Best Street Art in BRISTOL – Part II: North Street

Since Bristol is the cradle and hotbed of ingenious murals, introducing all those incredible works in just one post was far too much.
Therefore, I’ve split my list of urban art into two parts. After introducing the Nelson Street shopping district area and the rough neighborhood of Stokes Croft in a former post on ​​the best street art in Bristol, I’ll take you down North Street in this second part. Here, the wonderful Upfest ensures that no wall stays white for long.

Bristol

If you’ve been following my blog for a while, you know that one of my favorite activities when travelling is hunting for local meaningful street art. Whether in the urban jungles of  Amsterdam, Berlin, London, and Paris or in rather unexpected places such as Morocco’s capital Rabat, or the small Caribbean town of San Nicolas on the island of Aruba: My hunting grounds know no limit! This year, however, I finally made it to the cradle of subculture and urban art, the amazing city of Bristol!

Although there are cool murals everywhere in Bristol, there are two neighborhoods where almost no wall was left unpainted. This concentration is largely due to two street art festivals. I presented the first project with the ambiguous title See No Evil, to which the Nelson Street shopping street owes its painting, in my previous post Best Street Art in BRISTOL – Part I: From Nelson Street to Stokes Croft.

Now, this post is about the second project, namely the annual Upfest held mainly around North Street in the district of Bedminster.

North Street

Like many contemporary neighborhoods with a high concentration of street art, North Street was traditionally part of a working-class neighborhood. Due to local heavy industry, there was dense housing, and shops, pubs, and other local establishments catered to blue-collar and factory workers.

A transformation of the area began with the introduction of street art and intensified with the annual Upfest festival, which was held for the first time in 2008. Upfest brought a boost of cultural activities to the area. Primarily local artists, as Bristol has a lot of those in store, but also muralists from all over the world transform the street into an open-air gallery.

This development not only beautified the district. It also piqued the interest of visitors and made North Street a hip hotspot.

As the street art scene flourished, so did the local economy. New shops, cafés, and bars opened. These eateries, grocery stores, bookstores, and other shops are still independent and run their business mindfully and considerately. Nevertheless, the growing number of trendy establishments naturally attracts new demographics. This further pushes the gentrification of the area, obviously. However, there is a fundamentally inclusive community spirit in Bristol, so there is hope for thoughtful coexistence.

Ultimately, Upfest is committed to supporting projects and local businesses and continually improving the quality of life in the community. One can only hope that this will succeed and that gentrification will not eventually become as merciless as in comparable areas. Unfortunately, what starts out as a rose bush often turns out to grow into a poisonous climbing hydrangea over time.

Upfest

In 2008, the first Upfest was intended to bring together 20 like-minded street artists to paint for a day. But as the news broke, the project immediately grew to 50 participants. Since then, the festival has continued to grow year after year. Artists from all over the world are taking part in the project. Also, one day was no longer enough. With over 400 artists taking part each year, the festival had to be expanded to a two-week event.

The highlight is the festival weekend in Greville Smyth Park and at the original Upfest venue Tobacco Factory. It is actually the last remaining part of an old W. D. & H. O. Wills tobacco factory site. It was saved from demolition and is now a multi-purpose building for cultural institutions such as a theater and a school of animation and performing arts. In addition to offices and apartments, it also houses a café-bar with a cozy inner courtyard.

Upfest also has a headquarters, a shop, and permanent gallery space on North Street 198 outside of the festival weeks. They are open Tuesday to Sunday from 10 a.m. to 5.30 p.m., albeit, on Sundays, they are closing already at 3 p.m.

Artists

I introduce the creators of the best murals on a walk down North Street, meandering into some side alleys from time to time. Then, you’ll find all those artists in alphabetical order in the Instagram section below.

Aspire

Rob is the leading British street artist when it comes to paintings of wild nature. Especially his portraits of bird species are iconic. He draws inspiration from the real world in his imaginative spray-painted works.

Aspire combines traditional painting with graffiti. His impressive work can be found in galleries as murals and on canvas. For urban art aficionados, he also skillfully immortalizes his motifs on exterior walls.

Sophie Rae

Sophie Rae works primarily in Bristol and London. She loves transforming dull walls into beautiful works of art with her colorful graphic designs. She designs both outdoor and indoor areas. So Sophie has created murals in bars and restaurants, offices and schools, gardens, and of course streets.

In her opinion, a well-thought-out design shows that care has been taken to make a space feel comfortable. Sophie contributes to this with her murals.

Lucas Antics 

Lucas Antics is primarily Alexandra Lucas, who lives in Bristol with her co-artist and husband Paul Fearnside and their child. She is an illustrator and street artist.

Alex Lucas has a degree in multimedia textile design and masters in animation and
illustration as well as in art therapy.

Many private and commercial customers as well as architects have commissioned Lucas Antics to decorate their façades. There are countless house fronts in Bristol that she has decorated with her artistic, ornamental motifs. Although the designs are very different, they can always be identified as real Antics by their soft, organic curves and clear, harmonious color combinations. You can see that very clearly in the row of houses that she painted for the Upfest Gallery on North Street. They are the cover pic of this post.

And since all Bristolians seem to support a good cause in some way, it should not go unmentioned that Alexandra Lucas and Paul Fearnside are ambassadors for the wonderful Frank Water Project.

You can see more works by Lucas Antics in my former post on Bristol’s street art Best Street Art in BRISTOL – Part I: From Nelson Street to Stokes Croft.

Stewy

Although Stewy is based in Bristol, his work can also be seen in London and other British cities, as well as Berlin.

The basis of his artworks are life-size, hand-cut stencils, including a number of British celebrities. He then immortalizes it in a place that is meaningful to the person. So he placed a stencil of Cary Grant on the wall of Room 212. Although Grant is considered an American actor, he was born Archibald Alec Leach in Bristol in 1904. There he attended Bishop Road School, just around the corner from Room 212.

In addition to human local heroes, Stewy has also created a series of images of animals native to Britain. These images have evolved from small pigeons to a life-sized horse.
Stewy places his animals in an urban setting to show that nature is reclaiming the city. It’s quite funny because when I was in Bristol for the first time a few years ago I actually ran into a fox on the way back to the hotel!

Angus

Nick Bryant aka Angus is a Bristol-based artist. Although he had no formal training, he immediately scored with his humorous depictions right as he began his artistic activities in early 2015. He finds inspiration in his own everyday life, current events, and the creative environment of Bristol’s art scene.

As well as street art, Angus runs a studio where he creates works for some of the UK’s leading galleries. He has contributed to a number of urban art publications.

In addition to Upfest, Angus has taken part in many street art festivals. He also regularly cooperates with international artists and galleries.

Inkie

Tom Bingle aka Inkie is originally from Bristol, however, today, he lives in London. Along with Banksy, 3D, and Nick Walker, he is one of the fathers of street art in Bristol. Because of his style, which is based on Art Nouveau, you can quickly assign his works to him.

Inkie began working as part of the Crime Incorporated Crew in 1983, along with FLX and Joe Braun. With Banksy, he organized the Walls on Fire Event on the Site of the Future in the Bristol Center in 1998. In August 2011 and 2012, he was appointed organizer of the See No Evil Festival, which I introduce in my post Best Street Art in BRISTOL – Part I: From Nelson Street to Stokes Croft.

After working in the video game industry, including as head of creative design at Sega, Inkie now teaches art and graphic design to youngsters.

You can see more works by Inkie in my former post on Bristol’s street art Best Street Art in BRISTOL – Part I: From Nelson Street to Stokes Croft.

Victoriano Txapartegi

Victoriano Txapartegi was born in Spain in 1981. Since the age of 15, he has been beautifying the world – sometimes anonymously, sometimes under different pseudonyms, and also under his real name – with street art.

Despite holding high-profile design and luxury brand positions in Spain and Great Britain as an art director and senior designer, he quit his job in 2009 to start a graffiti company. In addition to offices in Great Britain and Spain, the company is also based in Hong Kong. Customers include Converse, DKNY, Google, and Yahoo, among many others.

Despite these commercial successes, his free artistic work is important to Victoriano: in addition to street art, these are primarily commissioned portraits. His works can be found in private collections worldwide.

Molly Mural

Molly Hawkins aka Molly Mural was born in Yorkshire but heavily influenced by Bristol. For her, the world is not an oyster, but a canvas. With her graphic yet organic shapes in bold and clear colors, she embellishes walls, stage sets, and even clothing in Europe as well as Latin America.

Molly is passionate about making art accessible to everyone and bringing communities together. That’s why she uses her workshops to help people achieve well-being, pride and identity through creativity.

Molly’s standout projects include the transformation of a basketball court in Essex, her largest mural to date on Bristol’s EQ Building as well as her Taylor Swift art trail installation.

Molly’s work has been featured in BBC News, Design Week, and Observer Magazine.

SledOne

SledOne is a Bristol-based artist. He draws his inspiration from both his immediate surroundings and nature. He likes to use animal images as metaphors.

But not all of his work has a deeper meaning. Sometimes he just has fun with motifs, which he passionately paints in broad strokes and bold colors.

Zoë Power

Zoë Power studied printmaking and sign writing. Traditional painting and printing techniques strongly influence the graphic designer and illustrator’s work.

She is active as a street artist across the UK. Her large-format, distinctive depictions focus on people, whom she portrays as happy and self-confident.

Alessio ‘Bolo’ Bolognesi

Alessio Bolognesi aka Bolo was born in 1978 in the Italian city of Ferrara.
He started drawing as a small child. But he later decided to study electrical engineering and then worked as a 3D graphic designer.

After he started painting in 2008, he was awarded his first art prizes already in 2010 and also held his first solo exhibitions. Today, his works hang in galleries in Italy, Portugal, and the USA. You can also find them on many walls, as Bolo has taken part in numerous street art festivals. For him, spending a day painting a mural with friends is still the greatest thing.

Alessio Bolognesi is a member of the artistic street art and graffiti collective Vida Krei VKB.

Dan Kitchener

Dan Kitchener aka DANK is a British artist based in London. He’s another master of spray cans who never uses grids or stencils for his amazing murals. Kitchener has been one of my very favorite street artists for some time now.

He creates those fantastic moody street scenes in the rain. The seemingly tangible atmosphere of his murals actually seems to suck the viewer in. Over the years, they made him one of the leading urban artists worldwide. You will immediately recognize his murals in many European cities like Berlin and London, as well as in Tokyo, Hong Kong, and the US.

During his artistic career, Kitchener has worked with celebrities like Kylie Minogue, Miley Cyrus, Paul McCartney, and Lenny Kravitz, to name just a few.

I’ve introduced Dan Kitchener in former posts about street art in Amsterdam and London.

Zabou

Zabou was born in the Loire region of France. Already in her childhood, she spent a lot of time drawing and painting. After moving to Great Britain to study, she began painting on the streets in 2012. Since then, she has taken part in many urban art festivals and numerous projects. She has created over 250 murals in 22 countries around the world.

The basis for Zabou’s hyperrealistic portraits are photos, which she then re-interprets with an emphasis on their expression and emotions. She mainly works with spray paint and transforms them into expressive black-and-white portraits.
She is interested in stories and is inspired by both everyday life as well as the places where she paints, obviously.

In addition to her murals, Zabou also spends time honing her skills in her studio. She has exhibited her work in France and the United Kingdom, including several exhibitions at the Saatchi Gallery in London. In March 2022, the gallery presented the artist’s first solo exhibition.

I’ve introduced Zabou in my posts about street art in London and Vienna.

Farrah Fortnam

It is striking how many female street artists are represented on North Street. One of them is Farrah Fortnam. The Bristol-based artist only painted her first mural during lockdown! Since then she has created works in Bristol, Bath, and beyond.

Fortnam sees herself as an artistic environmental activist with a passion for saving rainforests. Therefore, she wants to use her street art to make the general public aware of the impact humans have on nature and the associated climate crisis.

Mister Samo

Samo White aka Mister Samo is a Portsmouth-based artist. As a trans person himself, he is an activist in the LGBTQ+ community.

Since 2013 he has been painting with both spray paint and acrylic paints. With his depictions, some of which are almost hurtful, he wants to spread a plea for acceptance and friendliness. Today, fans around the world collect his works.

In addition to painting at World Pride 2019, he also produced an art book about trans bodies entitled I EXIST.

Kashink

Maëva Martinez aka Kashink was born in the French city of Alès in 1981. Although the artist and illustrator is based in Paris, she has traveled the world to be inspired by different cultures. In return, her distinctive work is internationally recognized.

With her huge four-eyed personas in bright colors, Kashink has created her characteristic style. For around fifteen years she has been thriving artistically, primarily in street art, but also in classical exhibitions.

Kashink questions aesthetic codes and identities not only in her works: since 2013, the artist has worn a mustache made from two lines of eyeliner. Her aim is to break down gender-specific normativity and create artistic freedom. Kashink sees herself as an activist who practices a form of public art.

FLX

Felix Braun aka FLX is one of the fathers of street art in Bristol and records the history as an author in the book Children of the Can.

Braun earned a BA in visual communication and is trained in youth work. As a result, in addition to his artistic work, he dedicated himself to youth art projects.

FLX co-founded the mural collective Paintsmiths of Bristol. Their large-format works celebrate the life of Nelson Mandela. They also captured the special relationship between Donald Trump and Boris Johnson in a brotherly kiss that attracted global media attention.

You can see more works by FLX in my former post on Bristol’s street art Best Street Art in BRISTOL – Part I: From Nelson Street to Stokes Croft.

Aches

Aches is a Dublin-based artist who specializes in large-scale murals and lettering in a distinctive style. He drew and painted from a young age. At the age of 15, he took his art onto the streets. He graduated from the National College of Art and Design in Dublin with a degree in visual communications. This allowed Aches to incorporate his academic skills and theoretical knowledge of graphic design into his murals with a unique RGB aesthetic.

Aches has undertaken commissioned work on projects around the world. You can see his work today in Austria, Denmark, Great Britain, Spain, Sweden, and Switzerland, to name just a few. You will immediately identify them as real Aches.

After a decade of painting in public spaces, Aches now divides his work equally between murals and studio pieces.

Ant Carver

Ant Carver was born in 1991 and graduated from Oxford Brookes with a degree in Fine Art. However, his interest in art arose from his passion for street art and graffiti. He is a figurative painter who combines traditional oil painting techniques with a contemporary style. His portraits combine hyper-realistic depictions with more abstract hatching and sketched elements. In particular, his artistic closeness to fellow street artist Conor Harrington cannot be denied.

Ant Carver lives and works mainly in London.

I’ve introduced Ant Carver in a former post about street art in London.

Irony 

Irony is one of the self-taught grandmasters of urban art. This quite elusive artist sprays his hyper-realistic motifs freehand as if painting with a brush. Oh, this being said: He also paints with a brush on canvas.

Irony’s more recent works mix classical portraiture with the dreary aesthetics of urban spaces, giving it a morbid charm.

Irony often cooperates with fellow street artist Boe. Both artists prefer to remain anonymous. 

I’ve introduced Irony in a former post about street art in London.

On Instagram

To dig deeper into the subject and see more of the amazing art the above-featured artists have created, you can just check out their Instagram accounts:

How to Get Around

There are basically two ways to hunt for street art: on foot or by bike. Especially since the side streets alongside North Street can be pretty hilly, it’s much easier to walk from work to work. However, it doesn’t take any effort to walk from the Dean Street bus stop all the way to the junction at Ashton Road as we’re talking about one kilometer here.

To get to the Dean Street stop, take bus 23 or 24 from the city center.

A one-way bus journey in Bristol costs £ 2, a two-trip ticket £ 3.80, three tips £ 5.80, and a so-called day-rider £ 6. Also, capping three or more consecutive days makes your travel cheaper. If you pay with your NFC-equipped credit or debit card, the system automatically adds the trips in a way that you always pay the cheapest price.
You’ll find further info on the bus company’s website.
You can find out all the transport connections on Google Maps, simply enter the start and destination and let the app do the magic.

Map

This map should help you find the murals I’m introducing in my posts on Street Art in Bristol. However, I split it into two layers, one for Nelson Street and Stokes Croft, and the other one for North Street. This way, you can open them separately.
Clicking on the slider symbol at the top left or the full-screen icon at the top right will display the whole map including the legend.

There is a first part of Bristol’s Street Art called Best Street Art in BRISTOL – Part I: From Nelson Street to Stokes Croft. However, looking for urban art was only one of the awesome things I got to do during my visit. In my post BRISTOL -What to Do on the Best Weekend Break You’ll Have in a Long Time, I take you on a comprehensive city tour.

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