Tag: Upfest

1059. Upfest 2017 (71)

There is a lot of fun in this piece by Mas972, and I enjoyed watching it progress over the Upfest weekend. I managed to grab a little time chatting with the artist and told him I remembered his piece from last year. What I didn’t say to him though was that I thought this piece was much better, but that is just a personal opinion.

Mas972, Upfest, Bristol, July 2017
Mas972, Upfest, Bristol, July 2017

I was interested to see how Mas972 went about this piece and by the time I first visited he had already completed the background and begun work on the characters.

Mas972, Upfest, Bristol, July 2017
Mas972, Upfest, Bristol, July 2017

I have huge admiration for these artists and the way the approach their work. They have vision, talent and experience which they apply adeptly to create these marvels.

Mas972, Upfest, Bristol, July 2017
Mas972, Upfest, Bristol, July 2017

The characters in this piece are beautifully crafted and so full of mischief. I like the way the yellow eyes and teeth really stand out, bringing them alive.

Mas972, Upfest, Bristol, July 2017
Mas972, Upfest, Bristol, July 2017

A nice touch is that these cheerleading characters are wearing bibs which carry the letters M A S. I do very much hope Mas972 returns next year.

 

 

1052. Upfest 2017 (70)

The light rays cascading across this piece catch me out every time I look at it…they feel real. This is a lovely small piece by Emily Donald, an artist based in Newquay, Cornwall – the coolest county in England. She works with inks and creates wonderful layered pictures, usually incorporating birds and flowers. You can see more of her artwork on this website.

Emily Donald, Upfest, Bristol, July 2017
Emily Donald, Upfest, Bristol, July 2017

In this piece two hummingbirds are busy collecting nectar from beautiful flowers. The whole work has a feeling of tranquility and peace, but it is the light rays that set the whole thing off for me. A wonderful work. I hope we get to see her again next year.

1051. Upfest 2017 (69)

It is unfortunate that sometimes the photographs I take of great works simply don’t do them justice, this is one such example. This is a brilliant portrait by the London-based artist Ant Carver, who has used amazing colour shadings to create a rich and textured appearance on the skin of the subject. It is a really clever technique that adds real depth to the piece

Ant Carver, Upfest, Bristol, July 2017
Ant Carver, Upfest, Bristol, July 2017

By the time I got to photograph this great work, the sun was in completely the wrong place and it looks cold and a bit drab, which it most cerrtainly wasn’t. Ant Carver is an artist whose work chimes for me and I would have liked to have spent a moment or two to chat with him, but he looked a bit busy with finishing off, so I left him to it. Maybe next time.

1050. Upfest 2017 (68)

One of the more sober and less ‘brash’ pieces at Ashton Gate was this beautiful work by Joan Aguiló. There is a fine story going on in this piece, which was laid out in two distinct halves, the right hand side of which is shown in the image below.

Joan Aguilo, Upfest, Bristol, July 2017
Joan Aguilo, Upfest, Bristol, July 2017

It looks like the story being told is one of travel, farewells, insecurity. It feels sad to me. The only thing that reads across the two halves are the flowers being cast by the lady on the left. Is it a story of childhood? Is it a story of immigration? – it is all a bit of a mystery really. It has a really serene feel to it and is quite different to many of the pieces that surounded it.

Joan Aguilo, Upfest, Bristol, July 2017
Joan Aguilo, Upfest, Bristol, July 2017

Joan Aguiló lives in Mallorca and uses public space to create his work predominantly in the city of Palma. This is a really interesting piece that might have been overlooked by some. Thoughtful.

1049. Upfest 2017 (67)

RTC is a stencil artist who is based in Cheltenham, so not a million miles away from Bristol…in street art terms, he is pretty much a local. This is a fine multi-layered stencil featuring Guardians of the Galaxy characters Groot and Rocket Raccoon. It is a clever technical piece from this self-taught artist…there is hope for uas all.

RTC, Upfest, Bristol, July 2017
RTC, Upfest, Bristol, July 2017

This piece has a photorealistic appearance which is amll the more remarkable for being a stencil. I have not seen any of RTC’s wortk before, but will be looking out for him in the future.

1048. Upfest 2017 (66)

I never got to see this remarkable portrait in its final form, which was the case with several pieces sited at Ashton Gate this year. Having said that, I don’t think it changed a great deal from the featured image above, judging from pictures I have seen of it. It is by the excellent Naskool who produced another amazing piece at Upfest 2016.

Naskool, Upfest, Bristol, July 2017
Naskool, Upfest, Bristol, July 2017

It may be my general ignorance, but I am not sure who the portrait is of…it might not be of anyone in particular. Any ideas?

Naskool, Upfest, Bristol, July 2017
Naskool, Upfest, Bristol, July 2017

Naskool has an extraordinary touch for photorealistic work and it is interesting to see how he completes the subject first and then backfills the surround afterwards. All part of the fun of watching these pieces unfold over a few days. This was really one of the great pieces of the festival this year.

1042. Upfest 2017 (65)

Pahnl were the selected festival artists for Upfest 2017, which meant that they had to work twice as hard as any of the other artists. They provided the visuals for the programme, map and other publicity material and they produced two stencils to advertise the upcoming event, previously covered in this blog.

Pahnl, Upfest, Bristol, July 2017
Pahnl, Upfest, Bristol, July 2017

Their work consists of beautifully designed stylized figures, looking a bit like they have marched off a corporate logo portfolio, set in various, often witty scenes. The work is very time consuming, as each element is stencilled onto the overall scene.

Pahnl, Upfest, Bristol, July 2017
Pahnl, Upfest, Bristol, July 2017

The effect is a world of colourful small designs interacting with each other and the viewer. Something about the figures reminds me a bit of Play Mobil figures.

Pahnl, Upfest, Bristol, July 2017
Pahnl, Upfest, Bristol, July 2017

This wall, alongside the ‘Hen and Chicken’ was the first of two ambitious pieces by Pahnl which at various times saw them valiantly spraying under plastic sheeting cowering from the rain. There are loads of individual pirate stories going on here involving these little people.

Pahnl, Upfest, Bristol, July 2017
Pahnl, Upfest, Bristol, July 2017

1041. Upfest 2017 (64)

Just occasionally at Upfest, it is impossible to write about one piece without writing about a piece adjacent to it. This happens particularly with the portrait boards, most of which were in North Street Green this year.

Stelle Confuse, Upfest, Bristol, July 2017
Stelle Confuse, Upfest, Bristol, July 2017

The piece on the left is by Stelle Confuse, an artist from Florence, who is one of the most active protagonists of sticker and stencil art in Italy. Here his message is clear and simple – Plant a tree, plant peace. It is a fine stencil piece, with extraordinarily beautiful patterning and shading of the leaves.

Max Syther Oughton, Upfest, Bristol, July 2017
Max Syther Oughton, Upfest, Bristol, July 2017

The piece on the right is by Max ‘Syther’ Oughton, and artist based in East Anglia. This is another beautiful work which has an added three dimensional element in the shape of bird boxes attached to the tree.

I don’t know if it was deliberate or coincidental, but it is great to see two interpretations of trees in two very different styles. Both beautiful.

 

 

1040. Upfest 2017 (63)

Anyone who was at Upfest 2016 would have been utterly charmed by the incredible tree frogs by JXC. It was one of my favourite pieces from last year, and I wrote about it here.

JXC, Upfest, Bristol July 2016
JXC, Upfest, Bristol July 2016

This year he was afforded a larger wall, one that Voyder wrote ‘Bristol’ on last time round. Instead of tree frogs, JXC treated us to an extraordinary seascape with a rather intimidating octopus in the foreground and some naval mines in the background.

JXC, Upfest, Bristol, July 2017
JXC, Upfest, Bristol, July 2017

This was another of the pieces that probably took longer to create than might have been expected, due to the constant rain interruptions over the three days of the festival.

JXC, Upfest, Bristol, July 2017
JXC, Upfest, Bristol, July 2017

The mouth on the side of the octopus isn’t the octopuss’s beak, rather is it a shark mouth inked onto its side. JXC’s work is heavily inkled with words and drawings that resemble tattoos, creating an interesting effect o the surface texture of the subject.

JXC, Upfest, Bristol, July 2017
JXC, Upfest, Bristol, July 2017

There is a story going on in this piece which is a little tricky to decypher. The words ‘Just Lie’ appear under the shark but I’m not sure what that refers to. Nice to see a smiley on the bomb – some ironic commentary there?

1039. Upfest 2017 (62)

Upfest always has a knack of introducing you to something just that little bit different, and for me this year, the most interesting finds were several sculptures dotted around the place by Will Coles.

Will Coles is a sculptor born in Warwickshire but who has spent time in Suffolk, as a child and in London and Glasgow, before moving to Sydney, Australia. He has now returned and is living somewhere in Europe (his own words).

Will Coles, Upfest, Bristol, July 2017
Will Coles, Upfest, Bristol, July 2017

His street work, judging by his website, is eyecatching to say the least. He has a subversive streak and takes a long look at modern culture upon which his works offer an interesting commentry. This particular piece may make the viewer uneasy on several levels. Add together the images and messages with the tarnished brass plaque appearance of the piece and you have a classy piece, which will shock. Because of its location and ‘part of the street funrnitue’ appearance, many who came to Upfest will have totally missed the piece.

Will Coles, Upfest, Bristol, July 2017
Will Coles, Upfest, Bristol, July 2017

Luckily he did another one in Blue, just in case you missed the first one.

Serendipitously, I found another of his pieces in Bristol this afternoon, and didn’t know it was by him until I started a little research to write this post. Funny how things like that happen.

Will Coles, Upfest, Bristol, July 2017
Will Coles, Upfest, Bristol, July 2017

I definitely like his work, and will keep my eyes peeled to see what else he left behind in Bristol after Upfest.