The Other Art Fair and Upfest partner up

The Other Art Fair and Upfest, two of the UK’s most innovative art events, join forces this summer to make Bristol a major destination for art fans over the weekend of July 23 and 24.

Celebrating Bristol’s title as one of the UK’s most creative cities, this unique partnership will invite more than 400 contemporary and urban artists to display their work at the Arnolfini as well as through the streets of Bedminster and Southville.

As an internationally recognised leading artist fair, The Other Art Fair is a unique, innovative experience encompassing a range of genres from photography and print to painting and ceramics, drawing in an audience of art lovers who meet and buy direct from undiscovered artists themselves. Meanwhile, as Europe’s largest live street art festival, Upfest invites urban artists from across the globe to create stunning pieces across more than 30,000sqft of selected surfaces in the south of the city.

Showcasing 80 emerging artists, this summer edition of The Other Art Fair will feature a sensory experience like no other. Guided by professional dancers, blindfolded visitors will not just listen to the colourful music of Debussy but smell, touch and taste it through a series of carefully choreographed experiences by the BitterSuite team.

Artists already revealed for this year’s fair include Bristol-based ceramicist Lucy Foakes, watercolour specialist Bridget Davis, urban printmaker Gerry Buxton, sculptor Alexander Korzer-Robinson and Claire Newman-Williams, whose portrait photography profile includes Stephen Fry, Tom Hiddleston and Isaac Hempstead. Upfest 2016 will, as ever, bring the best urban artists to paint walls of South Bristol. More than 300 artists will paint live across the weekend, coming to the event from as far flung as Canada, Australia, Israel and Argentina.

The two art events will be just a short walk apart, so visitors may enjoy them both whilst visiting the city either for the whole weekend or just a day; walking between The Other Art Fair at Bristol’s Arnolfini gallery and South Bristol, and the Upfest heartland of Bedminster and Southville.

Ryan Stanier, director of The Other Art Festival, said: “Working hand in hand with Upfest to put on an incredible weekend of art in Bristol is a no brainer for us. Both of us work to support emerging artists and challenge ‘the norm’ when it comes to art, and there’s no better city to celebrate this than Bristol – a place that deservedly has a great reputation for dong things differently and cultivating great talent.”

Upfest director Stephen Hayles added: “Bristol has always been a mecca for fans of street art but to have The Other Art Fair taking place over the same weekend means the city will be bursting with a huge variety of work and you’ll almost need the whole weekend to experience it all. Both events have the added bonus of being able to meet the artists themselves and talk about their work”.

For more information about The Other Art Fair, visit bristol.theotherartfair.com

For more information about Upfest, visit www.upfest.co.uk

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