Tag: Unicorn

6294. Upfest 2024 (49)

Ejits, Upfest 2024, Greville Smyth Park, Bristol, May 2024
Ejits, Upfest 2024, Greville Smyth Park, Bristol, May 2024

A few weeks after Ejits painted this piece for Upfest, I was fortunate enough to meet her while she was painting a larger wall at the Cheltenham Paint Festival. She told me a little bit about her style and that she uses brushes for her work, because although she uses spray paint, her can control is not up to it for fine detail.

Ejits, Upfest 2024, Greville Smyth Park, Bristol, May 2024
Ejits, Upfest 2024, Greville Smyth Park, Bristol, May 2024

This is the second farting character piece I have posted in a matter of days, the other one was by Pl8o, this one however is a farting unicorn, farting rainbows, as they do. I have a feeling that Beep Monkey painted a rainbow-farting unicorn a few years ago. Obviously it is a thing. Ejits has painted this beautifully over a challenging wall with plenty of different textures to contend with. Neat, tidy, fun and cute… nice work all round.

Beep Monkey, Upfest, Bristol, July 2017
Beep Monkey, Upfest, Bristol, July 2017

2433. Upfest 2018 (155)

I do like pieces that are black and white with one additional colour, there is something about them that helps to focus the eye and grab the attention. Such a piece can be fussy without being confusing. This Upfest 2018 piece by Wietse is a great example of this colour genre.

Wietse, Upfest, Bristol, July 2018
Wietse, Upfest, Bristol, July 2018

The globe-trotting artist was born in Bruges, Belgium is inspired by History, nature and travelling. Here he has painted (with brushes) a unicorn being attached, I think, by what looks like a pair of panthers. It is the kind of scene that would lend itself very nicely to illustrate the politics of the UK right now. It is in your face, beautiful, savage and feels like quite an outspoken piece. Whatever the narrative, I do rather like it.

1692. Dean Lane skate park (157)

One of the many spin-off benefits of Upfest is that for some days before and for some days after the festival artists from beyond Bristol leave behind some little extras or souvenirs of their visit. This is one such treat by Katrina Kolk. I actually found out about the artist while researching the Feek post immediately before this one and reading the Dean Lane facebook page which had some images of Katrina Kolk working on this piece.

Katrina Kolk, Dean Lane, Bristol, August 2018
Katrina Kolk, Dean Lane, Bristol, August 2018

Katrina Kolk is an Estonian artist who trained at the Tartu Art College and she has a WordPress website which includes a short biography and some of her work. This piece features a unicorn set on a patchwork of colour and abstract shapes. Being on a skate ramp, it is not the easiest to photograph, but her style comes across loud and clear. There is something joyful and free about this piece (and not just because it has a unicorn) which stands out in the skate park. Something fresh and different.

1688. Upfest 2018 (28)

This piece has been a little bit of a puzzle for me, probably because my grasp of contemporary culture falls a little short from time to time. The work is by Fetch, who started out as a stencil artist a few years back, and his half-brother Leeks78.

Fetch, Upfest, Bristol, July 2018
Fetch, Upfest, Bristol, July 2018

The piece depicts a character from the graphic novel ‘Happy’ by Grant Morrison and Darick Robertson. The story has now been made into a TV series first aired on the Syfy channel – I might just have to go and check it out.

The piece appears to be a faithful reproduction of the imaginary unicorn character from the series. I wish I had known all of this when I first saw the piece, as the context might have allowed me to enjoy it more than I did at the time.

 

 

1009. Upfest 2017 (47)

Life can be funny sometimes, and every now and again we are surprised.

Last year I wrote a post about a lovely piece by Beep Monkey at the Ashton Gate School site, and until the Summer, I had heard nothing more about the artist. Then, during a casual chat at work with one of my colleagues (of several years) we meandered onto the subject of street art. She was not aware that I blogged about street art in Bristol and I most certainly didn’t know that her husband was Beep Monkey. Curious how we navigate our way through life, and then occasionally have these serendipitous moments.

Beep Monkey, Upfest, Bristol, July 2017
Beep Monkey, Upfest, Bristol, July 2017

So armed with new insight into Beep Monkey, I was able to seek out his piece in North Street Green and understand a little bit about what inspired it. I believe that his daughters might have given him a rather big steer for this piece – a prancing pink unicorn being the central character.

Beep Monkey, Upfest, Bristol, July 2017
Beep Monkey, Upfest, Bristol, July 2017

Of course, there is a slightly subversive element to this piece, again, I think a steer from children, which is that the unicorn is indeed farting a rainbow – but of course, didn’t you know that that is what pink unicorn farts look like?

Beep Monkey, Upfest, Bristol, July 2017
Beep Monkey, Upfest, Bristol, July 2017

The Unicorn might have been the ‘commissioned’ element, but I am rather more attracted to the yellow character riding on its back and which was in last year’s piece. Is this the Beep Monkey? Fine stuff once again, and who knows, if he is here for Upfest 2018, I might just get even more insight.

390. Upfest 2016 (34)

There are some artists who are quite unique, because of their style, subject matter or materials. Shok 1 is one such artist. I don’t know if anyone else does what he does, or at least with so much skill.

Shok 1, Upfest, North Street, Bristol, July 2016
Shok 1, Upfest, North Street, Bristol, July 2016

Shok 1 is a British artist who specialises in X-ray images. Watching him work was amazing. He uses a small image for reference, and then sprays out every detail on a large wall. His attention to detail is just exceptional. I watched him ‘mist’ an area on the bottom right of the piece, and over five minutes he must have sprayed the same spot twenty times, with different densities of spray.

Shok 1, Upfest, North Street, Bristol, July 2016
Shok 1, Upfest, North Street, Bristol, July 2016
Shok 1, Upfest, North Street, Bristol, July 2016
Shok 1, Upfest, North Street, Bristol, July 2016

I don’t know where he got the X-ray of the unicorn from, but it must be a pretty rare thing.

Shok 1, Upfest, North Street, Bristol, July 2016
Shok 1, Upfest, North Street, Bristol, July 2016

Shok 1 was a lead artist at Upfest and quite deservedly so. It is amazing to have one of his pieces in Bristol as I don’t recall seeing one here before. I hope he returns next year, or sooner. Almost pure perfection.