This is how the biggest street art mural site in Bristol got its new image – with two local artists collaborating to paint the design.
Legendary street art figure Inkie and Bristol artist Silent Hobo have transformed the side of the Tobacco Factory on North Street in Ashton Gate to promote an upcoming summit called ‘Planet Local’.
The conference takes place over the last weekend of September at St George’s Hall and at the Tobacco Factory itself, and the artwork has been commissioned by one of the conference’s promoters, Tobacco Factory owner George Ferguson.
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Bristol Live broke the news of the big change to the mural wall earlier this month when work got underway, and Mr Ferguson said then that the work would be promoting the ‘Planet Local’, which seeks to encourage people to use local shops, trades and services to help the wider planet.
“It’ll be up until next summer,” said Mr Ferguson. “We’re getting to do something that will help continue the theme of promoting local economies, and the whole project is being filmed – we want it to go global. It’ll be lots of figures, lots of images, really colourful, and having the wall painted by two Bristol artists will really fit in with what the Planet Local movement is all about,” he added.
The two artists initially worked during the evenings, painting to a guide projection onto the vast wall during last week’s heatwave, and completed the work earlier this week. The Tobacco Factory wall, which faces North Street’s Aldi store, is the centrepiece of the usually annual Upfest, and previously has had art inspired by Lisa Simpson and Greta Thunberg. This year, there’s no Upfest, so the work will remain until next summer’s festival.