I have already posted a very striking Upfest piece by Brighton-based Mazcan but this one slipped a little under my radar until I recently started sorting through another batch of pieces from last year’s festival.
This is a superb work that looks like it has just dropped off the page of a rather dark comic strip book. There is drama and movement in the way the hair sweeps across the portrait… what is going on here? Her eyes give nothing away. Lovely piece.
Deuz is another artist who was at Upfest 2018 who didn’t appear in the Upfest official programme, which is always a bit troublesome for me because I have to do my own research rather than rely on others. Deuz is a French artist who cut his teeth by writing graffiti on the streets of Marseille in the 1990s. He went on to study art and now his work is largely portraits of Africans, his ‘faces’ that were inspired by hip hop culture.
I don’t know who Nina Gabriel is but then again I can’t know everything. I would hazard a guess that she is probably a musician. The nicely worked greyscale piece was in the back yard of the Steam Crane, which since Upfest 2018 looks like it might have changed hands, and these hoardings have since come down, which is a pity.
I’m on a bit of a Lobe fest at the moment, and this magnificent piece was actually the first of hers that I actually became aware of. It was tucked away on the St Agnes side of the M32 roundaboutand really stood out from the crowd.
Once more, her careful use of colours and clever design create what looks at first sight like a simple portrait, but on closer inspection is full of complexity and sophistication. I’m sure that as she works more and more her execution will tighten up, and I am so looking forward to what the next few months will bring from this artist.
Having broken the ice with a recent Lobe piece under Brunel Way, I said that I would trawl up some slightly older pieces by her from my archive and true to my word…
The piece from June this year I have a feeling didn’t last very long, so I was pleased to have managed to capture it. I am a huge fan of her style, a lovely design kept simple using nine colours and shading to die for. The use of orange and pink on the shirt and hat to highlight light and shade is to my mind really clever. Bold and unique, her work is yet another fabulous addition to the vast Bristol spectrum.
It is great to be able to post this piece knowing that I don’t have to credit it with ‘unknown artist’ because thanks to the great investigative powers of Paulh121 I know it to be by Lobe (@lobe_ita). This is one of at least three pieces that I have photographed by Lobe (look out for the others coming soon) and each one of them is a cracker.
Lobe tends to use only a few colours in her work and creates these styalised faces which are typified by the solid bold fills and shadowing. If I were to describe her work I’d probably say that it is like a fusion of Tasha Bee and Kool Hand. I really like this piece, and it is the details I am drawn to, such as the little spike on the white outline to the left of the left eyebrow. I really hope that what we are seeing from Lobe is just the beginning and that there is more to come.
Although I can’t be sure, I think this ephemeral portrait might be the work of Annika Pixie… it certainly has many of the ingredients that are common to her work, the lightness of touch and delicate nature of the subject, but I have not seen her paint many walls like this one.
As I write this, my curiosity got the better of me and I had a look at Annika’s Instagram feed, and sure enough there is a little video of this piece, filmed in only the way she can do such things. I love her touch, which is full of subtlety and magic and in such stark contrast to the macho work one is used to seeing. Nice one Annika.
Wowzer… this is quite the best piece I have seen by Pekoe yet. It is beautiful and I truly believe that in this piece we are witnessing an artist reaching a new level, I see it as a really significant piece. The blue-faced portrait has something very special about it, the expression, the tone, the confidence and of course that amazing hair.
In this piece I feel that Pekoe’s naive style has transformed into something altogether more sophisticated and mature, and I love it. I would like to think that a lot of thought, care and effort went into this piece, it certainly looks really tight.
The patterns in the hair are so typically Pekoe, but the addition of three layers of base colour add an extra dimension. The eyes too work well with several dots in each creating a glassy effect, very clever. There is so much to like about this work. Bravo Pekoe!
This is a favourite spot for small pieces under one of the ramps at Dean Lane skatepark and has recently been painted by Pekoe. I have an awful lot of time for her work and am really enjoying seeing the journey she is on and the improvements she is making.
This piece demonstrates so well her naive art style which is in fact more complex than might first meet the eye. She is known for producing female portraits with ‘big hair’ which is always carefully thought out and beautifully executed. There is obvious emotion in this piece too with the word ‘cry’ written over the top and tears on the girl’s face. All good, although the location merans that its longevity will be very limited. Glad to haver captured it.
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 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).
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.
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.
I don’t often venture too far down Hepburn Road, but am very glad indeed that I did so on this occasion, because I was greeted by this wonderful protrait by Pekoe. The observant among you will also notice the oil drum has been decorated by Ryder.
Pekoe seems to be producing quite a lot of work at the moment and with each piece there are surprises and improvements. In this one she has made a great effort with decorating the hair in a style that resembles a nimber of PWA artists. I like what she has done with the lips and the eye, using white to create the effect of reflections. A little gem from this Bristol artist.
Natural adventures 