Upfest Gallery Opening

Upfest is opening its new gallery in Bedminster on Friday and it will be definitely worth being there on opening night. Here is the link to the facebook page for Upfest. The address is 198 North Street, Bedminster, Bristol, BS3 IJF and festivities start at 6pm. (image by Ian Phenna)

A few more festival photos

The pigs were part of the Bristol cycling festival but the other two photos were taken at Brisfest.

Photos from Brisfest

Upfest at Brisfest

Had a really nice weekend helping out at Brisfest with Upfest who were running a kids painting wall. The wall originally had an outline of Bristol's landmarks on but this was eventually lost due to artistic enthusiasm! Everyone had a lot of fun though, here are a few photos showing the development.

List found at Brisfest

Found Photos

A couple of photos that I have found in Bristol.

Owen Gildersleeve

Owen was on my art foundation course and has done very well for himself since studying at Brighton. I really like the piece above which seems very appropriate with all the new starters going to Uni.

Marcus Walters

Another really nice illustrator, bright, simple and beautiful! More work here.

Ofer Wolberger

Similar in some ways to Gillian Wearing's photo of Lily Cole Wolberger took a series of photos of a masked woman named Maggie in various 'holiday' situations (ever so slightly creepy!). He also has some interesting photos of American Landscapes on his website.

Brisfest

If you are able to, get down to Brisfest this weekend. I am hopefully helping out and there is a lot of interesting stuff going on, check out the website for more details!

Silja Goetz

Really love her work, an excellent combination of drawing and collage

Luke Jerram

I was pleasantly surprised when I received UWIC's alumni magazine to discover that Luke Jerram had also been a former student. I think he is a very clever artist, most recently gaining press coverage with his glass sculptures of disease. He was also behind the interactive piano installations which were located around the world inviting people to 'Play me, I'm yours'. He is evidently a brilliant thinker, someone who is changing the way we interact and engage with art.

Jessica Wilson

Really love this John Barnes rap and the rest of her work is also very good!

Paula Castro

I saw the work of this lady at Pick Me Up which was held at Somerset House in London towards the end of April. I really like the detailed style of drawing, Castro was born in Argentina and now works in Paris.

Michael Gillette

I absolutely love the work of Michael Gillette, I just saw him again on 'It's nice that' but remember the Bond covers coming out a while ago and really liking the retro styling.

Caleb Owen Everitt

Brooklyn based designer with some very clean yet purposeful work.

Eleanor Hardwick

I first saw Eleanor's work a couple of years ago in the Metro. She is now aged 17 and clearly has a fantastic eye and an excellent imagination, really beautiful photos.

Miss Van

One of my favourite graffiti artists is Miss Van, I really like her hyper feminine but also slightly menacing characters, I saw a lot of her work when in Barcelona a few years ago. She also has a fashion range which is available online.

Sunny Bristol

A few photos from yesterday.

Solar Cinema Bristol

I just got back from a night helping out with the 'Solar Powered Outdoor Cinema' in St Andrew's Park, Bristol. It was basically a screen hooked up to a solar powered battery with a load of deck chairs and carpet for people to sit on. After a flyer drop around the surrounding houses at least 200 people turned up and really enjoyed the 12 short animations from all over the world. This was all part of the Encounters short film festival which is due to be held at the Watershed and Arnolfini between the 16th and 21st of November. After a sneak peak at some of the work I am definitely keen to catch more of this festival. There are two more solar cinemas next weekend which are well worth catching.

Louise Riley

Louise Riley is a very talented artist who works mainly in textiles and stitch. Her website is well worth a look.

Mimi Leung

For once I am writing about something in advance of it finishing! Saw this on the Here gallery website and thought it well worth a mention. A solo exhibition of the work of Mimi Leung on from now until the 9th of October.

Gillian Wearing

Another excellent photographer is Gillian Wearing, I researched her ages ago for some project I can't quite remember and then my memory was jogged when I picked up one of her postcards from Dunedin Public Art Gallery (which was very good). I really like her work, so simple and stark. The portrait of Lily Cole is also interesting for its use of a mask on an already doll like face.

Covent Garden and The Royal Opera House

Whilst in London at the weekend I had a bit of time to wander around Covent Garden. I didn't know that it was on but I managed to stumble upon Ignite at the Royal Opera House which was basically an open house with lots of exciting little rooms and performances to stumble upon. Here are a few photos of the event and the surrounding area.