Tag: Wheatpaste

788. The Bearpit (70)

This is the second paste up by qWeRT that I have posted in recent days, and it is right in the middle of The Bearpit, but I’ll wager most people who pass through won’t even have spotted it. Another wonderfully happy piece, with a bug-eyed character holding up uits hands and creating a heart shape. Simple but pleasing.

qWeRT, The Bearpit, Bristol, April 2017
qWeRT, The Bearpit, Bristol, April 2017

I really like qWeRT’s work that has started to appear in Bristol. I am guessing that the artist visits from time to time, and lays down a trail of  wheatpastes probably in one session – if you get lucky, like I did, you might find several of them in a single linear walk.

qWeRT, The Bearpit, Bristol, April 2017
qWeRT, The Bearpit, Bristol, April 2017

A really welcome visitor to the streets of Bristol. You might just be able to see that has been placed in front of the Cheba and SPZero76 pieces.

773. St Augustine’s Parade (1)

Something fresh and new in Bristol. As you will know by now, I am a big fan of wheatpastes, so when I saw this I had a small pang of excitement. In fact it turned out to be the first of four I found on my home. It is by qWeRT, a wheatpaster based in London, who must have had a mini-break in Bristol and left a few ‘presents’.

Qwert, St Augustine's Parade, Bristol, April 2017
Qwert, St Augustine’s Parade, Bristol, April 2017

This colourful happy piece appeared to have been here a little while as one bit was starting to peel off – I can’t believe I have not seen it before though. Since Kid Crayon moved onto spraying, I have missed my fix of paste ups. Discovering the work of qWeRT has quenched my thirst a little.

762. Upfest 2016 (119)

A pair of great wheatpasters occupuying the same space at Upfest, which is often the case when there are only a limited number of ‘public’ utility boxes of one sort or another to choose from.

Face the Strange, Upfest, Bristol, July 2016
Face the Strange, Upfest, Bristol, July 2016

The first of these excellent paste ups is by Losthills featuring his wonderful Jake the Dog, the second is a weird and wonderful pigeon headed gentleman by Face the Strange (I guess his name gives away his artistic direction).

Face the Strange and Losthills, Upfest, Bristol, July 2016
Face the Strange and Losthills, Upfest, Bristol, July 2016

These two artists really brought some colour and fun to North Street, along with all the other wheatpasters. I fear it is an underrated form of street art, but I am a big fan.

752. Upfest 2016 (114)

This is a beautiful wheatpaste by the wonderfully talented What Have I Done Now. The piece contains real pathos, and has resonance with Italian frescos…simply replace the police with Roman soldiers.

What have I done now, Upfest, Bristol, July 2016
What have I done now, Upfest, Bristol, July 2016

This is similar in subject matter and style to one of his other Upfest pieces. Great work.

704. Upfest 2016 (108)

Another wonderful paste up from Losthills of Jake the dog. In this one we see Jake sporting an interesting/spooky charm necklace.

Losthills, Upfest, Bristol, July 2016
Losthills, Upfest, Bristol, July 2016

There is something pleasing about the way Losthills sprays his pieces before he pastes them up, the dots of white paint in this instance add to the overall texture of the piece. I am rather fond of Jake the dog.

650. Upfest 2016 (99)

It seems that everywhere I looked during Upfest, I was being stalked by this brilliant little creature, called Jake the dog, created by LostHills. In each of the paste ups, Jake the dog is striking a different pose with something different happening. I love this kind of themed approach to street art.

Losthills, Jake, Upfest, Bristol, July 2016
Losthills, Jake, Upfest, Bristol, July 2016

Although I don’t believe that Losthills was an official artist at Upfest, his wheatpastes brightened up every corner of Bedminster, and several still remain six months on.

Losthills, Jake, Upfest, Bristol, July 2016
Losthills, Jake, Upfest, Bristol, July 2016

Together with C3, 23 Magpies, Phoebe New York, Face the Strange, What have I done Now and D7606, paste up artists were very well represented at Upfest 2016, and I rather hope there will be more this year.

Losthills, Jake, Upfest, Bristol, July 2016
Losthills, Jake, Upfest, Bristol, July 2016

 

647. Upfest 2016 (96)

One of the pleasures of Upfest 2016 was the sheer volume of wheatpastes that appeared on billboards, lamp posts, letterboxes and other utility boxes. One of the busiest of these paste up artists was Face the Strange, who must have come to Bristol with a suitcase filled with his work.

Face the Strange, Upfest, Bristol, July 2016
Face the Strange, Upfest, Bristol, July 2016

This piece is really rather odd, odder than many of his other pieces and that is saying something. A raspberry lady in a business suit walking with crutches – what is going on here? It isn’t so much shocking as just weird. I rather like it though and you can see that a lot of thought and effort has gone into this small wheatpaste.

644. Grimsby Street, Shoreditch (2)

Today a look back at last Summer and a walk I took I Shoreditch. This is a great wheatpaste by D7606, and a fine tribute to the late David Bowie. D7606’s work often combines iconic figures with 20th century electronic appliances such as telephone boxes, telephones or televisions.

D7606, Grimsby Street, Shoreditch, August 2016
D7606, Grimsby Street, Shoreditch, August 2016

Always good and always quirky and fun.

589. Upfest 2016 (83)

I like 23 Magpie’s work so much that I recently bought a small piece that she was selling through Instagram. It is waiting for a frame, along with several other things that need frames…I really do need to earn a little more money.

23 Magpies, Upfest, Bristol, July 2016
23 Magpies, Upfest, Bristol, July 2016

As well as her official work, 23 Magpies left a treasure trail of paste ups all around North Street, some of which I have posted on this blog, and others that I have yet to post. I think I may have got them all, but I can’t be sure. This is a fox painted with a design onto sheet music, something that she does quite a lot. It is always a pleasure finding one of these.

 

 

588. Upfest 2016 (82)

OK, I know, I just posted a piece by Face the Strange, and here we have another one. I have done this deliberately because I think that each of them deserves a post to themself. Occasionally I will combine pieces by the same artist, but mostly I like to concentrate on each work. It just so happens that there are two by FTS in a row.

Face the Strange, Upfest, Bristol, July2016
Face the Strange, Upfest, Bristol, July2016

I love this small paste up. It could have been easily missed, lurking on a doorway behind a tub of recycling. But take a closer look at this TV set and you will see that there is a still from ‘a Clockwork Orange’ and in the spirit of things, FTS has replaced the heads of the characters with oranges wearing bowler hats. Any artistic reference to this great film has to be a good thing. This wheatpaste is witty and fun, and the style of FTS’s work is always slightly unsettling and anarchic. Great work.