Tag: Upfest

1712. Upfest 2018 (37)

John Curtis is a well-known Bristol artist who specialises in urban landscapes and whose work is recognisable from his use of colours and long lines. I have only seen studio pieces by this artist before, so it was interesting to see how his work translated to a large wall. If I am honest it is exactly the same, only bigger. Brilliant really.

John Curtis, Upfest, Bristol, July 2018
John Curtis, Upfest, Bristol, July 2018

I think that this is a picture of Park Street in Bristol looking up at the Wills Memorial building up on the right hand side, although it might be somewhere else altogether. I love the night-time atmosphere that is brought to life in this piece. Highly accomplished and highly recommended to look at in the flesh It is in the passage way into the courtyard of the Steam Crane pub at the end of North Street.

1711. Upfest 2018 (36)

There is a very clear message in this excellent piece by Sophie Long, ‘save the bees’, a most noble message and one that most sensible people can subscribe to. It is common knowledge that globally and locally we are losing our pollinators at an alarming rate and most of the decline is due to pesticides because…guess what…they are designed to kill insects. A classic case of throwing the baby out with the bathwater.

Sophie Long, Upfest, Bristol, July 2018
Sophie Long, Upfest, Bristol, July 2018

There is a nice interview with the artist on the excellent Auntie G website which I can recommend – it is only a couple of minutes long, but it is nice to see the artist explain her work.

Sophie Long, Upfest, Bristol, July 2018
Sophie Long, Upfest, Bristol, July 2018

Now onto the artwork itself. I am definitely a fan of Sophie’s work and have featured several pieces in Natural Adventures in the past. Her studies of wildlife are magnificent and her rather etherial style gives her subjects a sense of movement. Her trademark though probably has to be those drips…such wonderful drips. This was one of the special pieces at Upfest this year.

1710. Upfest 2018 (35)

Max ‘syther’ Oughton is no stranger to Upfest, and indeed I wrote a short post covering his work from Upfest 2017. This artist, from East Anglia, is making a niche for himself with animal studies and illustration, so the Upfest programme notes tell us and this piece certainly covers that territory with a seabird entangled in the tentacles of an octopus.

Max Syther, Upfest, Bristol, July 2018
Max Syther, Upfest, Bristol, July 2018

The colour selections which are calming and serene betray the rather brutal scene which is a skilfully executed juxtaposition. Max Oughton has a great eye for the natural world, and it is great to be able to see his work for two years running.

Max Syther, Upfest, Bristol, July 2018
Max Syther, Upfest, Bristol, July 2018

 

I think that Max was just tidying up after finishing the piece when I took this last picture…a celebratory fag hanging out of his mouth.

1709. Upfest 2018 (34)

Ahhh, this is what you get when the Simpsons meet mosaic meets Banksy all orchestrated by the brilliant Bristol artist Angus. This young artist is usually one of the busiest people during Upfest, producing his creations all over the place, some official and one or two slightly less so.

Angus, Upfest, Bristol, July 2018
Angus, Upfest, Bristol, July 2018

I love this take on the famous Baloon Girl by Banksy, and I understand that ‘the people’ from The Simpsons rather liked it even though it was not strictly approved, as these things tend to be when dealing with enormous corporates or franchises.

Angus, Upfest, Bristol, July 2018
Angus, Upfest, Bristol, July 2018

I have been an admirer of Angus’s art over the last few years, and he is always so welcoming and accomodating when I bump in to him. Always adapting and seeking new ways to strecth his art, his great strength is in his ideas linking contemporary themes with wit. I like the man and I like his art.

1708. Upfest 2018 (33)

This is a magnificent new wall for Upfest 2018, just off East Street and pretty much perfect for large ‘permanent’ pieces by some well known artists. First up is this magnificent portrait by Koeone.

Koeone, Upfest, Bristol, July 2018
Koeone, Upfest, Bristol, July 2018

I am not sure I have come across the artist before, which is a bit of a surprise because he lives and works in North Devon, not a million miles from Bristol. This is typical of his work which features greyscale photorealistic portraits of women with pink and blue lettering and icons on the top of the head.

Koeone, Upfest, Bristol, July 2018
Koeone, Upfest, Bristol, July 2018

The final product is really classy and all the better coming from a self-taught artist. Koeone shares this wall with Nol, Hull Graffiti, and Voyder amongst others. Real high quality stuff. Definitely worth a visit.

Koeone, Upfest, Bristol, July 2018
Koeone, Upfest, Bristol, July 2018

Nice drips!

 

 

 

1707. Upfest 2018 (32)

I have only been doing this street art thing for about three years and so I am constantly learning and making discoveries. This fascinating shutter piece is by a Bristol artist that I have not, until now, come across before (and I thought I knew it all).

Dandiego, Upfest, Bristol, July 2018
Dandiego, Upfest, Bristol, July 2018

The artist, Dandiego, is a stencil artist who specialises in multi layer geometric designs, and in the case of this piece the the geometric designs work together to create the whole…a racing cyclist. This is like one of those pictures that comes into high resolution if you slightly shut your eyes.

I have just had a look at Dandiego’s Instagram account to see if I can find out more, or see whether I might have missed any of his previous work, but it doesn’t reveal too much just yet, other than that he will be painting at the Cheltenham Paint Festival (organised by Dice67) this weekend. Alas I’ll not be going as I’ll be fishing in Cornwall.

1706. Upfest 2018 (31)

There is something comical and warm about Pelmo’s work and I have to say that it really ticks pretty much all of my boxes. His ideas are witty, for example here we have a Deliveroo rider struggling to stay on the back of an enormous cyclist. I’m not entirely sure what the story here is, but it is a visual treat.

Pelmo, Upfest, Bristol, July 2018
Pelmo, Upfest, Bristol, July 2018

It is such a pity that the piece was squeezed into a corner of the Spotted Cow garden where the light conditions made it almost impossible to photograph. I know that Pelmo has had a wall in the previous two years, but I think deservedly so and it would have been nice to seen this on a ‘permanent’ wall – I suppose they have to take turns. I love this.

1690. Upfest 2018 (30)

A stalwart of Upfest and the Bristol street art scene is the wonderful Georgie (Artist). This year’s piece is a stunning portrait of a child, and something rather different from her smiley face stencil work of last year.

Georgie, Upfest, Bristol, July 2018
Georgie, Upfest, Bristol, July 2018

Georgie has an incredible range of styles and techniques that she uses to decorate the city and is a most gifted artist who not only executes her pieces well, but also has a wonderfully creative mind. Her pieces rarely disappoint.

Georgie, Upfest, Bristol, July 2018
Georgie, Upfest, Bristol, July 2018

It is a funny thing, but I missed a lot of artists this year. I think it might be because the weather was so ‘stop and start’ that artists tried to get as much done when the sun was out, and then ran for cover or went home when the rain came. Or…maybe they just saw me coming!

1689. Upfest 2018 (29)

Oooh! a stunning wildstyle burner from the Bristol graffiti writer Subtle. I am lucky enough to find his work dotted around the city from time to time and he is right up there with the best writers Bristol has to offer (and there are a lot of them).

Subtle, Upfest, Bristol, July 2018
Subtle, Upfest, Bristol, July 2018

This is a very tidy piece, clean and with some lovely colour choices, which are set off perfectly by the grey background. I wish I could tell you more about Subtle, but thus far I have never met him, and there is not a lot of information knocking about on the Interweb either. He has an Instagram account that will give you some idea of his work. Really nice piece.

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.