Street art – Page 118 – Natural adventures

6424. Cumberland Basin

Bbygwya (Flux), Cumberland Basin, Bristol, September 2024

There have been many ‘get well’ tribute pieces about the place for Mena, who suffered a motorcycle accident (I think) while travelling in Thailand a while back, and this one in Cumberland Basin by Bbygwya, or Flux as she is more commonly known is an absolute beauty.

Bbygwya is something of an enigma who can produce some really high quality pieces in varying styles, but is also rather fond of quick and dirty throw-ups. I particularly like the horizontal fills in this piece and how they give the whole thing the appearance of shiny metal, by design or accidentally. A nice shout out of ‘We love you’ rounds the whole thing off nicely.

6423. Upfest 2024 (55)

Zoe Power, Upfest 24, The Tobaccco Factory, Bristol, September 2024

At Upfest 2024, the format of the festival changed a bit, and I don’t think that it worked as well as it has in the past. I believe that the changes have come about by the enormous cost of hosting a festival over two days, and the rapidity of the clean-up afterwards have worn down the organisers. So this year we had feature walls which were painted over a three week period, allowing for a lot of high-end murals, and small 1m square boards – there was nothing in-between, which is the bread and butter for most street artists.

The 1m boards were painted on three occasions, and I managed to photograph them on one of those occasions, missing out on the other two. This was a board painted by the wonderful local artist Zoe Power.

The stylised painting is full of symbolism, and a story of our time. It features a hand holding an olive branch, and rarely have we needed to see the olive branch extended more than now. There is a simplicity and crispness in the piece that betrays the complexity of the underlying messaging and what it represents. It is always a real treat to see Zoe Power’s work.

6422. Upfest 2024 (54)

Tymon de Laat, North Street, Bristol, September 2024

Although this is one of the more awkward walls to photograph, it often hosts some of the best Upfest pieces. This year it was the turn of Tymon de Laat and he has done the spot proud with this incredible portrait piece of a Mexican man, called ‘Moon over Matalán’. It is simply beautiful.

What is good about Upfest is that you will often get a chance to see the artists at work, and sometimes stop for a chat. Unfortunately the artist was busy up a scissor platform when I was passing by and I never got a chance to say hello.

This year I managed to get up onto the roof of the building adjacent to the wall and took some super shots of the piece as it is meant to be seen, but which most people don’t get to see. The old man has paint on his face, which is a trademark feature of Tymon de Laat’s work. There is so much character in the man’s face, and his hat captures the atmosphere of a hot Mexico.

Surrounding the portrait is a garland of dried corn and chillies, rounding the piece off nicely and without which the piece might feel a bit stark. This was clearly one of my highlights from this year’s festival. Bravo!

6421. Upfest 2024 (53)

Perspicere, Upfest 24, The Tobaccco Factory, Bristol, September 2024

Sometimes street art takes on a new and vibrant form, and even when you think you’ve seen it all, an artist like Perspicere will come along and blow your mind. I have been aware of Perspicere for a couple of years, but managed to encounter him at work twice this year, both at Upfest and at the Cheltenham Paint Festival.

Perspicere works with thread that is suspended between rows of hooks along each side of the frame. By threading the line across from one hook to another again and again in a very specific order he builds up a layer of thread that has depth and colour, tricking the eyes. He uses only four colours of thread (red, blue, yellow and white) and the whole thing is worked out using a computer programme, and he has to follow the directions meticulously. The end result is mind-boggling, especially on the scale that he works to.

I think that you have to have a special kind of patience and determination to do this kind of thing, but perhaps it is a rather mindful exercise and great for zoning out. A fine addition to the spectrum of art at this year’s Upfest.

6420. Upfest 2024 (52)

Jimmer Wilmott, Upfest 24, The Tobaccco Factory, Bristol, September 2024

Somehow this piece by Jimmer Wilmott passed me by at this year’s Upfest, and I only got to see it recently during a visit to a few spots with Paul H, including the Tobacco Factory. Sunday is the best day to visit this spot, because there are no cars in the parking spaces, which are immediately in front of the wall. Saturdays would also be good, if it weren’t for the market, which clogs things up a bit.

Jimmer Wilmott has been working in the studio on canvass with his ‘alphabetti spaghetti’ pieces for quite a long while now, but this is the first wall I am aware of that he has decorated in this way. The concept is simple and brilliant and somehow he achieves a photorealistic presentation, which causes many a double-take. Spelling ‘Jimmer was ere’, this is a creative delight from one of the most creative talents in Bristol.

6419. Upfest 2024 (51)

Hardy, Upfest 2024, Greville Smyth Park, Bristol, May 2024

It was a real pleasure to catch up with Hardy at Upfest 24 at the time that he was painting this piece, and he had plenty of kind words to say about my posts on Natural Adventures, which I always find a little bit surprising, because I really have no idea (beyond the core readership of the blog) who reads this stuff, and whether they value it. The function of my street art/graffiti posts is to keep a living record of contemporary street art in Bristol, if people visit and enjoy, then I am doubly satisfied.

Hardy has used this space well to spray four of his distinctive stencils, in two sizes and in different colours, and decorated the rest of the area with symbols and patterns, without which the stencils might look a little stark. Brightening up this space for Upfest.

6418. Brunel Way (295)

Kosc, Brunel Way, Bristol, September 2024

I am still a little under the weather with Covid this morning, so only short posts today. This is a wonderful piece of chrome graffiti writing from Kosc in a spot that he has painted before, but I don’t usually associate with him.

The letters are made up in the style of riveted sheets of metal, a device used by many writers and one that is very effective. Kosc has perfected this style.

6417. Dean Lane skate park (763)

Mr Crawls, Dean Lane, Bristol, September 2024

The curved wall in Dean Lane skate park is one of the most iconic and popular in Bristol as evidenced by the thick layers of paint that periodically peel off, often more than a centimetre thick. You can get a feel for the popularity of the wall from my updated ‘one wall many faces’ gallery of this wall

Mr Crawls has done us proud with one of his bird characters that have become so familiar around the city. One of the things that I love about his work is that he is constantly evolving and that even though he may return to former themes and subjects he always incorporates new elements that he has picked up along the way. This is a particularly attractive bird.

6416. Cumberland Basin

Soker and Sled One, Cumberland Basin, Bristol, September 2024

When the best get together, small miracles happen. And when I look at a collaboration between Soker and Sled One, I find myself asking (again) how do they do this? Of course, I know how they do it, but technically and creatively it becomes unfathomable.

Soker, Cumberland Basin, Bristol, September 2024

The writing to the left is by Soker, and I would like to add that it is wonderful to see him out painting a little more often these days after a prolonged quiet period. The beautifully crafted letters are filled with a stunning combination of colours that work perfectly together. This is wildstyle graffiti writing at its best.

Sled One, Cumberland Basin, Bristol, September 2024

The character piece is by Sled One and features a young man (self-portrait?) gazing into a lava lamp filled with trippy smiley faces that bleed into the rest of the collaboration. Sled One not only creates these marvellous characters and scenes, but tells a whole story, which the viewer is challenged to piece together. This is a very special collaboration.

6415. Dean Lane skate park (762)

Hypo, Dean Lane, Bristol, September 2024

I am really flagging. This is a beauty from Hypo, who I met at the M32 roundabout a couple of days ago. He continues to turn out quality pieces with great regularity, and this one is so full of energy and effervescence.

We talked a little of his penchant for symmetry, and chatted about Werm who is going through a phase of writing his letters with a bilateral symmetry. In symmetry lies perfection… That’s yer lot, back to bed for me.

	paulh121 on Telling a tale
	M. on 7554. L Dub (81)
	hitandrun1964 on My Dog Sighs
	Suzette Benjamin on 7551. Greenbank (184)
	M. on 7550. M32 Roundabout J2 (…

	paulh121 on Telling a tale
	M. on 7554. L Dub (81)
	hitandrun1964 on My Dog Sighs
	Suzette Benjamin on 7551. Greenbank (184)
	M. on 7550. M32 Roundabout J2 (…

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this: