SPOTLIGHT Festivals
ONWARDS AND UPWARDS
Colour us excited; Upfest is returning to the streets of South Bristol once more for 2020 with an earlier date, a tweaked location. a whole new vibe and its biggest ever line-up of local, national and international artists. From 30 May 30 – 1 June, Europe’s largest live street and urban art festival will take over Greville Smyth Park for the first ever ‘greenfield’ festival, bringing together the boards and canvases previously spread between several South Bristol venues for a massive weekend-long celebration of street art in the park. The celebrations continue at Upfest’s original Tobacco Factory venue, but this year the huge murals and wall paintings that were traditionally made over the festival weekend will now be created in the two weeks running up to the event, “giving more people the chance to witness these spectacular creations come to life first hand,” said fest director Steve Hayles. The completed work will then be on show while over 250 artists paint live, with music, food and drink experiences alongside. Upfest is free to attend, but needs your help to reach its £25,000 crowd-funding target. If supporting an amazing event isn’t quite enough to sway you, the Upfest artists have sweetened the deal, offering up such tasty rewards as designs, artwork and clothing to those who make a pledge, regardless of whether it’s a fiver or five hundred pounds. Let’s make it happen people. For more: www.upfest.co.uk
top and first left:
Jody’s Greta was succeeded Kobra’s Lennon on the Tobacco Factory walls photos by Neil James), and we’re in no hurry to see it go; right: Unmistakeably Doctor Love, photo by Paul Box
Exhibition
Apropos, just a few days after we wave goodbye to Upfest, M Shed brings us ‘Vanguard’ Bristol Street Art: the Evolution of a Global Movement, from 6 June-1 November – a spectacular collection of works by British and international artists, that celebrates the pivotal role of Bristol and its creatives as the birthplace of street art and graf. Seminal works from Henry Chalfant, Banksy and Beezer will feature, through to deepfake viral sensation Bill Posters, and Conor Harrington. A selection of the works on display have not previously been seen, and some not shown in public for over 20 years. Spotlight features will also include the work of artist, musician and activist Robert Del Naja (Massive Attack’s 3D), one of Bristol’s earliest street artists. Vanguard will address the development of the movement from the subcultural perspective of Bristol, exploring the triumphs and
hardships of street art’s anarchist origins in the ’80s and ’90s, the explosion of works in the early noughtiess to ‘Then and Now’, which takes a closer look at Bristol artists’ stylistic development over the last three decades, with some big names in the line up. Moving beyond Bristol to the United Kingdom and Ireland, the exhibition reflects on the diversity of practice brought about by the momentum of the movement, concluding with a spotlight on artists evolving globally from street art practices to affect meaningful change in the world. “Bristol is the undisputed home of British street art,” says councillor Craig Cheney, deputy mayor of Bristol, “so what better place to host this landmark show than M Shed? With plenty of exciting details still to come, it promises to be one of the biggest cultural events in 2020.” For more: www.bristolmuseums.org.uk
© IAN COX 2020
STREET DREAMS
Jago at Best Kept Secret festival, 2012
www.mediaclash.co.uk I BRISTOL LIFE I 7
