Tag: Portrait

838. Upfest 2016 (131)

This is a stunning piece by Naskool that was situated on hoardings just off North Street, next to the Green. Naskool is an Austrian artist who started spraying in 2004 and now specialises in photorealistic street art.

Naskool, Upfest, Bristol, July 2016
Naskool, Upfest, Bristol, July 2016

I managed to take pictures while he was still creating this piece, and it is interesting to see how he built the layers. It seems different artists adopt different techniques.

Naskool, Upfest, Bristol, July 2016
Naskool, Upfest, Bristol, July 2016

This is one of the great works of the 2016 festival in my view – the expression and character that oozes from this piece is quite captivating. Alas, it didn’t last very long, as these hoardings were fairly swiftly ‘corporatised’ by the construction firm who are developing the site.

799. Upfest 2016 (130)

Recently, I have posted quite a few pieces from the magnificent Georgie (artist), including a wonderful Michael Caine portrait in The Bearpit. However, when I took these pictures back in July 2016, I don’t think I really knew too much about her.

Georgie, Upfest, Bristol, July 2017
Georgie, Upfest, Bristol, July 2017

This is a fabulous stencil, impactful and eye-grabbing. The contrast of the grayscale stencil and the bright and colourful background work really effectively for the subject matter of the piece. I am too lazy to find out what it is called, but it seems many of her works have an obvious name. I like this very much.

798. Upfest 2016 (129)

I met Annika Wilkinson, who paints under the name of Annika Pixie, for the first time a couple of weeks ago at a local festival in Bedminster. She is a lovely, chatty and talented artist who is from Sweden (although I have to confess I thought her accent Scottish) but is now based in Bristol.

Annika Pixie, Upfest, Bristol, July 2017
Annika Pixie, Upfest, Bristol, July 2017

She tends to paint portraits that have a mysticism or dreaminess about them, which I rather like. I have found several of her pieces around Bristol, so it was lovely to finally meet her. Great news is that she will be back at this year’s festival,. which is easy for her, as she lives very locally.

705. Upfest 2016 (109)

The international presence comes across very strongly at Upfest. This lovely piece by Scandinavian artist Salla Ikonen really shows how different styles, colours, subjects and influences come in to play to give a distinctiveness to work that has its origins outside the UK. Even within the UK, different parts of the country appear to have localised flavours.

Salla Ikonen, Upfest, Bristol, July 2016
Salla Ikonen, Upfest, Bristol, July 2016

I love the softness of this piece, and the calm colours, both the pink of the subject and the purples and greens in the background. There is something very appealing about this work, and it is so different to most of the street art we see in Bristol.

677. Upfest 2016 (104)

Another large wall, this time a little out of the way on Dean Lane. This is one of the most awkward walls to photograph, let alone spray, but Inkie has done a commanding job of this one.

Inkie, Upfest, Bristol, July 2016
Inkie, Upfest, Bristol, July 2016

The large piece is on the side of the South Bank Club and features a trademark Inkie portrait. The whole thing is a Bristol as Bristol can be, with a rather nice reference to the Clifton Suspension Bridge on the left hand side.

Inkie, Upfest, Bristol, July 2016
Inkie, Upfest, Bristol, July 2016

I think the character at the top of the piece is a fairly effeminate looking Isambard Kindom Brunel.

Inkie, Upfest, Bristol, July 2016
Inkie, Upfest, Bristol, July 2016

The character at the bottom of the piece might be a self portrait, but I am not sure really. The whole thing is really impressive, and I was fortunate enough to catch up with Inkie while he was just finishing off the job. Inkie and Bristol are utterly interlinked, and we are lucky to have him around.

Inkie, Upfest, Bristol, July 2016
Inkie, Upfest, Bristol, July 2016

The observant will notice an Angus piece just to the bottom left of the picture.

675. Upfest 2016 (102)

I think I have said it before, but one of the great pleasures of Upfest is to see the work of artists from all over the world and from all kinds of disciplines descend on our little patch of South Bristol. One such artist, ‘Climber’ or Lee Nowell-Wilson from Baltimore left us with this beautiful portrait of a young child.

Climber, Upfest, Bristol, July 2016
Climber, Upfest, Bristol, July 2016

Climber graduated with a Batchelors in painting in 2011. According to her Upfest bio, she now works at bringing those traditional skills to the streets. With creating relationships as the main objective, she strives after levels of vulnerability within her work to encounter people in their everyday. She certainly achieves her objective with this piece.

653. The Bearpit (41)

This incredibly productive spot threw up some wonderful pieces recently and this magnificent portrait by Georgie was just one of them. Those that follow these posts might recall a piece by Georgie I posted here back in November 2016.

Georgie, The Bearpit, Bristol, February 2017
Georgie, The Bearpit, Bristol, February 2017

This is a really classy piece and instantly recognisable as Michael Cain. How she managed to produce this fine work in the dim light of The Bearpit subway is a real feat. Hats off to Georgie for this great addition to these walls. Her craft is amplified by the detailing of the background that helps the portrait stand out. I love this piece.

Georgie, The Bearpit, Bristol, February 2017
Georgie, The Bearpit, Bristol, February 2017

625. Upfest 2016 (95)

This piece is a really interesting collaboration between Ulysses Nevmer and Alexandr Hade both from Minsk in Belarus. Searching the Interweb to try and find out more about them, it would appear that they have worked together before.

Ulysses Nevmer and Alexandr Hade, Upfest, Bristol, July 2016
Ulysses Nevmer and Alexandr Hade, Upfest, Bristol, July 2016

The piece features two female portraits, looking towards one another. It is difficult to know if they are the same person or different people, but there is clearly a story going on. There is a confidence about Nevmer’s figure and on the left and Hade’s figure to the right is seeming to look on, longingly with some uncertainty.

Ulysses Nevmer, Upfest, Bristol, July 2016
Ulysses Nevmer, Upfest, Bristol, July 2016

Ulysses Nevmer tends to paint people, so she says in the Upfest programme biography, “because they are beautiful , also not only outside!” You can see more of her work on her Facebook page.

Alexandr Hade, Upfest, Bristol, July 2016
Alexandr Hade, Upfest, Bristol, July 2016

Aleksandr Hade has an interesting statement in his biography and it relates to the story in his pieces mentioned above:

“The front layer of Aleksandr’s works may seem pretty obvious and straightforward at first sight, though almost always it has its hidden meaning or a story to tell. The whole essence of his art concludes in prompting the audience to speculate on the real storyline and the idea beneath the seem-to-be-evident form. Aleksandr mostly touches on the themes of diverging time, people’s attitude to nature and mythology.”

618. M32 cycle path (4)

Ok, I’ll admit it, I am having a bit of a thing about Laic217’s work at the moment, and it won’t stop here. We see him once again experimenting with a figure distorted behind broken glass. There is a story here, the heart shape in the hole in the glass betrays that much. Laic’s faces and figures inhabit that territory between realism and cartoon, very much the province of street artists, where walls and boards provide the canvass.

Laic217, M32 cycle path, Bristol, January 2017
Laic217, M32 cycle path, Bristol, January 2017

This is a haunting piece, and lacks the humour and lightheartedness of many of his pieces, but it is intriguing and different and sets itself apart. Not to everyone’s taste I am sure, but I so much enjoy finding his works.

Laic217, M32 cycle path, Bristol, January 2017
Laic217, M32 cycle path, Bristol, January 2017

No prizes for spotting the rather nice 3Dom eye character adjacent to this piece.

613. High Street, Exeter

In late January I had a meeting in Exeter for which I had arrived a little early. I decided to head for the High Street to see if I could grab a bite to eat. What a great decision that was. I am not familiar with Exeter, especially the central shopping area, so the last thing I was expecting to find was this very impressive piece etched into a wall by the Portuguese artist Alexandre Farto, who works under the name Vhils.

Vhils , High Street, Exeter, January 2016
Vhils , High Street, Exeter, January 2016

Exeter is not a city known for its street art culture, and this piece is a grand statement  in the main shopping area, rather isolated and alone, but very, very impressive. I have seen work by Vhils on the Interweb many times, but seeing it up close like this was a genuine treat.

Vhils , High Street, Exeter, January 2016
Vhils , High Street, Exeter, January 2016

His unique approach to creative street art, is to etch or scratch away the rendered surface of a wall back to the brickwork to create his large portraits. The overall effect is to carve something with a bit of depth and texture, albeit in binary colour schemes.

Vhils , High Street, Exeter, January 2016
Vhils , High Street, Exeter, January 2016

I must say that I was really surprised to find something like this in Exeter and praise the authorities who commissioned the work. I am sure it is a constant talking point for residents and visitors alike. Happy days.