By Sam Rkaina / s.rkaina@bepp.co.uk
The first building-size piece of art has gone up in Bristol for Europe’s biggest street art festival.
Work began this weekend on the See No Evil art project, which will see dozens of the biggest names in the graffiti world repaint a number of buildings in Nelson Street in the city centre.
Aryz's first piece for the Nelson Street project last night
The first work was completed on Sunday by the Spanish artist Aryz. Five stories high, it appears to feature a boy in a bow tie with a wolf mask on.
Artists began arriving from around the world last week to take part in the project, which has been organised by Bristol street artist and Banksy collaborator Inkie.
More pieces are due to go up during the week, ahead of the official three day celebration starting Thursday.
Buildings included in the scheme include the Royal Bank of Scotland, the Unite building, 9 and 11 Quay Street, the Board Street high rise block and the overhead walkway opposite Trafalgar House.
The juvenile courts and police annexe are also to be repainted, but only on a temporary basis as they are due to be redeveloped in October.
More pieces will follow during the week
Nelson Street won’t be closed off while the work is being carried out so passers by can watch them at work.
Painters like Aryz will use cherry pickers to reach the tallest parts of the buildings, some of which are up to 10 stories high.
The road will be closed on Saturday, August 20 and 21 for a street party, with local traders opening street stalls, music and pop up bars on the ground floors of some of the vacant properties.
There will also be workshops so people can learn more about the art form.
Nelson Street has capacity for up to 5,000 people at any one time, but if there are more than that then the other access points at Christmas Street and Broad Street will be closed off.
Visitors would then be let in at the Colston Avenue end of Nelson Street, and leave at Union Street.
Organisers hope that See No Evil will be the biggest local art event since Banksy took over the Museum of Bristol two years ago, which itself gave a massive boost to the city.
A similar project in Melbourne, Australia, is now one of the city’s top attractions, bringing in an estimated 450,000 visitors a year and money into the local economy.
Music will be held on Thursday, Friday and Saturday nights, using the former Royal Sun Alliance building as a venue.
[...] this weekend is the cumulation Bristol based massive street art project “SEE NO EVIL” which looks good so far. I’m usually not one for commissioned graffiti but it seems Bristol [...]