, North Street, Bristol, July 2019
Dale Grimshaw, North Street, Bristol, July 2019

Dale Grimshaw was invited to do this piece as part of Upfest’s Summer Editions project (in lieu of the festival taking a year out). It is another tribal piece in his campaign to fight for Papua New Guinea. His amazing portraits all have a theme, which is to present ‘the people’ with pride and dignity in where they come from, and he does this with such depth and emotion. I am very, very drawn to his work and am thrilled that he was invited to Bristol to paint here (shame about the wall).

Dale Grimshaw, North Street, Bristol, July 2019
Dale Grimshaw, North Street, Bristol, July 2019

It is possible to get reasonable pictures from the roof of the NatWest bank, but I have never been lucky enough or brave enough to climb the fire escape to do it.

Dale Grimshaw, North Street, Bristol, July 2019
Dale Grimshaw, North Street, Bristol, July 2019

Face paint is a big part of what Dale Grimshaw does with his portraits, which I always feel is a bit like doubling up… a painting of people with paint on their faces… does that make sense? Whether it does or not is immaterial, in my view Dale Grimshaw can do no wrong and I am privileged to have seen this. I only wish I could have seen him working on it and perhaps stopped for a chat.

2323. North Street

Mid-way along North Street is a rather nice craft shop called Creative space, and recently Andy Council gave the upper level a fabulous makeover. I think it was part of the Upfest Summer Editions event, which has more than made up for the lack of a full blown festival this year.

Andy Council, North Street, Bristol, June 2019
Andy Council, North Street, Bristol, June 2019

The space is not an easy one to paint and I think that Andy Council has made a great job of creating a symmetrical piece over the two windowswith what looks like two Chinese dragons facing off in the middle.

Andy Council, North Street, Bristol, June 2019
Andy Council, North Street, Bristol, June 2019

As with all his pieces, if you take a little look closer you can see that it is made up of buildings and architectural features, and around the beasts there is a liberral sprinkling of toadstools. This is a stunning piece (difficult to photograph on account of the bright skies behind) that exemplifies the talents of this most treasured Bristol artist.

2303. North Street Standard

Shutters are the pits. I must have walked past this beautiful piece by Shab hundreds of times, but only when the shutter was up, so have never seen it before. I understand it has been there for some years, but I only saw it early on a Sunday morning a couple of weeks ago.

Shab, North Street, Bristol, June 2019
Shab, North Street, Bristol, June 2019

I haven’t seen anything from Shab in absolutely ages, so to find this was actually most gratifying. I have always loved his outlined abstract figures and his trademark eyes are always so beautifully done. There were some other shutter pieces here on the front of the North Street restaurant and I will post these in due course. This was like meeting an old friend.

2297. North Street

These philosophical musings are a positive force on the streets of Bristol, and #DFTE has introduced an original way of presenting them. The picture frames give a sense of value and permanence to his words which without them would certainly be dismissed as graffiti/tagging.

#DFTE, North Street, Bristol, June 2019
#DFTE, North Street, Bristol, June 2019

‘Be good to yourself for no reason’ seems like sound advice to me and surely contributes to the positive mindfulness revolution supporting mental health. Perhaps #DFTE should be sponsored by the NHS to do this work nationally! I like the simple full caps font and slightly random orientation of his letters. From a communications perspective (it is my job after all)  we would normally advise against any written communication using full caps as it is significantly more difficult to read, and often comes across as shouting, but the font he uses is soft and works well.