Tag: Wheatpaste

1672. Cortona, Tuscany, Italy

It is an extraordinary thing to travel to a foreign land and enjoy all that feels exotic and different, to bathe in a culture and history so different from your own. More extraordinary still is to stumble upon the familiar in such a context, but that is exactly what I did on a recent visit to Cortona in Tuscany.

qWeRT, Cortona, Italy, August 2018
qWeRT, Cortona, Italy, August 2018

Of course, while walking through the streets of the town I needed no encouragement to take a peek down the side streets to see what surprises might lurk. I have to say that wheatpastes by qWeRT were not exactly what I had in mind, but that is precisely what I found.

qWeRT, Cortona, Italy, August 2018
qWeRT, Cortona, Italy, August 2018

Altogether I think I discovered five pasteups by this ‘Natural Adventures’ regular, each in a different stage of decay. I would guess that these had been up for a few years, and I find it all rather touching that the civic authorities haver chosen not to take them down.

qWeRT, Cortona, Italy, August 2018
qWeRT, Cortona, Italy, August 2018

What also interests me is that there are copies of the same wheatpastes, but they appear each to have been hand painted separately rather than printed. I admire qWeRT’s choice of destination for these wheatpastes and am thrilled to have inadvertantly found them.

qWeRT, Cortona, Italy, August 2018
qWeRT, Cortona, Italy, August 2018

It also looks like qWeRT has dropped the Y from the signature since pasting these up.

1661. Upfest 2018 (12)

To celebrate 10 years of Upfest (I can’t believe I have only been to three of them) D7606, a wheatpaster and I guess unofficial artist at the festival scattered ten paste up balloons, each with a famous face, high up on the main streets of Bedminster.

D7606, Upfest, Bristol, July 2018
D7606, Upfest, Bristol, July 2018

These are the first two that I found, one with Twiggy and the other with Elizabeth Taylor. Finding each was like a prize, and the hunt was great fun. I bumped in to D7606 several times over two days and as ever, he was very happy to talk about his work and experiences.

D7606, Upfest, Bristol, July 2018
D7606, Upfest, Bristol, July 2018

I love the addition of a string to each of the balloons which was loose and able to blow around in the breeze. D7606 told me he had to paste them high up, so that they didn’t get pulled down. Several of them have gone already, but not to trophy hunters, rather, they have been pasted over with new advertisements. These balloons were a worthy addition to the 10th Upfest…hats off to D7606.

D7606, Upfest, Bristol, July 2018
D7606, Upfest, Bristol, July 2018

Lucky find

 

In Cortona streets

I chance upon some wheatpasres

well, who’d have thought that?

 

by Scooj

1651. Hillgrove Street (7)

I don’t visit Hillgrove Street as much as I used to when I first started writing about street art, probably because turnover of work is very low there, so there is rarely new stuff to find. However, it is always worth checking every now and then, and these two (relatively) new pieces bear this out.

qWeRT and RIP, Hillgrove Street, Bristol, August 2018
qWeRT and RIP, Hillgrove Street, Bristol, August 2018

The wheatpaste on top is by qWeRT, who seems to have blitzed Bristol some time during late spring or early summer. This is another charming googly eyed pair…there is always so much hope and love in these paste ups.

The bird below is a nice simple stencil by RIP who is an occasional visitor to Bristol, and always leaves behind as few treasures to uncover. Both pieces complement each other and are placed carefully. Placement is a key skill for small stencils and paste ups. All good.

1644. Upfest 2018 (6)

One of the great wheatpasters at Upfest this year was C3 with her distinctive red haired characters hand painted onto written paper. I must have paused to chat with her and D7606 several times over the course of the two days. I think she told me that she had only pasted a couple of pieces this year. I could only find these two, and both are winners in my book.

C3, Upfest, Bristol, July 2018
C3, Upfest, Bristol, July 2018

The art of wheatpasting at Upfest is a delicate balance between finding the right time to go out – the festival organisers are not too keen, because they are responsible for keeping the street furniture clear during the three days – and finding the right place that isn’t over-crowded. Some pasters simply slap their work on any available space. Others like C3 and D7606 are rather more discerning. Love these two paste ups.

C3, Upfest, Bristol, July 2018
C3, Upfest, Bristol, July 2018

1629. M32 Spot (26)

I love the recent spate of wheatpastes from Object… and I think I might actually prefer them to his larger painted pieces, but both are great n my opinion. There is often something disturbing and emotional in Object…’s work with his political passion never too far from the surface.

Object..., M32 Spot, Bristol, July 2018
Object…, M32 Spot, Bristol, July 2018

Outspoken and earnest, Object…’s pieces certainly challenge the viewer to see the world through the eyes of the less fortunate. This piece, while not necessarily falling into that category, certainly carries with it a disturbing nightmarish quality. I happen to love this piece, it is just a shame about the tag across the bottom of it. I hope to find more of these paste ups around the city.

1603. North Street

The great thing about visiting wheatpasters is that rarely do they come to town and leave only one paste up. Rather they tend to leave a trail of little treasures dotted about the place, and that is exactly what qWeRT did on a recent trip to Bristol.

qWeRT, North Street, Bristol, July 2018
qWeRT, North Street, Bristol, July 2018

I particularly like this one of our googly eyed hero riding a scooter. The placement is in a little alcove that has been a honeypot for small stencils and wheatpastes, but is in its last throws as a street art spot due to the completion of a new development adjoining it. This is one of the things I am noticing about Bristol at the moment, it seems that there is a decreasing number of places where street artists can do their work. Gentrification is on the move and with it comes displacement. Of course, we all want a prosperous and attractice city, but beauty is in the eye of the beholder.

1588. Melville Terrace (2)

A yellow man in swimming trunks and a rubber duck’s head. This could only be the work of one man, and just in case you were in any doubt, he has rather helpfully signed the piece over the top. It is of course Face the Strange.

Face the Strange, Melville Terrace, Bristol, June 2018
Face the Strange, Melville Terrace, Bristol, June 2018

I’m not entirely sure when he pasted thie piece up, it looks quite old, but I don’t recall seeing it at Upfest 2017, so maybe he visited Bristol after that and put it up, or maybe I just hadn’t registered it before. It is a fine wheatpaste and appeals to my surreal tastes.

1580. Dean Street

Always, always take a walk down that back street, you never know what you might see. I recently did just that in a small road that leads into Dean Lane and was rewarded with this wonderful wheatpaste by qWeRT.

qWeRT, Dean Street, Bristol, June 2018
qWeRT, Dean Street, Bristol, June 2018

This paste up is framed so expertly it is as if the space was created for it. I think this was put up on a reasonably recent trip to Bristol by qWeRT and is one of several characters dotted about the place. You will know that I love qWeRT’s work and that I am very partial to wheatpaste work generally. Chuffed to bits with stumbling across it.

1561. Melville Terrace

Ooh, look at this magnificent wheatpaste by qWeRT on a side road just off North Street. In my eyes this is beautiful, not only for its cuteness, charm and sentiment but also because of the perfect placement.

qWeRT, Melville Terrace, Bristol, June 2018
qWeRT, Melville Terrace, Bristol, June 2018

I have said before on this blog that half the art of paste ups is the location, and qWeRT has absolutely nailed it with this one. There is a framing with the red line on the wall and the little bit of vegetation sets it of brilliantly. I love the artwork, I love my picture and this makes me happy.