Tag: Stencil

351. Upfest (10)

On the Monday of Upfest, everything went a little strange. I had to dash over in my lunch break, so didn’t have much time and was walking pretty fast. What I noticed first was that there were very few people compared to the previous two days, and most of the people I saw were street artists from the weekend leaving a few ‘extras’ for us to admire.

Goin, North Street, Upfest, Bristol, July 2016
Goin, North Street, Upfest, Bristol, July 2016

One such ‘extra’ was this piece by Goin, a French stencil artist with his roots in punk culture (sounding a bit like Tian). I posted about one of his works back in November 2015, but at that point I didn’t know who the artist was. This time I was there just as he sprayed the red writing. I asked who he was, but as this was a ‘naughty’ piece, he didn’t seem too keen to talk to me, and just wanted to get moving quickly. I then spotted this piece on his Instagram account a day or two later. I especially like this because it is witty, beautifully worked, subversive and I was there at its genesis.

347. Upfest 2016 (6)

RIP seemed to have a lot of fun during Upfest this year. His works were not only confined to The Rising Sun (his designated temporary ‘canvass’) but also to the streets and hoardings of North Street.

RIP, Upfest, North Street, Bristol, July 2016
RIP, Upfest, North Street, Bristol, July 2016

The dodo was very low down on a hoarding passageway. Who can resist a dodo eh? There is a lovely Stewy dodo in Leonard Lane…one of my earliest posts. The pun here links to the rather annoying, but very popular Wham! song of the ’80s.

RIP, Upfest, North Street, Bristol, July 2016
RIP, Upfest, North Street, Bristol, July 2016

The philosophical chimp is another winner for me. I really like RIP’s work. It is fast, edgy, raw, humerous and keeps the streets alive for those of us who like to look, see and discover.

RIP, Upfest, North Street, Bristol, July 2016
RIP, Upfest, North Street, Bristol, July 2016

345. Upfest 2016 (4)

I was really taken by this fantastic work by Belgian artist Din Din who describes herself as a ‘one woman artistic movement’.

Din Din, Lime Road, Upfest, Bristol, July 2016
Din Din, Lime Road, Upfest, Bristol, July 2016

On Saturday afternoon, when I watched her working, she was putting down the stencil at the bottom of the piece. I noticed that she used plastic stencils and asked her if she used them because they were stronger (seemed sensible to me), but she answered that with the plastic stencils you can work in the rain…so she came well prepared for a festival in Britain then!

Din Din, Lime Road, Upfest, Bristol, July 2016
Din Din, Lime Road, Upfest, Bristol, July 2016

On her website it looks very much like she did two other stencils in the area during her visit to Bristol, so I will have to hunt these down.

Din Din, Lime Road, Upfest, Bristol, July 2016
Din Din, Lime Road, Upfest, Bristol, July 2016

There is something about the piece that reminds me a little of Tian’s works that he pasted up around Stokes Croft during his ‘tour’ earlier in the year – photographic works with monochrome tones.

Din Din, Lime Road, Upfest, Bristol, July 2016
Din Din, Lime Road, Upfest, Bristol, July 2016

A wonderful piece to see and to get a glimpse of the artist at work.

344. Upfest 2016 (3)

One of the first pieces I saw that had already been completed by the time I arived on Saturday, was this fine and controversial work by Pegasus.

Pegasus, Upfest, Bristol, July 2016
Pegasus, Upfest, Bristol, July 2016

It is highly accomplished stencil work that one expects from Pegasus and the content of his work is often edgy and possibly uncomfortable for some. I imagine that any work representing Mother Teresa (a Saint) is going to be tricky.

Pegasus, Upfest, Bristol, July 2016
Pegasus, Upfest, Bristol, July 2016

I love this piece. It is quite shocking and at the same time so beautifully put together. I think this might be his first visit since his Trump/Hitler conflation in Greville Road, back in April 2016…another controversial one.

334. North Street, 188

This is an absolute gem recently stenciled on a rather obliging white wall by one of Bristol’s finest street artists, Stewy. What make this piece extra special for me is that it is a picture of one of my favourite musicians, Robert Wyatt, whose version of ‘ship building’ is in my top ten personal hit list.

Stewy (Robert Wyatt), North Street, Bristol, July 2016
Stewy (Robert Wyatt), North Street, Bristol, July 2016

Stewy, when he is not stenciling animals, is creating images of well known people. Other works I have posted on include Cary Grant and DJ Derek. I love his work and was really excited to come across this one. I knew he had done it, but just didn’t know where. I expect It’ll get loads of attention at Upfest 2016.

Stewy (Robert Wyatt), North Street, Bristol, July 2016
Stewy (Robert Wyatt), North Street, Bristol, July 2016

327. Raleigh Road, Tobacco Factory (4)

Well this has happened pretty much by accident, two posts by the same artist in a row, and featured only for the first time yesterday.

Stephen Quick, Raleigh Road, Bristol, June 2016
Stephen Quick, Raleigh Road, Bristol, June 2016

This is a lovely tribute piece to two of our great British loved ones who passed away in January 2016. Stephen Quick has combined elements from the working lives of David Bowie and Alan Rickman to create this ‘Severus Sane’ image. Alan Rickman (Severus Snape from the Harry Potter films) and Bowie’s Aladdin Sane Ziggy Stardust are conflated into one fabulous image.

Stephen Quick, Raleigh Road, Bristol, June 2016
Stephen Quick, Raleigh Road, Bristol, June 2016

It is a touching piece and beautifully executed. It sits in the same car park alongside Hannah Adamaszek’s wonderful piece. Writing this makes me feel quite sad still at the loss of two hugely influential talents. It is a good thing to see them remembered in this way.

322. The Bearpit 23

There are some artists who are so very hard to trace, and that is all part of the game. One such artist is The Agent…or at least that is what I think his name is. Another member of SSOSVA and another stencil artist. The Agent has a liking for dressing up Minions in rather menacing costumes or personas – in this instance a banana toting Frankenstein’s monster.

The Agent, The Bearpit, Bristol, April 2016
The Agent, The Bearpit, Bristol, April 2016

I have only seen a couple of his works around the Bristol area, suggesting that he is perhaps a visitor. I will update this post as and when I find out more. Who can’t resist a Minion?

UPDATE – I met The Agent at Upfest 2016, and he is most definitely from Bristol, furthermore, he is the father of another great Bristol street artist. So it just shows how easy it is to get things wrong…and embarrassing at times too. All part of the game.

319. North Street, Coop Pharmacy

This is the first of many posts I will be making from an artist known as RIP. This is a ‘cheeky little one’ that RIP seems to be very fond of. He is a stencil artist based in Stoke-on-Trent, but obviously a frequent visitor to Bristol, and in particular North Street. The stencils are often, but not always, political and are sprayed in the ‘tolerated’ illegal spots.

RIP, North Street, Bristol, January 2016
RIP, North Street, Bristol, January 2016

RIP is an active member of SSOSVA (the Secret Society of Super Villain Artists) (or not so secret now…) an international collective of artists founded in 1921 by Silent Bill – or so it says on their website. Other members I have featured include Dice 67 and John D’oh.

I don’t know why I haven’t posted RIP’s work before because there is a lot of it around. Don’t be surprised to see a rash of posts in the coming weeks.

318. Leonard Lane (8)

A trip down memory/Leonard Lane. Some of my earliest posts were from this incredible little alleyway that defines the boundary line of the old City. It is full of little treasures, and this is one of them. A beautiful bear by Stewy. This bear has suffered the indignity of having several additions scribbled on it, but thankfully was given a bit of a makeover a couple of months ago. It is not in pristine condition, but then again very little of the street art in Leonard Lane is.

Stewy, Leonard Lane, Bristol, September 2015
Stewy, Leonard Lane, Bristol, September 2015

Stewy is a master stencil artist who specialises in creating stencils of well known people, and in this street is a work he did of DJ Derek before he went missing and passed away. The lane is also strewn with a menagerie of Stewy animals, perched and placed along its length.

307, North Street hoarding (4)

John D’oh is a political stencil artist, and he has been oh so very busy recently. This recent piece, in a little alcove on North Street, really chimes with me. It is a promotional piece for the upcoming Upfest event and in fact there are two of the stencils side by side in this location. Technically, this piece is excellent.

John D'oh, North Street, Bristol, June 2016
John D’oh, North Street, Bristol, June 2016

The best bit about this piece is that it features a guy called Jeff, who sells ‘The Big Issue’, a magazine I have referred to previously in my posts. He is my local seller, and I like to buy my copies from him. He can usually be found in Stokes Croft, in North Bristol, but this stencil is in North Street (rather confusingly) in South Bristol.

John D'oh, North Street, Bristol, June 2016
John D’oh, North Street, Bristol, June 2016

There was a nice feature in the Bristol Post (I cannot find a link) about the stencil and how pleased Jeff was to be the subject of it. I’ll have to talk to Jeff about it next time I see him. Great work, with a great subject promoting a great event.