Door two.
Bedminster, Bristol.
by Scooj
Tag: UK
1073. Upfest 2017 (79)
There is a pretty strong and obvious message in this morbidly humorous piece by El.Viz. Smoking makes you sick. I used to smoke quite a lot, but it was imagery like this that helped me to kick the habit almost twenty years ago now. Good thing too.
El. Viz is an Irish artist working out of Dublin and is a studio artist as well as taking to the streets. I like the following line from his Upfest biography, because it tells you all you might want to know:
‘Heavily influenced by 80s cartoons and punk rock, he blends lowbrow culture with surreal pop art‘
And there you have it.
1072. Upfest 2017 (78)
I think that this is a bit of a cheeky Upfest piece from Jee See, a Bristol graffiti artist that I have featured on this blog many times before, and one whose work I particularly like. The suggestion that it is a bit cheeky is because I can’t see his name on the artist list for the festival, and this board was erected outside one of the venues, almost as if it was a bit of a teaser.
I am guessing that there were a few ‘no shows’ for the festival and that spare boards were available for some local artists. This is all based on my own assumptions, and as I was once told, to assume things is to make an ‘ass of u and me‘.
Anyhow, I am pleased that Jee See managed to present his work and combine his trademark seismic writing alongside a beautiful portrait…all so very Jee See.
1071. Upfest 2017 (77)
This is what you get when two mischievous artists collaborate, each with their own inimitable style. When Chinagirl Tile and Angus got together at Upfest this year, they produced this rather special piece which arguably was the most controversial of the festival, causing offence to some.
The raccoons are by Chinagirl Tile and the mosaic hand gesture is by Angus. Unfortunately the piece in its original state didn’t last too long at all before it was ‘redacted’ with some black tape.
Not long after that, the hand was completely replaced by yellow tiles, and the piece has really lost something. I will leave you to judge which version of this you prefer. For my part, this work challenges the ‘sanitised’ art you tend to get at festivals by being provocative and edgy, which is where most street art and graffiti art has its roots. Some really interesting perspectives being played out here.
I like the original, but I would wouldn’t I.
Evocative
And when the rains came
the petrichor enveloped
me with nostalgia.
by Scooj
1070. Upfest 2017 (76)
For the second year running I managed to miss (probably by moments) Aspire at work during Upfest. Actually I have not yet met him, and now that he operates out of London, the chances of that happening are rather remote.
Aspire was allocated one of the really nice walls this year and by the time I got there on the Saturday morning, he was finished and his gear was neatly piled up ready to go. I always know with Aspire that he never fails to delight with his brilliant birds and trademark pixellations.
In this piece he features a rather charming male bullfinch in all his finery.
1069. Dean Lane skatepark (81)
A great hold the microphone piece by one of Bristols great writers, Soker. This piece is a little unusual, because Soker usually writes ‘SOKEM’ and I think this is the first picture I have where he has written smething else.
The colours are ones he has used before and he works the gradient between the colours skilfully with a kind of bubble effect, which is repeated in the deep purple background to the piece. I am not too sure what the piece refers to, there may have been an event or something, or maybe it was just for fun.
1068. Moon Street (37)
Moon Street has an ecclectic hotchpotch of tags, throw ups, stencils, tiles, paste ups and pieces, which is probably why I like it so much. Sometimes you have to look quite hard for things and this is a good example of that. This tile by RIP is secured quite high up on a wall, and could be easily missed.
The tile is of a stencil piece of a woman’s face looking like she is from the 1920s or 1930s. Unfortunately there is a bit of light reflection on the tile, but it is a fun piece nonetheless. I think the tile went up around the time of Upfest, when RIP was in town.
1067. Bedminster
Fish and chips, horse and carriage, Morecambe and Wise…these are all things that we are accustomed to seeing together and so it is with Ryder and T-Rex. This is a rather nice little collaboration in Bedminster by these two painting buddies.
The radioactive R on the left is an icon that Ryder uses quite a lot, particularly when he is doing a quick throw-up. This one is a little more elaborate than some I have seen recently.
The dinosaur is obviously by T-Rex, this time opting for a rather fetching lilac colour, which seems to be in vogue at the moment in Bristol. There is something familiar and comforting about a collaboration between these two.
1066. The Bearpit (96)
I have always liked the work of Object… and his unswerving political ideology that cuts through all of his work. In this small piece in The Bearpit his message is clear ‘Plant more, chop less…’.
I am not too sure what the figure in this work represents, it looks a little like an alien to me. However I subscribe to the overall sentiment.
Natural adventures 