Street art – Page 152 – Natural adventures

6105. Upfest 2024 (21)

Audrey Kawasaki, Raleigh Road, Upfest 24, Bristol, May 2024

Upfest really is an extraordinary opportunity to see street art form all corners of the globe, and with it a huge variety of cultural styles, to add to the broad ‘school of Bristol’ street art and graffiti. This is a wonderful piece from Audrey Kawasaki, a Japanese-American artist who lives and works in Los Angeles.

There is a strong mix of eastern and western cultures coming together in this beautiful piece, where the tiger represents the east and the girl the west, perhaps. Audrey Kawasaki (who has a fabulous website) appears to use this styling in a lot of her work and also I detect some Art Nouveau influences in her work that makes it super-interesting.

Audrey Kawasaki’s composition in this mural is outstanding with the two central characters surrounded by crows and feathers and framed in a red ‘cloudy’ border. There is definitely a story in this piece, and it compels the viewer to want more. Clever and beautiful work from the visitor this year’s Upfest.

6104. Greenbank (122)

I haven’t yet seen Mind 49’s piece for Upfest yet, but his preparation has been on an ever-upwards trajectory. With each new piece that he paints, he seems to grow, not only in confidence but in comfort with and command of his style. This piece on the hoardings at Greenbank is a great example of his soft photorealism work.

In nearly all of Mind 49’s pieces the eyes of his subject are obscured often with sunglasses, and I wonder if that is a signature kind of thing or whether he struggles with painting eyes. I guess I’ll have to meet him to find out. Mind 49 has a fantastic tone with his artwork, which often looks like it might be painted with brushes rather than spray cans – the mark of a great artist. Now, I must hunt down his Upfest piece, from what I have seen on social media, it looks quite remarkable.

6103. Greville Smyth Park (2)

Acer One, Andy Council and Paul Monsters, Greville Smyth Park, Bristol, May 2024

Although this outstanding collaboration piece from Andy Council, Acer One and Paul Monsters was painted a little while ago, I only got to photograph it during Upfest 2024, however it is not an Upfest piece (although many visitors won’t know that). This is what I call a true collaboration, where the distinct styles of the three artists are combined into one story, and they have achieved this fusion expertly.

The three components are a wonderful geometric background design from Paul Monsters, which creates a colourful backdrop and tone, while also providing some depth with light and shadow tricks. The writing ‘New Story’ and circle are beautifully created by Acer One, whose precision and accuracy are unsurpassed. Note the subtle shadow to the lower and left sides of the letters, lifting them ever so gently from the wall. Finally, the greyscale monster in thee middle is painted by Andy Council and stands out against the colour of the background and is framed by the circle. Brilliant composition from the three of them. The piece was painted on the Spring Equinox on 24 March 2024 and a film and full explanation of the collaboration is given on Andy Council’s Instagram feed.

6102. Cumberland Basin

Sait Bare, Cumberland Bain, Bristol, May 2024

Rather annoyingly, I keep missing pieces by Sait Bare, either finding them prior to completion or that they have been overpainted, so it was a relief to find this one finished and intact. This letter/character combination piece is painted in a metallic gold colour, that is strong, and the background decor reflects the general messiness of the wall.

The letters spell SAIT with the character taking the pace of the letter ‘i’, and there is a deep red and black striped drop shadow. The character is painted in a carton style, with the eyes and mouth standing out in white against the gold. There is a lot to like about this piece and I look forward to finding more from Sait Bare.

6101. Nelson Street (18)

Kin Dose, Nelson Street, Bristol, May 2024

Who needs Upfest, when you have local artists that can do this? I got impatient with photographing this wondrous mural by Kin Dose, which every time I have been to take a look has had cars and vans parked in front of it. This is the best shot I have managed. This is not the first time Kin Dose has painted this wall, but I think that this might be his best piece yet, simply in terms of the complexity and detail in the artwork of the dragon.

The wall belongs to the Little Chinatown restaurant and I guess that this mural is a commission piece. There is a lot of movement in the piece, much of it created by the way the fur (hair?) on the head waves about. There is a whole lot of detailed work that has gone into the scales and the way thee light catches them.

The main subject of the dragon is set on an exquisite background of flowers and blossoms. To the top right, a rather creepy eye is keeping watch over the dragon. Words aren’t really good enough to describe this piece, which is one of the best of the year so far in Bristol. As a little reminder, here is a gallery of some of the great work by Kin Dose.

6100. Sparke Evans Park (97)

Kosc, Sparke Evans Park, Bristol, May 2024

It is too easy to be seduced into expecting outstanding work from Kosc, and what I mean by that is that it isn’t easy to turn out unbelievably great from work every painting session, and it shouldn’t be taken for granted. Kosc works really hard, continuously improves and seems to be reaching another level these days.

This piece was painted alongside Stivs (to follow) in a collaboration that shares a colour scheme and combination theme. It would seem that the creative ideas were liberally shared, with Kosc creating some calligraffiti letters in a kind of Gothic font which have turned out really well. The eye though is drawn to the extraordinary portrait replacing the ‘O’ of Kosc. The fine detail and sheer beauty of the portrait is unbelievable, and that it is painted in two shades simply adds to the wonder of the piece. Kosc’s portrait work is magnificent, and this piece showcases it perfectly. We are blessed in Bristol.

6099. Brunel Way (273)

Abbie Laura Smith, Brunel Way, Bristol, May 2024

In recent weeks, Abbie Laura Smith and I exchanged a few messages, discussing some posts about her paste ups that I had written. During the course of the conversation, I asked whether she would be pasting up any more, as I hadn’t seen any new ones for a while. She said yes… imminently, and true to her word she released a bunch more. This is the first in her recent series that I came across.

The art of wheatpaste work is a two part process, the first part is the creation itself, usually carried out at home or in a studio, and the second part is to find the right spot to paste it up. Abbie Laura Smith manages to do both very well. This piece features a couple of portraits constructed in part by script writing, perhaps quotes or thoughts, I haven’t yet tried to untangle the words. The portraits are set on a leaf, which looks like a Swiss cheese plant leaf to me, a common motif used by artists. There is a lot of emotion in this piece, and maybe one day I’ll get to know the backstory.

6098. Leicester

These pieces bring together the familiar with the unfamiliar. Finding Inkie pieces in other towns and cities is always hugely rewarding, and gives me a sense of Bristol pride. To find two pieces in a city that I have never visited in my life before was definitely a bonus. I’m not too sure when these pieces were painted, and not to sure whether they survived the ‘Bring the Paint’ festival which was starting (coincidentally) on the morning I was out taking these photographs.

The two pieces showcase Inkie’s portfolio really well, containing his stylised Art Nouveau portraits and in the second piece combined with a classic piece of Inkie writing. Always good to see, and Inkie wasn’t the only Bristol artist to have painted in the city where I spotted artwork by Mr Penfold, Lewse, Skank and others… making me feel very much at home. I might have to pay another visit sometime.

6097. Vestry Street, Leicester

Smug, Vestry Street, Leicester, May 2024

This is another outstanding Smug piece that I photographed during a short visit to Leicester last month. It is difficult to convey the sheer scale of the piece, because it is relatively thin, but as you can see it is seven stories tall, and somehow manages to complement the building perfectly. I believe it has been here for quite a while, since at least 2019, but I might be wrong.

The stunning piece features a woman, perfectly slotted into this narrow space, with a bullfinch in flight by her head. The photorealistic representation is quite extraordinary, in particular the folds of the woman’s clothing and her scarf. This and the other Smug piece are worth the trip to Leicester alone. Utterly outstanding and overwhelming.

6096. Dean Lane skate park (722)

Chill and Zake, Dean Lane, Bristol, June 2024

You don’t often see the PWA crew paint this particular wall in Dean Lane, I guess because there are usually three or more of them painting together, but this time it is only Chill and Zake, so there is room here for both of them. The two portraits, in very different styles, are interacting really well together and integrated using a common background.

Chill’s portrait is both colourful and full of fine detail, and has that accuracy that is common in artists who are also tattooists. He is also responsible for the wonderful silhouette plants and signature song bird. Zake’s portrait, is a little softer and full of depth, with a slightly odd scene of fish and water flying out of the character’s mouth. While I am not too sure what is going on, it makes for entertaining viewing. The pairing is great to see, and this is certainly a memorable collaboration from them. I’m not too sure it lasted very long though, which is a pity.

	Sheree on 7576. Brunel Way (353)
	paulh121 on 7575. M32 roundabout J3 (…
	hitandrun1964 on 7575. M32 roundabout J3 (…
	Sheree on Thursday Doors – 9 April…
	Suzette Benjamin on Thursday Doors – 9 April…

	Sheree on 7576. Brunel Way (353)
	paulh121 on 7575. M32 roundabout J3 (…
	hitandrun1964 on 7575. M32 roundabout J3 (…
	Sheree on Thursday Doors – 9 April…
	Suzette Benjamin on Thursday Doors – 9 April…

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