Tag: Street art

2600. St Werburghs tunnel (112)

Now a little break fom all that heady Upfest stuff and this great piece of writing from Corupt, who as well as writing ‘Corupt’ also writes ‘Stick’ – don’t ask me wht… he just does.

Corupt, St Werburghs, Bristol, November 2019
Corupt, St Werburghs, Bristol, November 2019

Corupt is one of the unsung heroes of the Brisol graffiti art scene. His work is ubiquitous and he keeps a steady flow of pieces coming year-round, but he is rarely written about or mentioned in passing. I think he keeps himself to himself and paints for the sheer joy of it. This is a lovely sharp clean piece beautifully and thoughtfully constructed.

2599. Upfest 2018 (170)

What an amazing portrait at Upfest 2018 by artist Michel Velt, which was one of two he painted over the course of the festival. His style is really interesting and it almost looks like a felt tip drawing rather than spray paint.

Michel Velt, Upfest, Bristol, July 2018
Michel Velt, Upfest, Bristol, July 2018

Looking at the piece I wonder if it was quite finished, because the orange decoration on the right hand side is missing a little bit of black edging. The whole event was so disrupted by the changeable weather that a number of pieces were abandoned or incompete. It doesn’t matter at all wih this, because it is so beautifully presented. A wonderful piece.

Michel Velt, Upfest, Bristol, July 2018
Michel Velt, Upfest, Bristol, July 2018

2598. Upfest 2018 (169)

Zoe Power has had quite an impact on Natural Adventures recently and this magnificent Upfest 2018 piece reinforces her strong portfolio. I like to call her work mural work as distinct from the broader term street art because although it is street art, it has an element of measure, control and finesse that sets it apart.

Zoe Power, Upfest, Bristol, July 2018
Zoe Power, Upfest, Bristol, July 2018

I didn’t actually find this long wall at the festival itself, but a few days later when I was patrolling the area loooking for hidden extras and gems and in this piece I certainly found one. Zoe Power’s bold work is striking and captivating and her solid fills keep her work clean and stylised. I know that one of her influences is the French artist Matisse, and you can really see it in her work.

Zoe Power, Upfest, Bristol, July 2018
Zoe Power, Upfest, Bristol, July 2018

This is quite a difficult wall to present in all its glory because of its length, so I have only posted a couple of key panels, but I think you get a sense of the whole thing. The mural, I assume, is entitled ‘Deeds not words’, so at this point I’ll put a sock in it.

2597. Upfest 2018 (168)

I have always liked Hannah Adamaszek’s murals and have seen a fair few of them over the years in Bristol. Usually portraits of striking women in soft tones, her work is must unlike anything else we commonly see on the streets of Bristol.

Hanna Adamaszek, Upfest, Bristol, July 2018
Hanna Adamaszek, Upfest, Bristol, July 2018

It was a pity that this particular piece was tucked away on the wall of a beer garden under a rather grubby canopy that rather exaggerated its yellowness. Also Walls such as this are so difficult to look at and photograph, because of all the people sitting in front of them. This is a fine piece slightly impacted by circumstance. She’ll be back though I’m sureb with a better wall to paint.

2596. Upfest 2018 (167)

This extraordinary piece at Upfest 2018 wasn’t actually an official piece, but one of those ‘extras’ that we get in Dean Lane from visiting artists who didn’t get an Upfest pitch. I have tried to find out a little bit about the artist, but haven’t had much success. I found Mowcka’s website, but the ‘About’ section is beautifully lyrical and mysterious, but evasive and I expect that is the whole point.

Mowcka, Upfest, Bristol, July 2018
Mowcka, Upfest, Bristol, July 2018

I am troubled that on this day I managed to get water on my lens and didn’t check it or discover it until I uploaded the photographs. The result is presentationally disappointing, but the artwork magnificent. There is something very ‘mother Earth’ about these characters and a fair amount of symbolism going on too.

2595. Upfest 2018 (166)

The curious thing about Upfest is that one is exposed to so many pieces in the space of such a short time that it can be overwhelming, and my coping mechanism is to take as many pictures as I can so that recall is enhanced when it comes to posting some time after the event.

Hypo, Upfest, Bristol, July 2018
Hypo, Upfest, Bristol, July 2018

This fabulous piece from Bristol-based Hypo passed be by on the day I took this picture. I kind of remember seeing a piece by him, but I didn’t commit it to my deep memory – thank goodness for my archive. This is a clean and sharp piece with interesting and legible letter shapes and that central fill is rather special. Always great to (re)discover work by Hypo.

2594. Upfest 2018 (165)

At Upfest 2018 there were a great many stencil artworks , which was great to see, including this cracker from S.A.S-Art. With a touch of menace and rebellion about it, this piece conjures up struggles with established authority, something of a common occurrence these days.

S.A.S-Art, Upfest, Bristol, July 2018
S.A.S-Art, Upfest, Bristol, July 2018

The stencil looks like a fairly straight forward 3 layers, but what lifts it from the crowd is the background setting which looks like the piece could be set in a war zone sort of thing. A brave and atmospheric piece.

2593. Upfest 2018 (164)

This is the second great stencil I have seen from Random – the first was at Upfest 2017. There are a couple of features that are in common with these two pieces. The first is that they are multilayer greyscale stencils, presented on a black background and the second is that they have a political element to them.

Random, Upfest, Bristol, July 2018
Random, Upfest, Bristol, July 2018

This piece makes reference to the repeal of the 8th Irish amendment which was to remove the constitutional ban on abortion which was signed in to law on 18 September 2018. The piece itself I guess is in some way symbolic, but it is the execution of the technique that is very tidy indeed. A fine work from Random.

Random, Upfest, Bristol, July 2016
Random, Upfest, Bristol, July 2016

2592. Upfest 2018 (163)

I had a horrible panic that I hadn’t taken a picture of this magnificent abstract piece by Paris in its final form, but on thorough inspection of my Upfest archive I found this one. I know it isn’t perfect, but it is virtually impossible to get pictures of this wall without cars parked in front of it. This wall has since been overpainted by Kin Dose and his Summer Editions piece.

Paris, Upfest, Bristol, July 2019
Paris, Upfest, Bristol, July 2019

I did however manage to get plenty of shots of the work in progress and had a nice chat with Paris on the Friday before the crowds gathered. This work is so rich in depth and colour and has something of a cosmic feel to it. The style is quite unique and probably the only other artist I know who does similar cosmic-scapes is Cheba, but they tend to be much more dark space pieces.

Paris, Upfest, Bristol, July 2019
Paris, Upfest, Bristol, July 2019

Because Paris finished the piece quite early, it was one of the few scaffolded walls to be revealed actually during the festival (from recollection). Great to see this lovely and refreshingly different piece by Paris

2591. Upfest 2018 (162)

More from Upfest 2018 with this fine trio of paste up balloons by D7606, each one with a face of Twiggy on them. D7606 pasted up 10 of these balloons (complete with string) to celebrate the tenth anniversary of Upfest.

D7606, Upfest, Bristol, July 2019
D7606, Upfest, Bristol, July 2019

I have a feeling that they are still intact after almost eighteen months, probably because they were secured high up and out of the reach. These three take my total posted up to six. Did I find them all? Actually I’m not sure, as I still have so many pictures in my Upfest folder yet to post. Keep watching this space. Always a pleasure to find D7606’s work.