#Upfest 2017

[loveitbristol]

John by 4foot2 Via Flickr: portrait of John Lennon by the Brazilian artist Eduardo Kobra

[lamolinastreetart]

A very happy Caturday!! 🐱 (by British Irony & Placee Boe for UpFest 2017 in Bristol, England #placeeboe #irony #upfest #bristolstreetart #streetart #lamolinastreetart 📷 by @perecanals via bit.ly/37NUkGx) (bij Bristol, United Kingdom) https://www.instagram.com/p/Cc_CxJgLXQi/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

[sillybitchem-blog]

[northernechoes]

Upfest is Europe’s largest, free, street art & graffiti festival, attracting over 300 artists painting 35 venues throughout Bedminster & Southville, Bristol.

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#Upfest2017 #Bristol Upfest is Europe’s largest, free, street art & graffiti festival, attracting over 300 artists painting 35 venues throughout Bedminster & Southville, Bristol. SaveSave SaveSave

[inspiringcityuk]

The Top 20 Artworks from the Upfest Street Art Festival in Bristol

The Top 20 Artworks from the Upfest Street Art Festival in Bristol

Upfest is undoubtedly the premier street art festival in Europe. Transforming whole sections of its home city Bristol with pieces from some of the best street artists and graffiti writers from around the World.

Over the last weekend in July a massive number of locations across the south of the city played host to a myriad of artists. Centred around the area of Bedminster and in particular North…

[auntiegilli]

Peterborough based urban artist Korp employs multi-layered stencil techniques and marker pens to create utterly contemporary and iconographic images. An early member of the Free Art Friday movement and frequently found at live paint jams, Korp is best recognised for his marker work which consists of an army of mutated worms.           Upfest profile

Bit of background and how you got into art

I was an unacademic art student who could paint and draw easily but never put any effort in so I walked away from GCSE art with a D and didnt get back into art for another 10 years. In my 30s I started exploring different types of art and ended settling on an illustrative style and slowly become more and more involved with street art.

Influences on your work 

My earliest influence was Joan Miro, I loved the colours and the bold black lines that could be interpreted in different ways for different viewers. As I developed my own style I became influenced by Logan Hicks and his ability to create photo real artwork from multi layer stencils through to Shepard Fairey and the way he repeats the same images multiple times.

A bit about previous exhibitions / events / festivals / walls – What have you been doing this year?

I started live painting in 2010 at Upfest and collaborating with My Dog Sighs which was a baptism of fire, ever since then I’ve been hooked on the paint jams and the idea of creating your artwork in front of a crowd almost like performance art. I had my first solo exhibition last year at Play Dead which was a great success and since then I’ve been a part of several group shows including the most recent at Take a Butchers street art gallery in Dusseldorf.

What have you got coming up this year? 

I’ll be going full time as an artist this year so the plan is to get up and out more. I’m looking forward to being able to spend a lot more time on my art rather than just grabbing a quick hour here and there.

Can you tell me a bit about your work?

A lot of people think the character I draw is a worm but it actually came from a project I took part in called the Boston Sketchbook Project. The theme of the sketchbook was “the writing on the wall” so I made it a personal look into my childhood and what happened to turn me into an artist. One page reflected on the day I realised I could draw and it was a simple as drawing around my fingers and adding little faces to them to symbolise how they came to life through creativity. Since then I have developed them with arms and feathers and my audience named them Korpworms.

Alternatively (or as well as) Last year for my Play Dead show I wanted to explore the darker side of my art and ended up creating my blackworm character which is my manifestation of mental illness. It subtly appears in a lot of my work and in some cases is a huge part of it. Treating mental illness as an ever present character that is always there in one form or another is a coping strategy that I know works for a lot of people so I wanted it to be in amongst all my artwork as something that people can look for and identify with.

  What do other artists say about your work?

Probably that he does nice smooth lines

What is important to you about your art?

Its important to me that my art is not just decorative, I like there to be a story or a meaning to everything I do. I like to be niche but recognisable with a subtle playfulness when the mood takes me.

Can you tell me something about what you will be doing at Upfest?

I’ll be collaborating with Miss Wah on a big board that will be an interesting mix of her cute kawaii style and my darker characters.

What are you looking forward to about Upfest ?

I always look forward to seeing the global artists on their top game…Pichavo last year was mind blowing, likewise Herekut a year or two before.

Website            Instagram         Twitter         Facebook

See Korp’s work at South Street Park

Upfest Saturday 29, Sunday 30 Monday 31 July 2017

Upfest Festival Map

Upfest 2017 – Korp and his army of mutated worms Peterborough based urban artist Korp employs multi-layered stencil techniques and marker pens to create utterly contemporary and iconographic images.

[humanslikeme]

Jody Artist @ The Nursery, Bedminster for UpFest 2017

[puredamien]

Jody Artist @ The Nursery, Bedminster for UpFest 2017 [4608 x 3456] [OC]

[fuckyeahstephenquick]

#Repost @lamolinastreetart ... 'Pop girl' by British Stephan Quick aka Splintered Studios (@splinteredstudios) for Upfest 2017 in Bristol, UK #splinteredstudios #upfest #bristolstreetart #streetart #lamolinastreetart 📷 via bit.ly/3DvYAoT (at Bristol, United Kingdom) https://www.instagram.com/p/CTNUdYxMuJV/?utm_medium=tumblr

[grunisment]

Dzia at Upfest 2017 - North Street, Bristol

[streetheart-serendipity]

▫️Imagine ▫️ Just arrived in Bristol, UK, to see the walls painted for @upfest & Banksy's hometown! Upfest is the biggest street art festival in Europe. Created in 2008 by art lovers, it was supposed to invite 20 artists painting live and in 2017 it was attracting more than 350 artists from all around the world! Everybody can paint for the festival you just need to apply to the festival few months before. It takes place end of July during 2 days. This mural is the work of the brasilian artist @kobrastreetart representing John Lennon. It seems some young people thought Kobra painted Harry Potter! 😱 I am happy to see once again Kobra's work after meeting him and his friend in Portugal and spending the whole @galeria_de_arte_urbana festival in Marvila this year few months ago! _______________________________________________________ #bristol #streetartbristol #streetart #graffiti #urbanart #wallpainting #streetartist #graf #rsa_graffiti #dsb_graff #tv_streetart #graffitiart #streetartandgraffiti #streetarteveryday #instagraffiti #instagraff #super_graffiti_channel #graffitiart #total_urbanart #painting #spraypaint #urbanwalls #graff #arturbain #streetart_addiction #be_one_urbanart #jj_urbanart #upfest #kobrastreetart (à Tobacco Factory)

[roofdog1962]

Bristol Upfest 2017

[inspireif]

I love stickers and sketchbooks! Here are my last 11 mini sketchbooks. 1-10 are full and 11 is just starting today. 2 years of sketches and stickers.... plus my new (work in progress) MacBook (needs more stickers). Sketchbook 1 was started in January 2016 and 11 has just been started in December 2017. As for stickers... I’ve got plenty of mine plus loads cool ones from amazing artists and companies including #captainkris #squirlart #si_mitchell #kidcrayon1 #lazyobit #paintshopstudio #instinctime #flyingfortress243 #nolart #czee13art #theskeletoncardboard #newrulecollective #int_meetingofstyles #mos_uk #faunagraphic #gent48 #snub_23 #benwithpen #secretwalls #secretwallslondon #vantagepointradio #poscaoficial #posca_uk #againstlab #_the_real_dill1 #gumsandtongue #buffmonster #sef.01 #gumsandtongue #dahkoh #mr._serious #goopmassta #mindcontrolaidan #artofsool #spreadartnyc #dudesfactory #upfest #raw_inc #theinfamousdogfight

[terribleviewart]

Uncovered this gem on an old SD card from @upfest 2017. Work done by the brilliant @chaplinseventythree. Keep doing more of what you love dude! - #chaplinseventythree #chaplin73 #marksbrothers #darrenchaplin #upfest2017 #urbanpaintfestival #bristolstreetartist #bristolstreetart #bristol #streetarteverywhere #streetartuk #streetart #graffiti #wheatpaste #mural #urbanart #pasteups #pasteupporn #pasteupart #wall #wallart #wallporn #terribleviewart

[opfilmandphotography]

Sea Badger love at Upfest 2017 : #Upfest2017 #Bristol #streetart #graffiti #lumix #canon #5dmarkiii #gh4 #artist #art #street #op #film #Photography #opfilmandphotography #Surrealflix #daily #share #lush #town #awesome #bedminster #festivals #sea #fish #badger #heart #love #face (at Upfest - The Urban Paint Festival)

[auntiegilli]

‘Gemma Compton is an artist/fashion designer based in Bristol, her highly detail work with its strong style has crossed from garments to gallery walls. Being brought up in a small town in the sleepy Cotswold’s sparked a lifelong love for nature, particularly ornithology and the British countryside. Her work draws influence from the flawless, high glamour imagery used throughout the creative industry. Beautiful women and modern day icons are mixed with wildlife, dead and alive, juxtaposing our modern human ideals of beauty with the natural beauty and cruelty of nature.’ Upfest Profile

Can you give me a bit of background and how you got into art?

Like all children I had a love for everything creative – I drew every day on anything and everything I could get my hands on. As a student, I went to the University of West England, and got a first-class degree in fashion design, which is still a huge passion of mine. I specialised in illustration and print making because art and drawing has always been my obsession. My degree taught me a lot of skills which I’ve carried forward into my artistic practice/career but I’ve always seen myself as a self-taught artist, art has been a driving force in my life since I can remember, it’s part of me and I’ll never stop creating it.

Influences on your work

I have a real affinity for Frida Kahlo and her artwork. Parts of our personal stories are quite similar. I suffered a spinal injury in my late teens due to a RTA and spent a long time in recovery. Getting back on an artistic path really helped me to keep a focus on moving my life forward. After Kahlo’s accident, she used her art to express the pain and frustrations she was feeling and the style and symbolism of her work really speak to me on a personal level. I use a lot of symbolism in my own work to explore the fragility of ‘Love, Life and Loss’ and I think this comes from the life experience I have that ‘life is really too short’. Everything can change in a split second so make the most of it.

‘The Broken Column’ Frida Kahlo 1944

  What was the best piece of advice that you were given when you were starting out?

The best piece of advice I was given was about four years ago now. I had been working and selling work as an artist for a few years but I was beginning to feel lost and frustrated. A friend (who is also in the arts) told me the most important thing is to ‘just be yourself.’ It sounds so simple but I think you can get caught up in the art industry (like anywhere) copying and following trends. I wanted to draw on my experiences, deliver my message, using the skills that I have, to produce art that is true to myself.

What is important to you about your art?

As above. Being true to myself. I think it’s very therapeutic to create. The discipline of it has got me through some tough times in my life. It makes me happy, at times it reduces me to tears. It has made me so angry that I have destroyed it. When your passionate about anything, it matters! The message that I’m trying to convey is important, it’s not just a pretty picture. And on the days when I feel I’ll never paint again I reflect on the emails from my clients or a FB message from someone who picked up one of my prints saying that they love and connect with it on a deeper level than it’s just something decorative for their home. Then I feel I’ve done my job as an artist.

What is your process in creating a new piece of work?

Sketching, researching. It’s so easy to look at things online but I love books. Nature books, old encyclopaedias etc. I get inspired by getting out in to the countryside, listening to music, running, I’m never not thinking about what my next piece might be. I jot down ideas all the time – I am a great list maker but I have things/ideas written down from years ago that I just haven’t painted yet. Not enough hours in the day! When the concept is finalised, I sketch onto canvas and then take my time layering up my paint from initial washes to dark tones and I can’t resist a flash of metallic with a bit of gold leaf at the end.

Where people can find you at Upfest?

At the Steam Crane on North St

Can you tell me something about what you will be doing?

I’ll be collaborating alongside my husband CopyRight, we’re working on a 12m long mural in the beer garden. It will be our usual bright fusion of styles, you’ll have to wait and see!

What are you looking forward to about Upfest?

I love the creative and community aspect of Upfest. There’s so much love and fun over the weekend. People travel from all around the world to celebrate creativity and positivity with their chosen artform and that makes me proud to call Bristol my home and be involved in this festival. Art brings people together from all backgrounds and cultures and we need a little unity in the world right now.

Whose work are you looking forward to seeing?

Eelus is a great artist. I love his work but never seen him live paint a large mural before. MyDogSighs, he’s was missed last year and Buff Monster, I’ve loved his work for a long time and he will be a great addition to East St.

    See Gemma Compton and CopyRite’s work at Steam Crane on North St

Upfest Saturday 29, Sunday 30 Monday 31 July 2017

Upfest Festival Map

Upfest 2017 – The fabulous Gemma Compton and being herself 'Gemma Compton is an artist/fashion designer based in Bristol, her highly detail work with its strong style has crossed from garments to gallery walls.