Jay Sharples, a Manchester-based former graphic designer, produced this magnificent bold piece, which I guess is a gorilla or something similar for Upfest. The simple use of only a few colours and thick black outlines makes for a memorable and eye-catchiing piece.
Jay is a leading figure in the Manchester street art community and has a close involvement with the Wellington House Art Jam events and the Outhouse Project.
I don’t know Hypo, but I’m sure that if I met him, I would like him. I say this because his Upfest profile reads: ‘Local Bedminster painter who really should know better…’ and that’s it. Short and sweet.
Hypo’s piece was one that developed in stages as Upfest progressed, and I would guess that this was due to the rain interruptions. It was good to be able to capture the piece at different times.
I am really rather fond of this piece, but I can’t quite pin down why. The haunting landscape in the letters looks like a window into another dimension. The shading on the letters is really clever and leads the eye to a vanishing point (you can even see the string attached to the VP in the picture above) and the dripping spheres offer a distraction. I can’t help finding my eyes moving over the piece constantly…it is difficult to kow where to settle.
I can’t think that I have knowingly seen any of his work on the streets of Bristol but will keep my eyes and ears open for any news about him.
One of the real gems from Upfest 2017 was this beautiful depiction of Frida Kahlo by the hugely talented artist Alexander Tadlock. Born in California, Tadlock was raised in Mexico which would explain the choice of subject for his Upfest piece.
There is a wonderful short biography of the artist on the ‘Greatest Paka Photography’ Flickr account which provides some background to his education and inspirations.
For me, and many others, this was a truly outstanding piece, for many reasons. Firstly, the artwork is highly accomplished, secondly, the subject of the piece is iconic and captivation and thirdly, the colours are vibrant and draw you to the piece. As I said, outstanding.
I came away from Upfest with a few ‘eyeworms’ (is there such a thing?) and this beauty from Tadlock was one of them.
Looking back a little to July, I came across this weird and wonderful piece from Thelochnessmonster tucked away on the long-term hoardings in Armada Place – a favourite haunt of this particular graffiti artist.
As with all his pieces, there is quite a lot of symbolism, much of which is quite mysterious. I’m not entirely sure what the spheres being held by the monster’s tentacles actually represent, but they are important to the piece as a whole.
Thelochnessmonster has such a distinctive style, and one that is very different from any of the other artists on the Bristol scene. I think the best word to describe his work is ‘organic’, it is a far cry from the highly geometric/designed pieces that we see more frequently in the city. Another interesting piece.
Going back a bit to before Upfest, Laic217 sprayed this unusual and compelling piece on the curved wall. The black and white piece almost looks like a sketch in a book and he has very cleverly and in an understated way added a little bit of pink and blue to the wall in the character’s glasses giving it that 3D out of focus effect, which he has also applied to his signature.
This is a classy piece and stayed a long while on a wall that gets sprayed over quite frequently. I haven’t seen much in the way of new work from Laic217 – maybe he has gone away for a while, or is taking a graffiti holiday…it happens sometimes.
This piece combines the usual elements we expect to find in a Laic piece. He really has carved out a distinctive and respected style over the last two years or so. More old pieces to come.
This is another fine piece of wildstyle writing from Soge on the long wall at Dean Lane. I believe that Soge is a friend and neighbour to Hire, and is another of the Polish contingent of artists that is making a big impression on the Bristol graffiti art scene at the moment.
It is interesting that both Soge and Hire have a style that feels rather gothic and jagged – it is different from most of what you see from the established Bristol artists. This piece is vibrant and colourful and fun too – there is a boar’s head lurking between the S and O.
I expect to see more from Soge – probably at Dean Lane, which seems to be a favoured spot for these artists.
Not long after Upfest was over, and just as the dust was settling, this wonderful piece from Bristol’s Cheo appeared in North Street Green. It is a very strong piece, and in my view, far superior to the Morph characters he produced for Upfest.
In this piece he has sprayed a couple of very cool frogs appearently chewing the fat and puffing away on a cigar and cigarette. It is an incredibly neat and crisp piece and in my view shows Cheo at his absolute best.
I’m not too sure how long this would have taken him, but it looks like he took care with it. Yet another great piece from the master.
What a wonderful bit of creative painting that works towards urban regeneration and cohesion. Three drab utility boxes on the M32 roundabout were recently given a makeover by the Sheffield artist Color.
I met Color when he was spraying some pillars in East Street for Upfest and we had a chat about the work he does with incorporating the surrounding street furniture into his work and transforming the ‘drab’ into the ‘vibrant’ and the social benefits this brings about. I can say with some certainty that these cheese houses and mouse have brought a smile to many faces in an area that can at times be quite intimidating. Upfest work to follow sometime soon…I hope.
On the north steps dropping down into The Bearpit there is this wonderful new piece from Lemak. It is a wheatpaste of a complex multi-layered stencil. I love the original work Lemak is producing at the moment, confining partial images within geometric shapes, with much of the image hidden beyond the confines of the boundaries, leaving much to the imagination.
It is a piece that is in a similar vein to the one he produced for Upfest this year (to follow). I am sure that many busy pedestrians miss this, as they trundle into The Bearpit buried in their thoughts or mobile phones. It is a little bit camouflaged by all the scrawls and tags around it, and only seems to jump out at you once you have spotted it.
Another fine piece from the brilliant Lemak.
Researching this piece has revealed more than I might have expected, which is always most fulfilling. The chimpanzee, so full of expression, was sprayed by Skie One, and the leaves and portrait (to follow) on the right by Nesr both from High Pressure Murals. The discovery was to put names to a piece that I photographed at Upfest 2016, and one which I can post when I do a bit of a catchn up of left-overs from last year.
This is a fine mural (I guess I can safely call it that) and has a stencil-like look about it, although it is freestyled. I am interested by just how many apes and monkeys are painted by street artists, Parrots have a pretty high head-count too. I guess they are groups of animals/birds that are close to us and therefor of interest.
Once again it is great to see the artists at work to see how they create the piece, here it looks like a process of adding layers, maybe in a more conventional fine art way…not that I really have any idea what I’m talking about. I do know I like this piece though.
