Tag: Upfest

3769. Upfest 2021 75×75 (6)

Oh my goodness! There are some pieces that you look at and, well, they simply take your breath away. For me, this is one of those pieces. Painted for Upfest’s 75 walls in 75 days event, this astonishing collaboration from Mishfit and Mazcan simply blew me away, and I look at now as I am writing and wonder at its magnificence.

Mishfit, King William Street, Bristol, June 2021, Upfest 21
Mishfit, King William Street, Bristol, June 2021, Upfest 21

These two portraits work so incredibly well together and are perfect for the space vacated by Caro Pepe and AgeAge. To the left is a stunning portrait from Mishfit painted with incredible graded skin tones and a beautiful headdress, the colours of which are reflected in a cloud to the right of the subject. I haven’t seen any of Mishfit’s work before, but what an introduction.

Mazcan, King William Street, Bristol, June 2021, Upfest 21
Mazcan, King William Street, Bristol, June 2021, Upfest 21

Mazcan on the other hand has visited Upfest on a couple of occasions, but this piece is definitely a step up from before, and I think she must have been practising. This blue face has quite a lot of attitude and there is so much depth and bone structure created with clever use of shading. The red streaks in the hair add so much to the depth and contrast of the piece too.

Mishfit and Mazcan, King William Street, Bristol, June 2021, Upfest 21
Mishfit and Mazcan, King William Street, Bristol, June 2021, Upfest 21

Genuinely, this is a bloody brilliant collaboration and will definitely stick in my memory for a long, long time.

3761. Upfest 2021 75×75 (5)

Five down, and only another 70 to go. Upfest have absolutely nailed the festival in this most extraordinary of years by spreading the painting over a long period and thus avoiding the huge crowds that normally attend the long-weekend event. This piece by Hannah Edwards is on North Street, not too far away from the Upfest shop.

Hannah Edwards, North Street, Bristol, June 2021, Upfest 21
Hannah Edwards, North Street, Bristol, June 2021, Upfest 21

Hannah Edwards is an illustrator/window painter/mural artist/signwriter from Bristol, but I am not familiar with her work, so it is great to see this piece. The style is reminiscent of those GWR posters from the thirties and has a wonderful sense of motion. Unusual and fun, and yet another new artist for Natural Adventures.

3758. Upfest 2021 75×75 (4)

With this year’s Upfest being spread over 75 days on 75 different walls, it is quite a challenge to know what is being painted where and by whom. On the upside, you get to meet a lot of artists while they are working, but on the downside, there are some pieces that go under the radar and are quite easy to miss. The watch word here is vigilance combined with keeping your ear to the ground.

Kleiner Shames, Argus Road, Bristol, June 2021, Upfest 21
Kleiner Shames, Argus Road, Bristol, June 2021, Upfest 21

I found this outstanding mural by Bristol old-boy Kleiner Shames while looking for another piece nearby, and what a surprise. One of my absolute favourites so far. I actually have a couple of Kleiner Shames originals hanging up in my home which I bought from before he moved to London and I have a hugh soft spot for his work. Many of his pieces used to spell out FOIS, but I’m not sure if I can see it in this one but I do think there is writing in there somewhere. The shapes, colours and overall design are magnificent, and remind me of what we are missing since he moved away. Bravo!

3748. Upfest 2021 75×75 (3)

I have a feeling that this was the first of this year’s Upfest 75×75 pieces (75 walls painted in 75 days in lieu of a full blow street festival over a long weekend) and is by the magnificent artist Will Barras who is no stranger to Upfest.

Will Barras, St Francis Road, Bristol, May 2021, Upfest 21
Will Barras, St Francis Road, Bristol, May 2021, Upfest 21

There is a lot to love about this piece, in particular the local references to rock climbing, spray-painting and of course the moonlit Clifton suspension bridge. The night scene is painted very cleverly in muted colours to give it that dusk or nighttime feeling which works so well, and the mural seems to suck the light away from its surroundings.

Will Barras, St Francis Road, Bristol, May 2021, Upfest 21
Will Barras, St Francis Road, Bristol, May 2021, Upfest 21

The perspectives and energy of the cyclist seem to create a sense of energy and movement. There is a lot of dynamism in the piece, in spite of its dark tones. Replacing the Caro Pepe piece that existed here before was always going to be a big ask, but Will Barras has risen to the challenge and given us something unusual and rather special.

3746. Upfest 2021 75×75 (2)

Adding to the challenge of keeping up with the turnover of street art in Bristol has been the recent unveiling of Upfest’s 75 new walls painted in 75 days. Not only is this a huge undertaking by Upfest, in what has been a very disrupted two years, but is a major challenge for me to keep up with. At the time of writing I have seen about eight or nine new pieces with several more on the go.

Mr Penfold, Church Road, Bristol, June 2021, Upfest 2021
Mr Penfold, Church Road, Bristol, June 2021, Upfest 2021

Any regular readers will probably recognise this massive mural as being by Bristol artist and designer Mr Penfold. In this piece he has gone large, but that rather suits his style of big bold designs and colours.

Mr Penfold, Church Road, Bristol, June 2021, Upfest 2021
Mr Penfold, Church Road, Bristol, June 2021, Upfest 2021

This particular wall is one that has hosted some amazing pieces and this is yet another one in that series. I have to say that this one went under my radar and I didn’t know that Mr Penfold had painted it until he posted it on Instagram, hence no WIP shots.

Mr Penfold, Church Road, Bristol, June 2021, Upfest 2021
Mr Penfold, Church Road, Bristol, June 2021, Upfest 2021

Although a stunning feature wall for Upfest, it is one of the trickier ones to photograph, especially in summer when the tree is in full leaf. It is always great to see new Mr Penfold pieces and this one is a real beauty.

3727. Upfest 2021 75×75 (1)

In Bristol, one of the most anticipated festivals each year is Upfest, where much of Bedminster turns its attention to a celebration of street art over a long weekend. Upfest is the largest festival of its kind in Europe and attracts artists from all over the globe as well as many closer to home. The last festival was held in 2018. In 2019, the Upfest organisers, Steve and Emma, decided to have a gap year to give all the people involved in the festival a break and prepare for 2020. We all know what happened next…

This year Upfest are hoping to hold a live event in Greville Smyth Park in August, but this looks to be in jeopardy because of the continued likelihood of restrictions due to the Delta variant of COVID-19. However, Upfest have also instigated another initiative called 75 walls in 75 days, which starting on 15 May aims to complete 75 walls by 75 different artists, thus spreading the activity and keeping it appropriately coronavirus-friendly. Although this piece by JXC is not the first to be completed, it is the first that I am posting.

JXC, Greville Road, Bristol, May 2021
JXC, Greville Road, Bristol, May 2021

JXC is an outstanding artist whose mastery of the spray can is legendary and his ability to create such fine detail is his trademark. This piece of a fly and his block capital letters and with dents smashed in the wall is absolutely outstanding, and it is difficult to know how he manages to do it. This is real high-end street art at its very best. World-class.

JXC, Greville Road, Bristol, May 2021
JXC, Greville Road, Bristol, May 2021

This piece shows not only the incredible skill of the artist, but the willingness of the very best in the game to come to Bristol and participate in Upfest. Look out for more of the 75 over the summer.

3656. North Street

This wonderful and rather large mural is by Ejits, a Bristol artist and is the fifth instalment of the ‘six sisters’ shop facades opposite North Street Green. Orchestrated by Upfest and Bedminster BID, each of these beauties is painted by a local female artist, showcasing the wealth and breadth of street art in Bristol.

Ejits, North Street, Bristol, April 2021
Ejits, North Street, Bristol, April 2021

The piece is painted not with spray cans, but more traditionally with paints and brushes and features Ejits which Emily (the artist’s real name) describes as ‘a curious and playful bunch of illustrated characters created to brighten up and bring joy to your world’. Well mark this down as an outright success straight away. I will confess at this stage that I didn’t know about the artist before she painted this, but now that she is on my radar, I’ll look out for her studio work and any walls she might be decorating.

Zoe Power, Gemma Compton, Sophie Long and Ejits, North Street, Bristol, April 2021
Zoe Power, Gemma Compton, Sophie Long and Ejits, North Street, Bristol, April 2021

It is probably best to finish off with Emily’s own words about the piece which she calls ‘Rumpus’, taken from her beautiful website:

‘After a long year of lockdowns, I felt it was important to bring something colourful and joyful to this piece of public art. I took inspiration from Where the Wild Things are and Keith Haring to create something with a lot of movement and energy. That’s why the title of this piece is Rumpus!

The Six Sisters are hyped to be the largest mural project in the UK designed and painted by female street artists.

It sits in a prominent and popular part of the city on North Street Bedminster and also features murals by Bex Glover, Zoe Power, Gemma Compton and Sophie Long. Lucas Antics will be the sixth and final artist to add her mural to the line-up.‘

Thursday doors – 30 July 2020

Doors 117 – back to the old graffiti doors from my archives

Wow, a really busy week for me with the rest of my team all away on their hols and only me to man the fort. So a quick rummage around in my archives it will have to be this week.

Dabuten Tronko, High Street, Bristol, July 2018
Dabuten Tronko, High Street, Bristol, July 2018

John D'oh, North Street, Bristol, July 2018
John D’oh, North Street, Bristol, July 2018

Nevergiveup, Moon Street, Bristol, June 2018
Nevergiveup, Moon Street, Bristol, June 2018

Laic217, Moon Street, Bristol, August 2018
Laic217, Moon Street, Bristol, August 2018

Nol, Upfest, Bristol, July 2018
Nol, Upfest, Bristol, July 2018

Annatomix, Upfest, Bristol, July 2018
Annatomix, Upfest, Bristol, July 2018

qWeRT, Stokes Croft, Bristol, July 2018
qWeRT, Stokes Croft, Bristol, July 2018

Andrew Burns Colwill, Westbury Hill, Bristol, August 2018
Andrew Burns Colwill, Westbury Hill, Bristol, August 2018

OK, so it’s not a door, but I figured that this trompe loeil window by Andrew Burns Colwill was worth including.

Silk Crystal street art, Upfest, Bristol, July 2018
Silk Crystal street art, Upfest, Bristol, July 2018

Gretl, Upfest, Bristol, July 2018
Gretl, Upfest, Bristol, July 2018

Louis Masai, Upfest, Bristol, July 2018
Louis Masai, Upfest, Bristol, July 2018

Louis Masai, Upfest, Bristol, July 2018
Louis Masai, Upfest, Bristol, July 2018

Piet Rodriguez, Upfest, Bristol, July 2018
Piet Rodriguez, Upfest, Bristol, July 2018

Another week gone in this crazy and unsettling time. In the UK we are due to have a few decent days of sunshine which always brings about a collective improvement in mood. May I wish you all a great week ahead.

If you have made it this far, you probably like doors and you really ought to take a look at the Norm 2.0 blog – the originator of Thursday Doors where there are links to yet more doors in the comments section at the end.

 

by Scooj

Thursday doors – 21 May 2019

Doors 107 – even more archive street/graffiti art doors.

You know the drill. Even though I have been out and about a bit and have photographed quite a few doors lately, I haven’t yet had time to upload them on to my PC – so until such time as I get myself a little bit more organised, you might have top make do with yet another seelection of doors from my street art archive.

I am pleased to note that readers apppear to have enjoyed these galleries when I have posted them, which gives me the courage to continue with them when I need to.

These ones were photographed from September 2015 through to December 2016.

Rob Wass, Raleigh Road, Bristol, September 2015
Rob Wass, Raleigh Road, Bristol, September 2015

The pictures above and below are the same wall painted for two different Upfest events.

Karl Read, Raleigh Road, Upfest, Bristol, July 2016
Karl Read, Raleigh Road, Upfest, Bristol, July 2016

Unify, Hoxton Square, London, August 2016
Unify, Hoxton Square, London, August 2016

Stik, Grimsby Street, London, August 2016
Stik, Grimsby Street, London, August 2016

DNT? Wolseley Road, Bristol, February 2016
DNT? Wolseley Road, Bristol, February 2016

Sokar Uno, Upfest, Bristol, July 2016
Sokar Uno, Upfest, Bristol, July 2016

Alex Lucas, York Road, Bristol, December 2016
Alex Lucas, York Road, Bristol, December 2016

Thierry Noir, Rivington Street, London, August 2016
Thierry Noir, Rivington Street, London, August 2016

So that just about wraps it up for another week, I hope you have enjoyed these doors. I hope I can back to some more contemporary photographs next week, we’ll just have to see how that goes.

If you have made it this far, you probably like doors and you really ought to take a look at the Norm 2.0 blog – the originator of Thursday Doors where there are links to yet more doors in the comments section at the end.

 

by Scooj

2897. Bedminster

I don’t quite remember exactly the name of the road that this stunning Feoflip piece is in, but it is in Bedminster off East Street I think. Just one of the amazing legacy of works left behind by the artist during and after Upfest 2016. I like everything about this artist – his style and soft colour choices, his attention to finding the right spot and his adventurous spirit.

Feoflip, Bedminster, Bristol, July 2017
Feoflip, Bedminster, Bristol, July 2017

This Picassoesque face in grey shades on the mustard yellow background works perfectly on the red brick wall. Feoflip seems to have developed a technique that generates splatty thin lines that create the detail in his work and give it a really interesting texture. Unlike any other artist I have seen, Feoflip’s unique style works really well for me. I do hope he returns to Bristol before too long.