One of my favourite streets and one of my favourite artists – the perfect match. This is a lovely piece by Face F1st, who is probably one of Bristol’s most consistently prolific artists on the street at the moment.
This is a large work, with all his characteristic swirls and figure of eights worked into a pattern and the letters FACE book-ending the face in the middle. Sadly this fine work lasted less than a week.
I always like finding Elvs pieces, there is something about how intricate and so very clean about them. Fantastic detailing and sharpness that so many pieces I see every day just don’t have. One of the features that helps his work stand out, is that his vanishing point for the shaded edges of the letters is somewhere in the middle of the piece, whereas much of the writing you see has a vanishing point to one side or the other. Small thing I know, but these things help give artists their uniqueness.
As ever his lettering is outstanding and the colours really stand out on the blue background. I get the impression that his work probabkly takes quite some time to do, no sign of a quick throw up mentality here. I have not yet med Elvs, but would sure like to se him at work.
I don’t go to this spot often, but just happened to be picking up my daughter and a friend from Horfield Sports Centre and had five minutes to kill. I took a short walk around the perimeter of the skate park, in the melting snow, and was pretty happy to find this writing from Rusk.
Most of the stuff here is pretty elementary and it is a bit of a practice wall, so it is always nice to see something a bit more polished from an established graffiti writer. The class of this piece stands out, and even on a wall that not many will see, Rusk has taken his time to produce something of quality. A nice March surprise.
I recently took a few work colleagues on a guided street art tour to Bedminster as part of an organisational event designed to share skills, learn more about the work we do and to get to know each other better and the city we live in as part of a wellbeing initiative. The tour was very oversubscribed, and I may have to run some more. It was something of a success and all the participants told me that they had really enjoyed it.
What luck it was then that we came across one of Bristol’s most well known street artists at work, just finishing off a new work as part of his nomination as Upfest artist of the month for March in the build up to Upfest 2018, Andy Council.
His style and presentation should come as no surprise to regular readers of this blog. He has created a wonderful dinosaur, a stegosaurus type I think, which is composed of architectural features, including the Clifton Suspension Bridge on the head of the beast. I stopped for a quick chat with Andy, but it was the coldest day of the year so far and I felt I needed to keep the tour moving. It was nice to be able to show people an artist at work, and even better that it was Andy Council.
The boards erected in South Street Park played host to some of the very best work at Upfest 2017, and this piece by Krimsone and Scott Nagy was right up there with the very best. This amazing collaboration shows street art storytelling at its very best.
The magical story unfolding here is of a young child in bed, and a bedroom that is transforming into a dream-like fantasy world, and his bed is in fact a little boat. The whole image has the look of an illustration from a children’s book.
Both artists are from Australia, and if it weren’t for Upfest, how on earth would I ever get to see their amazing work? Such is the draw of the festival that artists from all over the world make the journey to Bedminster. I sometimes wonder if Bristolians know how lucky they are.
This is such a skillfully painted piece, such a shame that it was only temporary.
Just across the road from South Street Park in a school yard the fabulous combination of Paul Monsters and Loch Ness were busy at work. I’m not sure that many people got to see the final piece, which had been slow to finish due to the weather combined with the fact that after Upfest, access to the school yard has been restricted.
Two fine bristol artists who use bright colours in their work, but with very different styles. Paul Monsters works with geometric patterns creating 3D shapes and shadows that draw the eye in to examine in detail what is happening.
Loch Ness, who also uses lots of colour in his work tends to spray monsters or animals with pieces that tell a story.
The whole piece is a major asset for the pupils of the school, who probably don’t appreciate how lucky they are to have such a beautiful piece adorning this playground building. I got lucky, and managed to take these pictures when the gates were opened for the contractors to remove a cherry picker (which had been used by Nol in the same yard).
Angus was a very busy fellow at Upfest last year. Not only did he create this magnificent mosaic, but he also found time to collaborate with Chinagirl Tile and also lay down several other mosaics dotted about the place. Added to all of that business, he still had time to schmooze and chat with visitors over the two days.
This piece will be familiar to anyone who has played Street Fighter – I do not count myself amongst this happy crew – specifically it is move called ‘hadouken’…now go and consider yourself educated. Writing about street art really does take you on many new discoveries, tapping into the popular culture that influences the artists.
More from Angus to follow at some point.
The very first post I wrote from Upfest 2017 was this piece by Apset and Ionas, a couple of Greek artists who had arrived in Bristol but had not been allocated a wall. The sprayed a wall in Dean Lane skate park, but then got very lucky and managed to find a hoarding in South Street Park where they produced this fine piece.
Both of their Upfest works incorporated an animal paired with a portrait. I think that the animals are by Ionas and portraits by Apset. Both works are great collaborations and something a bit different.
I hope that they are coming back this year, and that if they do, that they get allocated a spot, without having to agonise too much. A much needed little ray of Thessaloniki sunshine at a damp Bristol Upfest.
Really, this is one of my favourite pieces from the whole of Upfest 2017, not only because of the quality of work, but because of the cheerful resilience of the artists in persevering with their work in spite if the inclement weather.
A fine collaboration between N4T4 and Philth which really brightened up the walk between North Street and Ashton Gate.
These two artists have painted together at the last three Upfests, and although not a true collaboration, their pieces complement each other perfectly.
I walked past these two a few times, and took my favourite picture of the festival (above) of them cheerfully painting in the rain. Such dedication.
The N4T4 piece on the left is a wonderful example of his portrait style, incorporating colours and shapes which combine to make the whole. A blast of exquisite colour and a stunning face.
Contrast this then with the grey scale portrait by Philth on the right. He is as well known for his floral designs as he is for his portraits and this piece is overflowing with flowers that lift the piece to another level.
i absolutely love this wall. Beautiful.
This is the second stunning piece from Oze Arv that was painted in The Bearpit after Upfest 2017 and is at the end of the tunnel opposite his other piece there (see previous post).
Seeing both of these beautiful works by this talented artist was a real treat, and something quite special for The Bearpit, which at times can look a bit tatty and drab. In this piece Oze Arv once again combines his wildlife study with an abstract context – all very seductive and compelling.
For me this really is a great example of free art (of a very high standard) for the people of Bristol. Oze Arv selflessly painting two superb works, probably because he just loves to spray, and leaving a legacy of uplifting optimism. Free art for the people – it doesn’t get much better than that.
Natural adventures 