Tag: Street art

3962. Upfest 2021 75×75 (66)

Well now we are getting in to the final 10 pieces from Upfest’s 75 walls in 75 days event and I am getting a little edgy, because my ‘collector’ gene will be working overtime to ensure I get every single one, and that might be difficult.

Silent Hobo, Ruby Street, Bristol, September 2021, Upfest 21
Silent Hobo, Ruby Street, Bristol, September 2021, Upfest 21

I don’t normally associate Silent Hobo with Upfest events, so it was really nice to see that he has participated in this most unusual of years with this enormous mural in Ruby Street.

Silent Hobo, Ruby Street, Bristol, September 2021, Upfest 21
Silent Hobo, Ruby Street, Bristol, September 2021, Upfest 21

Of course, with so many murals in residential streets for this year’s event, parked cars have been a real problem. I think I might suggest to artists that next year they start their pieces four feet above the ground, or that they paint cars in the lower portion so we don’t actually miss anything (now there’s a creative concept).

Silent Hobo, Ruby Street, Bristol, September 2021, Upfest 21
Silent Hobo, Ruby Street, Bristol, September 2021, Upfest 21

As with all of Silent Hobo’s excellent observational work, he captures the mood of ordinary people, especially youngsters so well. One could do a celebration of Bristol, just by showcasing all of his pieces. It would seem that he is very proud of the city and its citizens and his murals are a wonderful record of the city in the 2000s.

Silent Hobo, Ruby Street, Bristol, September 2021, Upfest 21
Silent Hobo, Ruby Street, Bristol, September 2021, Upfest 21

Another thing that Silent Hobo portrays beautifully is pets and wild animals. Here he rewards the viewer with a fabulous cameo of a little boy and his dog in a red armchair, a delightful scene. Yet another outstanding wall from Silent Hobo and for Upfest.

3961. M32 Cycle path (142)

Another debut on Natural Adventures in 2021, this time from Chill. It would be interesting to look back on 2021 and look at how many artists appeared on these pages for the first time, and which artists featured the most. Perhaps a little New Year exercise for me to do.

Chill, M32 Cycle path, Bristol, September 2021
Chill, M32 Cycle path, Bristol, September 2021

I know nothing about the artist, but I absolutely love this black and white cartoon trio of characters, painted in a very Beano/Dandy/Viz kind of style. Loads of mischief and fun and really tight artwork. There is a simplicity and symmetry to the piece that makes it so easy to enjoy. I really ought to do a little more research to find out more about the artist. Maybe if I find another Chill piece.

3960. Sparke Evans Park (10)

The long wall at Sparke Evans Park has always been a showcase for some great art, and in recent months, the turnover has increased significantly as has the quality of some of the pieces. It is a top graffiti art spot, but a complete menace to photograph, the dappled sunshine percolating through the adjacent leafy trees has rendered many of my photographs unusable. This is definitely a spot for winter and overcast days.

Laic217, Sparke Evans Park, Bristol, September 2021
Laic217, Sparke Evans Park, Bristol, September 2021

This is a superb tribute piece by Laic217 for KFAS. I don’t know anything about the backstory and instead have simply focussed on the piece itself. A spray can artist at work with tons of movement (clever use of three hands to create a busy scene), and a massively exaggerated mouth. A characterful and lively piece, and a worthy tribute.

3959. St Werburghs tunnel (258)

Stivs has presented me with another golden opportunity to feature his work on Natural Adventures by painting this cracker in St Werburghs. His calligraffiti writing is improving with every piece, and this is an outstanding example of what he is capable of.

Stivs, St Werburghs, Bristol, September 2021bday 034 12-16 Sept 2021_edited
Stivs, St Werburghs, Bristol, September 2021bday 034 12-16 Sept 2021_edited

Painted in black and red with a blue border, the letters have the appearance of having been painted with brush strokes – an effect perfected by Voyder in some of his Bristol works. There is so much to like about this, particularly the crispness and the thin yellow lines running through the piece. Lovely stuff.

3958. Upfest 2021 75×75 (65)

There is something rather special about this Upfest 2021 75×75 piece and once one understands the context, the whole piece falls into place in one of those ‘of course’ moments. If I told you that the artist, Martin Glover, is deaf and that the piece is called SIGN, you can probably work out that the hands spell out SIGN in the signing alphabet. Clasping the little finger (S), touching the middle finger (a,e,I,o,u), fists G and two fingers on the palm N – three fingers is M.

Martin Glover, Tobacco Factory, Bristol, September 2021, Upfest 21
Martin Glover, Tobacco Factory, Bristol, September 2021, Upfest 21

The piece is therefore not only rather clever and informative, but it is technically very nicely painted, and all around the edge there are hands signing in yellow. I expect the whole thing spells out a message, but I don’t know what it is.

Martin Glover, Tobacco Factory, Bristol, September 2021, Upfest 21
Martin Glover, Tobacco Factory, Bristol, September 2021, Upfest 21

There really is no limit to the creativity that street art offers both the artist and the viewer, and this piece simply proves that. It is a shame that it is tucked away in a corner of the Tobacco Factory car park where not many people will have the chance to see it, but it is worth the effort to seek it out if you are up for it.

3957. Dean Lane skate park (429)

This is another wonderful piece by Flava136 in what has been the latest in a sequence of very welcome visits to Bristol recently. The photograph not only features the outstanding work of the artist, but also a couple of bags of rubbish. Now I am all for people tidying up this grubby corner of the skate park, but not finishing the job by taking the rubbish away and simply abandoning the rubbish bags (spoiling my pictures) is a bit useless really. There are bins not more than 30m away from this spot.

Flava136, Dean Lane, Bristol, September 2021
Flava136, Dean Lane, Bristol, September 2021

The superb work of Flava136 is the most overt writing I have noticed in his work before, such is the cryptic nature of his style. Clearly you can see an F, an L and an A, after that I think that there is a V in the monster’s teeth and an A at the end, with a little H inside it (maybe). Great to look at and so damn neat and tidy (contrasting with the bin bags).

3956. Cumberland Basin

One of the great things about living in Bristol is that it has enormous credibility with street/graffiti artists from all over the country and indeed the world, and so visits from some of the greats are not uncommon. Even so, it was rather a surprise to come across this exceptional piece of floral writing from Curtis Hylton on the long wall at Cumberland Basin a couple of weeks back.

Curtis Hylton, Cumberland Basin, Bristol, September 2021
Curtis Hylton, Cumberland Basin, Bristol, September 2021

I haven’t seen writing like this before, and it is a real privilege to see it right here in Bristol. Spelling out SAME (Curtis writes under the name Samer), the floral patterns and colours blend seamlessly painted on a cosmic cloudy backdrop. Utterly breathtaking work from this super-talented artist.

3955. Dean Lane skate park (428)

I had a great chat with Nightwayss while he was painting this piece, and for a change, the dog wasn’t spooked and sat quietly while we chewed the fat. What I didn’t realise at the time, and I blame my dumbness entirely, was that this piece was being painted as part of PWA paint jam alongside Zake, Face 1st and Soap. Zake was also painting, but Face 1st and Soap were sitting on a slope watching the others paint. Stupid me didn’t recognise them, and although I spoke to them, It has been such a long time since I last saw them and I thought they were strangers. They must have thought I was being very rude not saying hi like I normally would with acquaintances.

Nightwayss, Dean Lane, Bristol, September 2021
Nightwayss, Dean Lane, Bristol, September 2021

Nightwayss has found a rich vein of form at the moment, not only in the frequency with which he has been painting but also with stretching his creativity. In this piece, Nightwayss has written Night in a very stylish anamorphic graffiti style, with some lovely shading. To the left is one of his lovely monkeys, which these days is not a given in every piece he paints. Fine work from a lovely, decent bloke.

3954. Brunel Way (122)

Today I bring you a couple more miniature murals from the king of columns under Brunel Way. Maybe (@maybepaints on Instagram) first appeared on my radar back in April this year, although I think one or two of his earlier pieces had been around for a little while. As time has gone on, not only has Maybe been very productive, but he has also been creative and bold.

Maybe, Brunel Way, Bristol, September 2021
Maybe, Brunel Way, Bristol, September 2021

The first piece in this post is an ice cream kissing faces concept. The idea of two contrasting forces coming together in a yin and yang manner is a gift for Maybe, and he has done a brilliant job achieving a witty and enjoyable spectacle here.

Maybe, Brunel Way, Bristol, September 2021
Maybe, Brunel Way, Bristol, September 2021

On a column not too far away is this square face-off, with four pairs of faces in contrasting colours. Maybe has created a lovely effect which is enhanced with the dark vertical shading down the middle, which provides a little bit of depth to the piece.  All good and so much more to come.

3953. Upfest 2021 75×75 (64)

I think that the first thing I should say at the start of this post is that I know nothing about the artist of this curious piece for Upfest’s 75 walls in 75 days event. Certainly the piece is striking and unusual, and the artist, George J Harding, is more used to painting canvasses than walls, but it all comes together nicely in a rather unconventional way.

George J Harding, Stanley Street, Bristol, September 2021, Upfest 21
George J Harding, Stanley Street, Bristol, September 2021, Upfest 21

I have taken a quick look through George J Harding’s work and although there are a couple of street art pieces on his website, they don’t much look like this. I think he has gone for a creative freestyle approach, and by the look of it, did it quite quickly. It is great to see fine artists hitting our walls though and enjoyable to see the crossover in action.