This stunning piece from Piet Rodriguez was one of the first I saw at this year’s Upfest and it set the bar very high indeed. Some readers might recognise this site from a recent ‘Thursday doors‘ post on this blog…what a vast improvement this make-over has made.
Piet Rodriguez, Upfest, Bristol, July 2018
Piet Rodriguez is a French artist who was raised in Brussels, and a quick look at his website gives you an idea of what an accomplished artist he is. I gather from his biography in the Upfest porgramme that he only took up the spray can in 2015, which surely is a good thing for all of us.
Piet Rodriguez, Upfest, Bristol, July 2018
This was not the only piece that Piet Rodriguez did at Upfest, and I will post his smaller board from South Street park at a later date. I think I am a fan.
Daa da da da da da da da daa daa dada dada. Getting right to the heart of the matter is this brilliant Simpsons piece from Soker. He really is quite one of the best writers around and this sofa scene totally proves it.
Soker, Upfest, Bristol, July 2018
His use of the Simpson characters on the sofa, a scene so familiar to anyone who watches the show, to create his name is inspired, and taking a closer look, there is almost a Picassoesque look to Lisa and Homer in particular.
Soker, Upfest, Bristol, July 2018
The whole scene is well observed, with the lampshade and the picture of a sailing boat on the wall, and is indeed a special homage to the genius of Matt Groenig.
Soker, Upfest, Bristol, July 2018
I managed to catch up with Soker, which I have never managed to do before, and had a quick chat on the Friday, again on the Saturday morning and later on in the Spotted Cow. I think he had slightly overdone his merrymaking on Friday night and had to abandon painting on the Saturday, nursing a bit of a sore head.
Soker, Upfest, Bristol, July 2018
I asked him why sometimes he wrote Soker and at other times Sokem. His answer seemed sensible to me…he started off with Soker (pronounced Soccer), but found the R difficult to write, so changed it to Sokem, before reverting once he found the R easier.
This has to be one of my favourites from Upfest 2018, and is really an outstanding piece.
I thought I’d kick off Upfest 2018 with one of the highlight walls of the festival which speaks volumes to me (a marine biologist by training), and really brightened things up.
One of the less celebrated, but nonetheless special, walls at Upfest is this side street, Mount Pleasant Terrace, just off North Street. Previous occupiers of this wall have been Sokar Uno (2016) and My Dog Sighs and Snub 23 (2017), so it has a great pedigree. This year the mural went big, spreading beyond the first floor and covering the entire end of row wall.
Louis Masai, Upfest, Bristol, July 2018
At first glance it might not be obvious that this is a Louis Masai piece, but a closer inspection gives away some of the tell tale signs, such as a patchwork turtle, and of course a signature!
Louis Masai, Upfest, Bristol, July 2018
I was pretty spaced out at the festival, absorbing so much visual information but not really seeing things right in front of me – sensory overload if you like. I didn’t take a proper look at the wall until the scaffolding was down a couple of days later and then it hit me, this is a brilliant piece by Louis Masai.
Louis Masai, Upfest, Bristol, July 2018
There is so much to look at in this coral reef scene, but of course it comes with an environmental message, and there floating around the reef are a couple of Tesco bags, which once seen can’t be unseen.
Louis Masai, Upfest, Bristol, July 2018
I love the way that he entered into the spirit of the Simpsons theme of the festival and presented us with a cartoon mutant fish with three eyes gawkily cruising across the reef. Some serious messages interspersed with a bit of fun. A great piece to start with. Hats off to Louis Masai.
At last I got my hands dirty today, or at least I didn’t because I had to wear horrible rubber gloves. Ths is my very first time holding a spraycn after being given some basic instruction by the lovely Loch Ness. It did not turn out quite how I wanted, but it has left me with an unquenchable thirst for more. Finding the time, the wall and affording the paint are going to be my next challanges. I have lots of ideas in my head, and everyone says it is all about practice. A red letter day.
Scooj, Upfest shop, 8 July 2018Scooj, Upfest shop, 8 July 2018Scooj, Upfest shop, 8 July 2018Scooj, Upfest shop, 8 July 2018
This utterly magnificent piece is by Philth who is the Upfest featured artist for June and who has made this Upfest curated wall his own for the month. Some of you may remember his Upfest 2017 piece which he painted with N4T4 in the rain, both artists sporting umbrellas while at work.
Philth, North Street Green, Bristol, June 2018
Since Upfest, Philth has gone on a binge of producing the most beautiful floral prints, which transport me back to my home in the 1970s and my mother’s love for floral wallpaper. She had good taste and would surely love this wall by Philth.
Philth, North Street Green, Bristol, June 2018
This work really needs to be seen to be fully appreciated, it is so different, and it is great to see floral print on this kind of scale. I can’t wait to see what he treats us to for Upfest 2018 (only a month away…can it be true?
This is one of my favourite stencils from one of my favourite stencil artists (although he has moved more into freehand work), Dice 67. The painting features his daughter Izzy wearing a hoodie, gold skirt and pink wellies. Izzy has her own fine work to the right of the feature image.
Dice67, Upfest, Bristol, July 2017
This was not the main Upfest piece from Dice 67, rather it was a bit of a bonus, sprayed on a vacant board from a no-show artist. All good.
Dice67, Upfest, Bristol, July 2017Angus with extras from Dice 67, The Bearpit, Bristol, April 2017
When I asked some artists from the RAW crew about who painted this they told me it was by the legendary Turoe (Turo). Now, I have come into this rather late, the last 3-4 years or so, and I find it quite difficult penetrating the street art world that predates my interest. Because of this, there are many gaps in my knowledge and this was the first time I had seen work from the artist.
Turoe (Turo), Upfest, Bristol, July 2017
The entry for Turoe in the Upfest programme simply reads “Old school Bristol graffiti legend”. Further reading in the book ‘Children of the Can’ (Bristol graffiti and street art) by Felix Braun confirms his standing as a major player in the Bristol graffiti and hip hop scene.
Turoe (Turo), Upfest, Bristol, July 2017
The work itself is beautifully done, which screams punk rock. It is interesting that before the eyes were completed the punk rocker is reasonably generic, but with the eyes it could only be Johnny Rotten. Nice piece.
One of the more academic and mind-blowing pieces at Upfest 2017 was this absolutely stunning classical style piece by Mezla. I managed to catch up with him while he was painting this piece and he said that he was supposed to be using the boards down at Ashton Gate, but that he found the music just a little bit too loud for his liking, so he crossed over the road and found this wall.
Mezla, Upfest, Bristol, July 2017
I absolutely love the way he has combined abstract work with some life form, and the subtle shades and colours are perfect. This really is one of my favourites from Upfest 2017 and is so very different from pretty much everything else on display.
Mezla, Upfest, Bristol, July 2017
I don’t think I can praise this piece highly enough. His Upfest biography reveals how he started off as a writer but has moved on since.
Well, well, well, the gifts just keep coming. Regular readers will know that I have only recently discovered the wonderful art of Pekoe and I have featured her work a couple of times in the last month. It turns out that while I was going through another batch of pictures from my Upfest 2017 archive, I found this piece by an ‘unknown’ artist who I now know is Pekoe. I love it when this kind of thing happens.
Pekoe, Upfest, Bristol, July 2017
Her Upfest piece was definitely one that caught the eye and is rather more polished than some of her street work – it is a festival after all. She sticks with the female portrait formula that appears to be her preferred subject matter. I am reliably informed by Gary, the art blogger that this wea actually a collaboration piece with Mr Sleven and DNT.
Pekoe, Upfest, Bristol, July 2017
Pekoe is a talented Bristol-based artist whose work I am just getting to grips with and I certainly want to see a whole load more. Looking forward to it. Worth a quick peek at her Linked-in page too.
