Tag: Street art

1040. Upfest 2017 (63)

Anyone who was at Upfest 2016 would have been utterly charmed by the incredible tree frogs by JXC. It was one of my favourite pieces from last year, and I wrote about it here.

JXC, Upfest, Bristol July 2016
JXC, Upfest, Bristol July 2016

This year he was afforded a larger wall, one that Voyder wrote ‘Bristol’ on last time round. Instead of tree frogs, JXC treated us to an extraordinary seascape with a rather intimidating octopus in the foreground and some naval mines in the background.

JXC, Upfest, Bristol, July 2017
JXC, Upfest, Bristol, July 2017

This was another of the pieces that probably took longer to create than might have been expected, due to the constant rain interruptions over the three days of the festival.

JXC, Upfest, Bristol, July 2017
JXC, Upfest, Bristol, July 2017

The mouth on the side of the octopus isn’t the octopuss’s beak, rather is it a shark mouth inked onto its side. JXC’s work is heavily inkled with words and drawings that resemble tattoos, creating an interesting effect o the surface texture of the subject.

JXC, Upfest, Bristol, July 2017
JXC, Upfest, Bristol, July 2017

There is a story going on in this piece which is a little tricky to decypher. The words ‘Just Lie’ appear under the shark but I’m not sure what that refers to. Nice to see a smiley on the bomb – some ironic commentary there?

1039. Upfest 2017 (62)

Upfest always has a knack of introducing you to something just that little bit different, and for me this year, the most interesting finds were several sculptures dotted around the place by Will Coles.

Will Coles is a sculptor born in Warwickshire but who has spent time in Suffolk, as a child and in London and Glasgow, before moving to Sydney, Australia. He has now returned and is living somewhere in Europe (his own words).

Will Coles, Upfest, Bristol, July 2017
Will Coles, Upfest, Bristol, July 2017

His street work, judging by his website, is eyecatching to say the least. He has a subversive streak and takes a long look at modern culture upon which his works offer an interesting commentry. This particular piece may make the viewer uneasy on several levels. Add together the images and messages with the tarnished brass plaque appearance of the piece and you have a classy piece, which will shock. Because of its location and ‘part of the street funrnitue’ appearance, many who came to Upfest will have totally missed the piece.

Will Coles, Upfest, Bristol, July 2017
Will Coles, Upfest, Bristol, July 2017

Luckily he did another one in Blue, just in case you missed the first one.

Serendipitously, I found another of his pieces in Bristol this afternoon, and didn’t know it was by him until I started a little research to write this post. Funny how things like that happen.

Will Coles, Upfest, Bristol, July 2017
Will Coles, Upfest, Bristol, July 2017

I definitely like his work, and will keep my eyes peeled to see what else he left behind in Bristol after Upfest.

 

 

1038. Upfest 2017 (61)

This bright piece is by Cheltenham-based K8TB or Katy Barnfield. K8TB specialises in working with carbon fibre to produce her artworks. Together with Terry Barnfield, she works on carbon fibre commissions from their website.

K8TB, Upfest, Bristol, July 2017
K8TB, Upfest, Bristol, July 2017
K8TB volunteers for the Stop Bullying Project in Cheltenham and she does this with artist Lee Crew. Together they raise awareness of bullying and organise hundreds of artists from all over the world to personalise standard issue school exercise books. What is not clear to me is whether this was a collaboration between the two or just K8TB alone.

1037. The Bearpit (92)

Long, long before I knew who sprayed this rabbit, I knew that I liked it and hoped to meet the artist some day. Well I still like the rabbit and all the other ones I have found since, and the artist is of course Hire, who I have encountered several times now, mostly at Dean Lane skate park.

Hire, The Bearpit, Bristol, April 2016
Hire, The Bearpit, Bristol, April 2016

This is a particularly nice rendition of his favourite theme, which includes some decorative wildstyle writing. I can make out an ‘H’, but am not sure what the other letter(s) is…maybe an I. Anyhow, this is a lovely piece from eighteen months ago.

 

 

1036. M32 roundabout J3 (48)

Another quite old one from the archive, this time from Soker. You can see that this was sprayed on an outing with Deamze, on the left and Voyder on the right, all using the same colour palette.

Soker, M32 roundabout, Bristol, March 2016
Soker, M32 roundabout, Bristol, March 2016

This is nice crisp writing from Soker, and really didn’t deserve to be in my archive for so long. Well it is out there now.

1035. The Bearpit (91)

Another picture long-lost in my archives and by an artist I have not come across before or since. This striking skull down in The Bearpit is by Wires, whose Instagram profile reads – ‘designer | artist | illustrator | flash painter | skateboarder | Bristol’. I don’t think he takes to the walls too often, which is a pity, as his style is rather unique and interesting.

Wires, The Bearpit, Bristol, February 2016
Wires, The Bearpit, Bristol, February 2016

The piece has a Tattoo design quality about it, even the colours are reminiscent of the shades of the inks used. It would be great to see more of his work in Bristol, but I think I’ll have to keep my eyes peeled.

1034. Dean Lane skate park (78)

I think I originally archived this one before I had become familiar with the work of either of these artists. The picture, from January 2016, was taken on one of my earlier and infrequent (at that time) sorties south of the river.

Sled One and Smak, Dean Lane, Bristol, January 2016
Sled One and Smak, Dean Lane, Bristol, January 2016

I like this collaboration between Sled One and Smak, but it is a partnership that I don’t recall seeing too often. The unusual colour palette is shared by both the artists and works well across the whole wall. Obviously I like the Sled One writing, he can do little wrong in my eyes.

Smak, Dean Lane, Bristol, January 2016
Smak, Dean Lane, Bristol, January 2016

The Smak piece is interesting in that I suspect it is the first of his pieces that I consciously photographed, even though I was not familiar with the artist. I also noticed that I didn’t do a very good job, cropping the edges off either side. I am becoming more familiar with Smak’s work and like what I see. For some unknown reason I was a late adopter with his work.

1033. Jamaica Street (12)

I am spending a little time trawling through my archives and posting some pictures that I always intended to post, but just never got round to. It is one of the major problems with writing about street art…there is always too much to cover. Even writing two posts a day only really scratches the surface.

Sweet Toof, Jamaica Street, Bristol, January 2016
Sweet Toof, Jamaica Street, Bristol, January 2016

This piece by Sweet Toof has been on the high wall by the PRSC outdoor gallery for years – even when I took the picture it was long in the tooth (pun intended). His style is one of the most distinctive of all, and I strongly recommend that you take a look at his Instagram feed which is just brilliant and always entertaining. Sweet Toof is based in London, but seems to spend a lot of time in mainland Europe, he even has his own Wikipedia entry.

1032. Upfest 2017 (60)

I chalk up my sixtieth post from Upfest 2017 with this beautiful design from, Mary Rouncefield, a local Bristol-based artist who is building up a body of work concerned with human rights issues.

Mary Rouncefield, Upfest, Bristol, July 2017
Mary Rouncefield, Upfest, Bristol, July 2017

The symmetrical central patterns in white are decorated with simple leaves and four bright red humming birds, all set on a black background. I am not sure, but I would guess that there is a lot of symbolism going on here. It is certainly an unusual and striking piece. The artist’s biography notres continue:

‘Exhibitions in the past year have included ‘Alienation’ with Art Number 23 at galleries in New York, Philadelphia and London. I was very pleased to have been awarded Highly Commended by Red Line Art Works, for my art work commenting on the growing prevalence of firearms worldwide in crimes of violence against children attending school. Alongside this though, I have been experimenting with spray paint and produced ‘a series of canvases with a tropical theme.’

I think this piece s one of those with a tropical theme.

1031. Upfest 2017 (59)

Another set of three paste ups from the prolific Jimzina at Upfest this year. The first was the largest I saw and was A2 size roughly. The girl in glasses, clutching a ring doughnut can still be found on North Street just by the hoardings near the Standard.

Jimzina, Upfest, Bristol, July 2017
Jimzina, Upfest, Bristol, July 2017

All of Jimzina’s pieces carried the same theme, a young lady presented on the front of a menu or drinks list – very distinctive. The next one looks rather different to most of them, in that the girl doesn’t have black hair, instead she is wearing a pink flower to go with her pink lips.

Jimzina, Upfest, Bristol, July 2017
Jimzina, Upfest, Bristol, July 2017

The final one of these three looks a bit like what I would call ‘saucy-sophisticated’. Is that too much of a label seen through the lens of a middle-aged man?

More from this wheatpaster to come.

 

Jimzina, Upfest, Bristol, July 2017
Jimzina, Upfest, Bristol, July 2017