Karl Read, West Street, Upfest 24, Bristol, May 2024
Karl Read is something of a regular at Upfest, which is a great thing, and with each passing festival his work gets better and better. Painted over a stunning piece by Irony (one of my favourite of all time) cannot have been easy, but what Karl Read has replaced it with is worthy of this spot.
Karl Read, West Street, Upfest 24, Bristol, May 2024
Karl Read uses large stencils for his work, and certainly in the past I have seen him struggle in windy conditions, but he has absolutely nailed his technique in this piece. The contrast between the black and white figures and the colourful peace sign made out of ‘Lego’ building blocks is a clever mechanism to bring focus to different parts of the work. The message is a poignant one in a troubled landscape of conflicts in Gaza and Ukraine. This is a stunning stencil from a great artist.
Irony, West Street, Bristol, October 2021, Upfest 21
Goin is a brilliant stencil artist, who has visited Bristol a number of times, usually in association with Upfest. I met him one time when he was doing a little ‘extra’ piece on a non-legal wall, and he was reluctant to give anything away. I knew who he was because I recognised his style, but didn’t let on. This is a wonderful piece painted on the side of the Spotted Cow pub in North Street.
Goin, Spotted Cow, Upfest 24, Bristol, May 2024
There is a simplicity to Goin’s work that makes it more meaningful in a way than some of the extraordinary multi-layered stencil pieces crafted by master technicians. The skill here is in telling a story, and the title of the piece ‘stop bullying’ provides enough to see what is going on. A young forlorn schoolgirl with a bag slung over her shoulder, all in greyscale, is equipped with a large red boxing glove, perhaps to protect herself. There is so much to take away from this piece and the imagery sticks in the mind. One of Upfest most consistent visiting artists.
When randomly walking the streets of a town or city I am unfamiliar with, I am reminded of the iconic line from the film Forrest Gump “Life is like a box of chocolates, you never know what you’re going to get”, and that is pretty much how my recent stroll in Manchester unfolded.
C215, Northern Quarter, Manchester, February 2024
I turned a corner and found this incredible stencil portrait piece by C215 staring out at me. He is an artist who has made a couple of appearances on this blog before, but I don’t think that he has ever painted anything in Bristol, surely it is time to change that (Upfest?). The stencils that C215 uses range from very small up to this kind of size, and he achieves this scaling without compromising his style at all. A memorable piece from my recent trip.
I am not sure that I have come across Prefab77 before, but as a massive fan of the North East band Prefab Sprout, I can’t help liking this artist simply because of his name. In addition to this large piece in Elton Street, Prefab77 also left a smaller one in Leonard Lane, perhaps during a single visit to Bristol.
Prefab77, Elton Street, Bristol, October 2023
The black and white piece is really clever, looking like a collage of words and images stuck to the wall. It is actually a composite of stencils to create this ‘scrapbook’ appearance. A busy piece with lots to look at, Prerfab77 has brought us something rather special.
With his finger pretty much always on the pulse, it was only a matter of time before John D’oh would create a stencil commentary piece about the war in Gaza and here it is. In this column piece, John D’oh presents a touching and tender piece that also references Bristol and Banksy.
John D’oh, M32 Spot, Bristol, October 2023
The message is clear, and one I think anyone in their right mind would agree with – ‘teach peace’. A young child and teddy look on at the right approach to conflict – the correct example throwing flowers and the incorrect version throwing Molotov cocktails. Along with most of us, this piece is asking for conflict to stop.
For many years, and more acutely this year, there has been a massive focus on the issue of compensation overflows in the UK. These overflows are essentially permitted activities of pumping raw sewage from water treatment plants, when heavy rainfall makes the processing of large quantities of sewage almost impossible. Some (and I include myself in this) point the finger at underinvestment in the infrastructure of water treatment plants, rather favouring healthy annual handouts to investors and shareholders.
The problem existed before the privatisation of water companies, but has been exacerbated by privatisation and a growing population and demand on the existing infrastructure, that simply isn’t up to scratch. Much easier to lean on a polluting permitted activity than to spend money fixing the problem.
Privatisation of water has, in my view, been a disaster, making a few investors, chief executives and foreign companies very wealthy indeed, but leaving the necessary investment and impact on the environment way behind. The public have had enough and are demanding that something is done about the situation. National commentary and pieces of art, like this one from John D’oh reflect this public mood.
John D’oh, Brunel Way, Bristol, October 2023
In its minimalist way, this stencil by John D’oh distils the issue and makes it simple. ‘Shit doesn’t just happen (we have known about this problem for decades and done nothing about it), clean our rivers’. I have worked in the water/environmental sector my entire life, and John D’oh has nailed it. Clever placement too with the River Avon in the background. This is an understated and poignant protest piece. Bravo John D’oh.
Unify, Cheltenham Paint Festival, Cheltenham, July 2023
One of the very earliest street art pieces I posted on Natural Adventures was by Unify, painted on the side of the Highbury Vaults in Kingsdown. Both Unify and I have come a long way since then. This wonderful monkey in a spacesuit stencil piece is perfectly presented on the side of a ramp in the Cheltenham skate park.
Unify, Cheltenham Paint Festival, Cheltenham, July 2023
The freehand background is very dramatic and sets the scene perfectly for the intricate stencil work. I love the reflection of the earth in the space helmet. I don’t know why, but I have seen a lot of space monkey street art over the years and it appears to be a really popular theme (note to self – potential for a themed gallery). This is a classy piece from Unify, whose work can be found all over London where I think the artist lives.
John D’oh has been a little quiet in Bristol lately, so it was great to find this new piece in one of his favourite spots underneath the M32 motorway. One thing that John D’oh is never short on is humour, and this Judy Garland Wizard of Oz stencil reinforces that point.
John D’oh, M32 Cycle path, Bristol, July 2023
The writing says (from the scarecrow) “Dorothy I can smell weed, urine and spray paint. I think we must be in Bristol”. Of course that made me smile, but for any potential visitors out there, this is a rather tongue-in-cheek, myopic view of our fabulous city. I rather hope to see more from John D’oh, as his artwork adds variety to the everyday fare of street art and graffiti in Bristol.
I expect that these stencils by Cartoonneros have been here for a little while, but I don’t pass by this way all that often, and only found them last weekend. I expect that they were left here when Cartoonneros last visited Bristol and painted the same pipe stencils in Moon Street.
Cartoonneros, Montpelier, Bristol, May 2023
The pipes are a take on the famous Rene Magritte painting ‘ceci n’est pas une pipe’. I am guessing that the bottom stencil features musicians, but I am not savvy enough to work out who they are. I love it when visiting artists ‘drop in’ and leave their little gifts for people like me to find – it keeps things interesting.
One of the admirable things that Upfest manages to do is combine the national and international interest from artists around the globe with local artists who paint the streets of Bristol week in and week out. The artists are treated equally (although some get allocated ‘premium’ walls), and there is a fabulous sense of community.
Maybe, Upfest 22, Bristol, May 2022
This piece by local artist Maybe (Maybepaints), who only started painting on the streets about 3 or 4 years ago, doesn’t look out of place shoulder to shoulder with established international artists. The piece is, as much contemporary street art tends to be, a commentary on the state of our environment, with supermarket plastic bags drifting in the ocean.
Maybe, Upfest 22, Bristol, May 2022
Maybe is a lovely man – much taller than I had expected – who has developed his own techniques, combining freestyle painting with stencils, to create these remarkable ‘other worldly’ places and scenes. You can see his progress over the last few years in this updated gallery of his work.
Natural adventures 