Tag: Upfest

342. Upfest 2016 (1)

What a busy couple of days it has been – a lot of walking and looking at hundreds of new pieces in South Bristol. Many of the works created are temporary and will be removed after the festival, some have been allocated prime sites and will remain for at least a year, others have been surreptitiously slapped up in interesting places and will have variable lifespans.

Phoebe New York, Upfest 2016, Bristol, July 2016
Phoebe New York, Upfest 2016, Bristol, July 2016

I will start my posts of Upfest with some wonderful pasteups by Phoebe New York (aka artist Libby Schoettle). I was especially pleased to see her work here in Bristol as I have only recently become aware of her and how brilliantly refreshing she is. A simple idea really well executed.

Phoebe New York, Upfest 2016, Bristol, July 2016
Phoebe New York, Upfest 2016, Bristol, July 2016

I particularly like the edge of her work, both in the content and statements, but also in the locations she chooses. I am a fan, and I expect there are more than just these two examples from Upfest in Bristol. I will be hunting for more.

Phoebe New York, Upfest 2016, Bristol, July 2016
Phoebe New York, Upfest 2016, Bristol, July 2016

Upfest is a truly spectacular festival and I feel honoured as an adopted Bristolian that people have come from all over the world to participate over the last two days. There is still one more day to go, but it is a working day and I suspect things will be a lot quieter. I have no idea how I am going to post all the amazinf things I have seen this weekend – I’ll just have to see how it goes.

312. North Street Upfest shop

Upfest have chosen Gemma Compton as their promotional ‘face’ of upfest 2016, and what a very fine choice indeed. Her work is used on their twitter account profile and on the main website homepage. On an altogether larger scale, she painted the outside of the Upfest shop on North Street. The work was completed on about 11 June, and really brightens up the shopfront.

Gemma Compton, North Street, Bristol, June 2016
Gemma Compton, North Street, Bristol, June 2016

All of the work she has done for Upfest 2016 uses these wonderful ‘Spode’ colours and contain her signature motifs of birds, butterflies and flowers. It says in her Upfest artist profile that her inspirations have come from an upbringing in the Cotswold’s and her love of nature.

Gemma Compton, North Street, Bristol, June 2016
Gemma Compton, North Street, Bristol, June 2016

I love all the work she has done for the Upfest ‘brand’ this year, and am really looking forward to seeing her working at this year’s festival.

307, North Street hoarding (4)

John D’oh is a political stencil artist, and he has been oh so very busy recently. This recent piece, in a little alcove on North Street, really chimes with me. It is a promotional piece for the upcoming Upfest event and in fact there are two of the stencils side by side in this location. Technically, this piece is excellent.

John D'oh, North Street, Bristol, June 2016
John D’oh, North Street, Bristol, June 2016

The best bit about this piece is that it features a guy called Jeff, who sells ‘The Big Issue’, a magazine I have referred to previously in my posts. He is my local seller, and I like to buy my copies from him. He can usually be found in Stokes Croft, in North Bristol, but this stencil is in North Street (rather confusingly) in South Bristol.

John D'oh, North Street, Bristol, June 2016
John D’oh, North Street, Bristol, June 2016

There was a nice feature in the Bristol Post (I cannot find a link) about the stencil and how pleased Jeff was to be the subject of it. I’ll have to talk to Jeff about it next time I see him. Great work, with a great subject promoting a great event.

259. North Street, Workout (2)

It recently occurred to me that I am going to have to work through my backlog of Upfest 2015 pieces, because it will not be too long before they get replaced during the 2016 extravaganza and appear a little out of date. July 23-25 will see an influx of 300 artists showing off their talent, and I have to say I can’t wait. Among them will be Louis Masai, a London based artist who is renowned for his beautiful animal works.

Louis Masai, North Street, Bristol, January 2016
Louis Masai, North Street, Bristol, January 2016

Louis Masai gained an art degree from Falmouth in Cornwall, and has been living in London since 2010. More about him from his own website. This is a beautiful picture of two macaws (I seem to have posted a lot of these lately) and a clear and simple message that they belong in the wild and not in cages. I can go with that. His work is outstanding and his presence in Bristol this year will be a real bonus.

 

169. West Street

I am still coming across street art that was created during Upfest 2015, and on my walk yesterday I found this wonderful piece by Gemma Compton.

Gemma Compton, West Street, Bristol, April 2016
Gemma Compton, West Street, Bristol, April 2016

Compton is an artist and fashion designer who is based in Bristol, and another graduate from UWE (University of the West of England). A lot of her work incorporates wildlife and birds in particular. She has an interesting website that shows off her extensive work. Street art is clearly not her main focus, which is a pity, as this is rather good.

7/10

154. North Street, bus stop at Fairfield Road

Gregos is a world renowned French street artist who makes plaster casts of his face, Paints them and then sticks them to walls. He visited Bristol in 2015 during Upfest, and this is one of his pieces. He has made more than 1000 of these face casts, mostly in Paris – I know of only two in Bristol.

Gregos, North Street, Bristol, January 2016
Gregos, North Street, Bristol, January 2016

Cosmic Traveller, a Bristol street art blogger, wrote a great piece about Gregos in January this year. It is well worth a read.

Gregos, North Street, Bristol, January 2016
Gregos, North Street, Bristol, January 2016

I can’t help really liking this original idea, and of course it’ll make my next trip to Paris just that bit more interesting.

7.5/10

138. North Street, Workout (1)

ATM is something of a bird specialist, although I featured his wonderful bee near the entrance of @Bristol back in  July 2015. In that post I referred to ATM working on a piece for Upfest 2015. This is that piece.

ATM, North Street, Bristol, January 2015
ATM, North Street, Bristol, January 2015

ATM is a tireless campaigner for a better understanding of the plight of our wildlife and he has given several interviews about his work – here is a lovely one from Inspiring City.

ATM, North Street, Bristol, January 2015
ATM, North Street, Bristol, January 2015

This hand painted image of a hen harrier is typical of his work, and although most of his work is to be seen in London, there are several in Bristol…check out Leonard Lane, for example.

7.5/10

128. St Francis Road

I have seen this incredible piece many times during my wanderings up and down North Street. It is literally eye-catching and, in my view, the outstanding work from the Upfest 2015 event.

My Dog Sighs, St Francis Road, Bristol, January 2015
My Dog Sighs, St Francis Road, Bristol, January 2015

The artist’ ‘My Dog Sighs‘ comes from Portsmouth and has recently found much success with sell out solo exhibitions in the UK, the US and in Israel.

My Dog Sighs, postcard printed to accompany the piece in St Francis Road
My Dog Sighs, postcard printed to accompany the piece in St Francis Road

An additional part to this particular work is to complete the puzzle. This was achieved by marrying up a postcard with the other eye, to complete the whole. I am lucky enough to have been given one of the postcards (I missed Upfest 2015 because I was away…that won’t be happening again!).

My Dog Sighs, St Francis Road, Bristol, January 2015
My Dog Sighs, St Francis Road, Bristol, January 2015

9/10

117. Dean Lane (3)

On previous occasions when I have tried to photograph this Andy Council whale, there have been vehicles parked, on the grass, right up to it. I finally got a clear shot at it during a recent walk to Bedminster.

Andy Council, Dean Lane, Bristol, January 2016
Andy Council, Dean Lane, Bristol, January 2016

The style is unmistakable…a natural form created from architectural elements, usually recognisable Bristol landmarks.

Andy Council, Dean Lane, Bristol, January 2016
Andy Council, Dean Lane, Bristol, January 2016

This piece was painted during Upfest 2015 and is one of my favourites by Andy Council.

Andy Council, Dean Lane, Bristol, January 2016
Andy Council, Dean Lane, Bristol, January 2016

8/10

85. North Street, No. 74

This striking portrait was sprayed by N4T4 during the Upfest 2015 festival. N4T4 is an artist and illustrator from Nuneaton in the UK.

N4T4, North Street, Bristol, September 2015
N4T4, North Street, Bristol, September 2015

In the artist’s own words:

“I paint portraits using realism as a reference point for more abstract experimentation. The images are built in layers that become ambiguous and open to interpretation from the viewer. I am inspired by aboriginal art and graffiti; aesthetically and conceptually with their self evolved visual languages, dual meanings, temporal quality and its basis in culture, people and environment rather than just commerce.”

N4T4, North Street, Bristol, September 2015
N4T4, North Street, Bristol, September 2015

The more I examine this work the more I like it.