Bart says “reach for the stars” and Lemak has done just that with this fabulous space stencil. Some of you might remember that I have already posted this stencil, in a slightly different format from Park Street a few weeks back.
Lemak, Upfest, Bristol, July 2018
There is little more for me to say than I have already said about Lemak and his superb artwork. His stencils are always precisely presented and always have some original thinking behind them. Checking out his Instagram account also gives you some real insight into the kind of works he is producing. Always good, never sub-standard.
About Ponny is an artist I had not come across before Upfest 2018 and what a wonderful set of wheatpastes he left for us to admire this year. This is the second one I have posted, and like the first it best described as poignant.
About Ponny, Upfest, Bristol, July 2018
There is a sadness, but also a really touching humanity about this piece, and the tones used for the stencil work give the whole wheatpaste a sombre and yet very powerful presence. I can honestly say that About Ponny was probably my favourite discovery of Upfest 2018 – now I just need to travel around a bit to find more of his great work.
Mystery solved. Regular readers will know that I am really quite uncomfortable with posting pieces if I don’t know who created them. Occasionally I post them anyway because I don’t think I’ll ever find out who did them. In this case, I have held on in with the firm conviction that I would find the artist. And I have.
John D’oh, Princes Street, Bristol, October 2018
I recently bought John D’oh’s excellent book ‘Street Art and Graffiti‘ and there on pages 40 and 41 is this wonderful stencil piece. These photographs were taken this October, but I have some much older ones somewhere in my archive. The original installation had a little red word ‘why’ to the left of the piece and it was placed on 16 November 2015 as a tribute to those who lost their lives in the Paris terror attacks of 13 November that same month.
There is a little shelf beneath the piece which had little battery operated flickering candle lights to give the piece a shrine appearance. Beautifully conceived and executed. This is a poignant and touching piece from a great Bristol artist who puts a lot of thought, time, energy, passion and effort in to his work.
I was thrilled to find out it was by John D’oh. Good things come to those who wait (and buy books).
I love this striking stencil work by Paintily. The concept of a mask hiding another mask beneath it is a good one, and the ancient look adds to the mystery of the piece. The whole thing is worked really beautifully with great care and attention being paid to the shadows cast by the outer mask on the inner one.
Paintily, Upfest, Bristol, July 2018
This piece is all the more remarkable for being a stencil, which must have taken an eternity to prepare. The standard of stencils at Upfest 2018 has really been quite staggering and we are lucky to have seen so many over the course of the festival. Below is a little reminder of Paintily’s piece from last year.
Often humorous and always tinged with a bit of edge, John D’oh’s stencils can be found on walls all around Bristol (and Cheltenham) and of course at Upfest. This year’s ‘official’ piece was a double-header, the first part of which was a witty corruption of the Infinite Monkey Theory.
John D’oh, Upfest, Bristol, July 2018
The second board is another pithy pop at Brexit, featuring Noel Edmond’s Deal or no Deal as its headline. I absolutely love these topical political stencils, and look forward to his injects about the place.
Street art and Graffiti, John D’oh, Bristol, October 2018
Coincidentally, his new book arrived yesterday and I can’t recommend highly it enough, it is one of the best graffiti/street art books that I have read in a while, intelligently written and full of photographs and commentary on his own work. Brilliant.
My oh my this is a very fancy stencil indeed by the incredible RTC from Cheltenham. You would have been hiding under a rock not to know that the subject of this piece is film director Tim Burton surrounded by some of his creations – besides which, just in case we didn’t know, attributes a quote to Burton at the bottom of the piece. “One person’s craziness is another person’s reality“.
RTC, Upfest, Bristol, July 2018
I cannot imagine just how long it must take to prepare this multi-layered stencil, which has such amazing fine detail, but it is all utterly worth it. I can only gaze on in disbelief. Bravo! champion of the art of stencilling.
I had a go at spotting all the films in the piece…
Batman – Mars Attacks – Edward Scissorhands – The Nightmare Before Christmas – Sleepy Hollow – Alice in Wonderland – Beetlejuice.
A collection of fantastic stencil art by Bristol street artist John D’oh
Published on 17 October to celebrate the publication of his new book “Street Art and Graffiti” – Buy it here
All photographs taken by Scooj
John D’oh, St George skate park, Bristol, April 2022John D’oh, Purdown, Bristol, March 2022John D’oh, Horfield skate park, Bristol, March 2022John D’oh, Horfield Skate Park, Bristol, March 2022John D’oh, Gloucester Road, Bristol, December 2021John D’oh, Horfield skate park, Bristol, November 2021John D’oh, North Street, Bristol, April 2016John D’oh, Gloucester Road, Bristol, November 2021John D’oh, Gloucester Road, Bristol, November 2021John D’oh, Princess Street, Burnham-on-Sea, September 2021John D’oh, Princess Street, Burnham-on-Sea, September 2021John D’oh, Purdown Battery, Bristol, October 2021John D’oh, Princess Street, Burnham-on-Sea, September 2021John D’oh, M32 Spot, Bristol, March 2021John D’oh, Lower Approach Road, Bristol, February 2021John D’oh, Purdown, Bristol, February 2021John D’oh, Paint Festival 2020, Cheltenham, September 2020John D’oh, Paint Festival 2020, Cheltenham, September 2020John D’oh, M32 Spot, Bristol, August 2020John D’oh, Purdown Battery, Bristol, July 2020John D’oh, Purdown Battery, Bristol, July 2020John D’oh, Purdown Battery, Bristol, July 2020John D’oh, Purdown Battery, Bristol, July 2020
John D’oh, St George, Bristol, June 2020John D’oh, Horfield skate park, Bristol, May 2020John D’oh, M32 Spot, Bristol, May 2020John D’oh, M32 Spot, Bristol, May 2020John D’oh, Leonard Lane, Bristol, November 2017John D’oh, Upfest 2016, Bristol, July 2016John D’oh, Upfest 2016, Bristol, July 2016John D’oh, M32 cycle path, Bristol, March 2020John D’oh, Paint festival 2019, Cheltenham, September 2019John D’oh, St Michael’s Hill, Bristol, July 2019John D’oh, North Street, Bristol, July 2016John D’oh, Horfield skate park, Bristol, April 2019John D’oh, Horfield skate park, Bristol, April 2019John D’oh, The Bearpit, Bristol, January 2017John D’oh, Upfest, Bristol, July 2016John D’oh, Upfest, Bristol, July 2016John D’oh, Princes Street, Bristol, October 2018John D’oh, Princes Street, Bristol, October 2018John D’oh, Upfest, Bristol, July 2018John D’oh, Upfest, Bristol, July 2018John D’oh, Upfest, Bristol, August 2018John D’oh, North Street, Bristol, July 2018John D’oh, The Bearpit, Bristol, February 2018John D’oh, The Bearpit, Bristol, February 2018John D’oh, Leonard Lane, Bristol, November 2017John D’oh, The Bearpit, Bristol, December 2017John D’oh, The Bearpit, Bristol, October 2017John D’oh, The Bearpit, Bristol, October 2017John D’oh, The Bearpit, Bristol, October 2017John D’oh, The Bearpit, Bristol, October 2017John D’oh, The Bearpit, Bristol, December 2017John D’oh, The Bearpit, Bristol, December 2017John D’Oh, Leonard Lane, Bristol, November 2017Decay and John D’oh, North Street, Bristol, July 2016John D’oh, The Bearpit, Bristol, February 2017John D’oh, The Bearpit, Bristol, January 2017John D’oh, The Bearpit, Bristol, January 2017John D’oh, North Street, Bristol, July 2016John D’oh, North Street, Bristol, July 2016John D’oh, Dean Lane, Bristol, August 2016John D’oh, North Street, Bristol, June 2016John D’oh, North Street, Bristol, June 2016John D’oh, North Street, Bristol, May 2016John D’oh, The Bearpit, Bristol, April 2016John D’oh, The Bearpit, Bristol, April 2016
Park street seems to be in a continual state of refurbishment. Businesses appear and disappear with alarming regularity, something that has been particularly noticeable since the banking crisis began. I suspect shop rents are high and returns subject to the prevailing economic conditions. The upshot is that hoardings can be found covering up shopfronts…and these hoardings need decorating.
Lemak, Park Street, Bristol, October 2018
Step up Bristol Business Improvement District who commissioned this work by Lemak and another by Inkie and Cheba further up Park Street. This is an exceptional stencil by an exceptional artist and one which he used for his Upfest 2018 piece.
Lemak, Park Street, Bristol, October 2018
Take a good look at the multiple layers on the face and helmet of the astronaut – this is an incredible work. It is great to see these boards in a street with so much footfall – better to have great work like this on display than tags. I’ll post his Upfest version soon.
The quality of Stencil work at this year’s Upfest was once again really high, and this beautiful piece from Neverender Design is just one of many examples of this. The portrait is a six layer stencil piece which looks rather tribal to me and is full of atmosphere and mystery and well as being technically excellent.
Neverender Design, Upfest, Bristol, July 2018
Neverender Design is a huge inspiration to any wannabe artists because he was inspired to start his own work at Upfest 2013 and he decided he would like to return to the festival as an artist rather than as a spectator. Well, here he is, and in my view he has absolutely smashed it. There’s hope for me yet.
I approached Upfest on the Saturday morning from East Street and as I was at that end of Bedminster, dived into Dean Lane skate park because it is always busy with ‘fringe’ festival art, and by that I mean it is not all entirely official. This is one such stencil work by About Ponny, an artist not known to me before…I have immediately become a fan.
About Ponny, Upfest, Bristol, July 2018
About Ponny is a highly skilled stencil artist from Bologna in Italy and I found a short biography on his Facebook page which I have translated from the Italian using Google translate. It reads as follows:
Ponny was born in Bologna one evening after dinner.
Single, but only in the name, because always accompanied; for this reason it has no gender.
Son of a game between friends and of the passion for art, in all its forms, as long as expression and creativity, incessant source of emotion.
In continuous search for balance on the edge of legality, the road torments him, the only place to express himself!
This work, in my mind, is stencil work of the highest calibre. The subject is touching and soulful, the execution brilliant, the colour scheme has an earthy and innocent quality and the location is brilliant. One of the best ‘unofficial’ Upfest 2018 pieces.
Natural adventures 