Tag: Star Wars

1994. Upfest 2018 (130)

You can always be sure that you’re going to get something pretty fun from Angus, and at Upfest 2018 he was playing around with a fusion of mosaics incorporating film/TV characters in a Banksy setting. Clever and engaging stuff.

Angus, Upfest, Bristol, July 2018
Angus, Upfest, Bristol, July 2018

In this piece, which must have taken days of preparation, Angus presents us with robots (in the place of chimps) from Star Wars, Futurama, Wall-E and one other that I can’t identify and the immortal words ‘laugh now but one day we’ll be in charge’. I rather hope that Banksy approves of this updated variant on his idea…another one made in Bristol.

Angus, Upfest, Bristol, July 2018
Angus, Upfest, Bristol, July 2018

In terms of scale, Bender, the Futurama robot on the right was about human size – this mosaic was no small undertaking, and this was just one of three (or more?) that Angus worked on at Upfest. Hats off to his lateral thinking and endeavour…a great piece.

1991. Upfest 2018 (127)

Always, always a firm favourite with me are the pop culture stencils by Stephen Quick, a brilliant Bristol artist and Upfest regular. This piece ‘Can stand up, will stand up’ is one of a series of similar pieces that he has created with this character.

Stephen Quick, Upfest, Bristol, July 2018
Stephen Quick, Upfest, Bristol, July 2018

There are several cultural references in the piece, which include the obvious homage to Star Wars, but also there is the sword of He Man and the bracelet (not in this picture) of Wonder Woman. His style is unique and vibrant, and I always look  forward to a quick annual catch up at Upfest.

The Mall

.

Stormtroopers posing

with kids outside John Lewis

it must be Christmas.

.

by Scooj

1228. Dean Lane skate park (99)

Clearly very excited about the release of the recent Star Wars movie (and who wouldn’t be?), it would appear that Soker, who usually writes his name, may have been inspired to spray this R2D2 piece. It is possible there is more to it than that, but it matters not, this is a brilliant clean piece.

Soker, Dean Lane, Bristol, November 2017
Soker, Dean Lane, Bristol, November 2017

On one of the feature walls at Dean Lane, this piece works beautifully, the proportions are all nicely done and the colours assembled well. The piece also generated some good banter on his Instagram account with his stablemates Cheo and Voyder (Darth Voyder).

Soker, Dean Lane, Bristol, November 2017
Soker, Dean Lane, Bristol, November 2017

All great fun.

1208. Raleigh Road, vector (19)

There is a nice little story behind this piece. I made a special effort to get out to Raleigh Road, because I was aware of a new Soker piece that had been sprayed there the day before (post coming soon). Sitting adjacent to the Soker piece was this fine Boba Fett character piece.

Ulow, Raleigh Road, Bristol, December 2017
Ulow, Raleigh Road, Bristol, December 2017

I was taking pictures of the piece and thinking that I wasn’t familiar with the artist, when a man walking with his family stopped and asked me if my camera was any good. I thought he might be thinking of buying something similar. I replied that it was just a cheap and cheerful Samsung and that it took reasonable photographs. He then asked if I could send him the pictures I was taking of the Boba Fett piece…I must have looked confused, because he followed up his request by saying that he was the artist, and had finished it late the night before, and his pictures of it were a bit poor.

Ulow, Raleigh Road, Bristol, December 2017
Ulow, Raleigh Road, Bristol, December 2017

This is how I met Ulow, a local artist who from time to time sprays character pieces, and in this instance was contacted by Soker to join in. In looking up a little about Ulow I think I have at least two more of his pieces in my archive, and will have to dig them out and post them. I like this Boba Fett a lot, and especially like the way his helmet and body plates have scratches and reflect the light.

Sadly my pictures are nothing to write home about, but I sent him a whole bunch nonetheless.

Lifetime

 

As a boy

I went to Star Wars

number four.

Together

with my son, we are going

to see number eight.

 

by Scooj

1169. Upfest 2017 (108)

This is a wonderful piece by Stephen Quick, a brilliant Bristol stencil artist and, I understand, YouTuber. I have to say that I never got to see this piece in its finished state, which I am really annoyed about, but have seen it on Digital Social Media and it looks spectacular.

Stephen Quick, Upfest, Bristol, July 2017
Stephen Quick, Upfest, Bristol, July 2017

Stephen has a style that mixes and merges ideas and iconic figures to produce blended stencils of the highest quality. Stephen quick has a lot to say about this piece on his website, and to save myself the time I have pinched his text and offer it below:

‘Pop Girl’ is my modern day mash up, pop culture heroine. My idea being if my recent generation get a call to arms we will arm ourselves with items from our pop upbringing, Inspired by Tank Girl, she wears a R2D2 helmet, armed with the Sword of Omen from Thundercats, with good luck charms from Harry Potter and The Legend of Zelda, she is ready to take on the world!

Stephen Quick, Upfest, Bristol, July 2017
Stephen Quick, Upfest, Bristol, July 2017

In my pictures, the Harry Postter charms are missing. and background not completed, but I didn’t want to leave it out of my Upfest updates. I do like his work very much.

1101. The Bearpit (101)

On Friday 28 July, the day before Upfest, I strolled to work via The Bearpit, which I like to do as often as I can. Clearly one of the Wheatpasters who regularly visit Bristol for Upfest, Losthills, had been hard at work, and this was the first of many of his pieces that I saw this year.

Losthills, The Bearpit, Bristol, July 2017
Losthills, The Bearpit, Bristol, July 2017

It is a cheeky little paste up (which of his isn’t a little cheeky?) of Jake the Dog, living the dream as an Empire soldier from the Star Wars films. The piece is full of humour and is a cheerful thing to see on my pedestrian commute to work.

1007. Church Road, St George.

My daughter has a chameleon, which eats live locusts. Every now and then, when I have forgotten to order them I have to traipse over to the other side of Bristol to get some, and this journey takes me through St George where I spotted this shutter piece. This is in my view rather special, because it is by the highly talented Braga Last1.

Braga Last1, Church Road St George, Bristol, July 2017
Braga Last1, Church Road St George, Bristol, July 2017

Braga Last1 is a Belgian artist who has been over to Bristol for Upfest for the last two years, and I have a feeling he did this commission in 2016. There is so much to like about this piece. First off, the artist himself, secondly it depicts a cartoon version of Darth Vader and thirdly it is beautifully sprayed. I like it a lot. Belgium seems to be having a bit of a street art golden period at the moment, with other artists such as Mehsos, Bisser and Dzia all stunning audiences with their work. Of course Belgium has a very rich culture of art going back centuries, and maybe this heritage inspires them. More from Braga Last1 soon.

967. Upfest 2017 (27)

On an advertising hoarding in North Street, there is this wonderful Losthills wheatpaste of Jake the dog posing as Yoda. The placement and writing make this piece just about perfect. I have said it before, that the placement of paste ups plays a major part in the impact they can have, and this one drew the attention of passers by, where others did not.


I am not sure who introduced the writing, whether it was Losthills or somebody else, but it sets the whole thing off really well, given the subject matter of the advertisement.


Losthills absolutely ‘nailed it’ at this Year’s Upfest, and I am looking forward to sharing a whole bunch more of his work in the coming months. Bravo.