Upfest – Page 56 – Natural adventures

1031. Upfest 2017 (59)

Another set of three paste ups from the prolific Jimzina at Upfest this year. The first was the largest I saw and was A2 size roughly. The girl in glasses, clutching a ring doughnut can still be found on North Street just by the hoardings near the Standard.

All of Jimzina’s pieces carried the same theme, a young lady presented on the front of a menu or drinks list – very distinctive. The next one looks rather different to most of them, in that the girl doesn’t have black hair, instead she is wearing a pink flower to go with her pink lips.

The final one of these three looks a bit like what I would call ‘saucy-sophisticated’. Is that too much of a label seen through the lens of a middle-aged man?

1030. Upfest 2017 (58)

It takes a little while to get to grips with this piece by Pref ID, but it is a really clever piece of writing. A quick look at his website indicates how he likes to disguise slogans by conflating all the words into one, creating something of a letter puzzle.

In this piece just off North Street Pref ID has written the words ‘Mind Bending’ – the blue letters say MIND and the white ones BENDING. It is a sophisticated work and has been really skilfully executed. Quite a different kind of piece.

My attempt to chat with the artist was not overly successful. I approached him and asked him who he was (a not unreasonable question at a street art festival), to which he replied “who the f*ck are you!” – so I told him who I was. He didn’t speak again. Maybe he was just having a bad hair day, or maybe he just took an instant dislike to me, who knows? It is a first though. I have met cagey artists and exuberant ones, modest ones, happy and sad ones, but this is the first time I have encountered such grumpiness. None of this however detracts from just how good this piece is.

I shall be more careful in future if I see Pref ID in town.

1029. Upfest 2017 (57)

I met Falko One in East Street on the Sunday of Upfest. It was early in the morning and showers were threatening. He had already started on the first of three commissioned elephants he was planning to complete in the day, but was doubtful because of the rain. This is a man who likes to paint elephants, and he does it really well.

Falko One it turns out is one of the most well known street artists in South Africa and has been working for almost thirty years inspiring others and growing the graffiti culture there. He is best known for his elephants.

As with several other pieces at Upfest, it was great to see the artist in action and how he went about creating his piece. I think what you see here is someone very much at ease with the subject. He has a great understanding of the proportions, shape and movement of elephants and can create these amazing pieces in no time at all.

The colours and shading, also bring a unique aspect to his art. I mean who ever saw a pink elephant before…hic?

1028. Upfest 2017 (56)

On the hoardings in Raleigh Road, there were some really high quality pieces, including this rather posh whale by Boaster. His Upfest profile reads:

‘Hailing from Nottingham,graffiti artist Boaster brings his own style to his quirky, gritty and sometimes macarbe characters. Part of crews The Shrunken Heads(SH) and In Living Colour(ILC), this long standing painter continues to ruin peoples walls up and down the country!!!’

Which all sounds rather fun.

There is a nice story here of a rather grumpy looking, well-heeled whale, and it is difficult not to admire the pipe, top hat and monocle. I am not familiar at all with Boaster’s work, but you can see more on this Global Street Art page.

1026. North Street (A38) (2)

I don’t know how many days these pieces had been up before I noticed them, but they are another gift to the city of Bristol from a visiting artist who was here for Upfest. Dabuten Tronko is from Tarragona in Spain, which I found out from his ‘couchsurfing’ profile. The Interweb is an incredible thing!

Dabuten Tronko, North Street (A38), Bristol, August 2017

These pieces can be found either side of the main road on the vertical walls of the 5102 building overlooking The Bearpit. They are something of a before and after reflection and need to be seen in conjunction to hold any real meaning.

The boats on the left hand side of the road (heading North) are intact and jolly, while in stark contrast, those opposite are smashed up or deconstructed. I’m not sure what it all means, but I like the concept going on here.

The colour scheme is quite subtle and sort of blends in with the background blue. The boats somehow feel like they have always been there or were always meant to be there. I’ll bet I’m not the first person to have missed them first time round.

1022. Upfest 2017 (55)

I am always chuffed when I see pieces by Bristol artists at Upfest. The street/graffiti art scene here is so strong and it is great for the city to showcase its own artists to visitors from Bristol itself and from further afield.

Sled One, I have said countless times on Natural Adventures, is one of my favourite street artists and was very busy at Upfest, producing two pieces in South Street Park. I caught up with him for a while and asked him how it was that he doesn’t do so much street work these days. It turns out, and I think I knew this anyway, that he is now working with the Paintsmiths and doing a lot of commissioned work. This he says adds pressure on his free time. He also said it was a different way of doing things and that working to a brief can be quite stressful.

This wonderful piece is creative and utterly bonkers. I do like reptiles in street art, somehow they work so very well. The expression on the chameleon’s face is well observed, and the eye is excellent. Hope to see more of his stuff before too long. Perhaps those nice people at The Paintsmiths could give him some time off.

1021. Upfest 2017 (54)

One of the most distinctive collaborations of Upfest 2017 was this piece by Tymon Ferenc de Laat (who really needs a shorter tag) and Nuno Viegas. The piece was sprayed in the garden of The Spotted Cow pub and has subsequently been sold.

Tymon Ferenc de Laat and Nuno Viegas, Upfest, Bristol, July 2017

It has a high-quality finish to it and works really well as a collaboration with the particular style of each artist – the portrait by Tymon and the paper dart by Nuno – retained in the piece.

I particularly like the amazing attention to detail in the paper dart, with the shadows cast, and the bright line along the leading edge of the wing as if it were catching the light. Very clever and skilful work.

I’m not sure how often these artists collaborate, but for Upfest it worked a real treat.

1020. Upfest 2017 (53)

Half way along North Street you will find Exmoor Street, with a lovely white wall, perfect for a bit of spraying. Wen2, from Brest in France, was one of two artists fortunate enough to be allocated this space.

This piece is beautifully thought out and generates an understanding of buildings and place. It is almost like one of those children’s books that deconstructs structures and shows you what goes on behind the scenes.

I particularly like a couple of things about Wen2 at work herte. He has been most conscientious about the street sign, coveuring it up with paper and masking tape. He has also ‘borrowed’ a chair from somewhere to use as a small step ladder. Resourceful.

Wen2 used a plan to create his piece which gives you a feel for what he was creating. It is interesting that he vchanged some of the colours around. What I really like, and is something he has done with other pieces (check out his Facebook page) is his signature in the style of a throw up on the garage doors. Brilliant!

Another special piece for Upfest 2017.

1019. Upfest 2017 (52)

This work simply made me laugh. It is by the artist Pelmo, whose piece from Upfest 2016 passed me by, which is highly regrettable. I’m not entirely convinced that this was painted on the first two days of the festival, either that or I am losing my touch and missed it.

I love the understated tones used for the piece and the story is there for all to see. It is a witty piece, which would appear to draw some influence from the Gary Larson cartoon style.

About himself, the artist says this in the programme profile:

‘I love painting a good character, a dramatic expression or a body beaten into shape by a little too much life. I generate my ideas by sketching in pubs and paint mostly for fun with the occasional commission.’

Sounds like a good life to me.

1018. Upfest 2017 (51)

Well this one was a little off the beaten track, only by a hundred meters or so, but enough for many visitors to Upfest to have missed it. In fact, I missed it until a friend told me about it, and I went to investigate for myself.

Mr June, who had a premium wall at Upfest 2016, came back this year to create this architectural masterpiece, turning a fairly ordinary flat into something out of the ordinary…exceptional even.

Smyth Lane has rarely been such a desirable location, demonstrating what a bit of unbelieveably cool spraying can do for a place. The clever straight line 3D effect created on the front of the building is perfectly offset by the more organic shapes that are on the walls of the tunnel. A watery theme disrupts the hard edges and ripples appear to disperse across the piece. While on the other side, water droplets bound by surface tension, sit on designed planes that have an Escher feel to them. And the greens…just beautiful.

Mr June is a highly accomplished artist and this piece really has to go straight into the top ten for this year’s festival…and to think I nearly missed it. I wonder if other local residents will be offering up their properties for a makeover next year.

	hitandrun1964 on Minor injuries unit
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	hitandrun1964 on Minor injuries unit
	Bill Bisgood on Champions
	Sheree on Thursday Doors – 21 May…
	Suzette Benjamin on Thursday Doors – 21 May…
	scooj on 7658. Tobacco Factory –…

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