Once again the gallery have sponsored visual arts at the largest arts festival in England, Brighton Fringe 2014. This year we went bigger and better than ever before, presenting an exclusive LIVE Street Art festival – a gala of graffiti and all things Urban Art!
Brighton Fringe is one of the largest fringe festivals in the world and a celebration of all things creative. The gallery Urban ArtFest took place on 31st of May in a vacant, industrial, undercover market in Brighton’s Circus Street (the perfect gritty venue for an Urban Art bash). It was a non-ticketed, totally free event, open to all.
It’s a rare thing to see a Street artist at work; they are better known painting in the shadows and producing anonymous creations in the dead of night. The unique Urban Artfest was, therefore, a rare and thrilling opportunity to observe urban art masters at work. Offering a glimpse into the graffiti methods and street art skills of some of the UK’s top artists, the Artfest was a massive destination for art fans and the culturally curious alike.
The following acclaimed and elusive artists were armed with spray paint and made their mark on the dilapidated walls and rolling shutters... RYCA, Pure Evil, Zeus, David Walker, Copyright, Carne Griffiths, Hutch, Cassette Lord, The Thomas Brothers, Rob Wass, Gemma Compton and Dylan Floyd. As well as live painting and stencilling, the massive industrial location offered live urban music and dance performances, food vendors and the chance to meet some of your favourite artists. Not to mention the opportunity to buy their sought-after prints out the back of a van, the gallery van that is!
Amongst the phenomenal line up of some of the UK’s best artists, world renowned artists Pure Evil and RYCA offered up a session of live screen printing. Queuing street art fans snapped up incredible hand-finished and signed prints, including 'Helmet Study' by RYCA.
The gallery and Brighton Fringe also extended their work within the community this year, working with local youth group the Tarner Community Project. Collaborating with the charity, the gallery hosted a 4 week Street Art workshop in the lead up to the Urban Artfest. Brighton based artists Cassette Lord and Hutch both passed on their knowledge to local young people, who demonstrated their new Street Art skills live at the Artfest.
We were super excited to have our top artists under one giant industrial roof for a major celebration of urban creativity! Massive thanks to everyone who came and to our artists for their hard work. Keep your eyes peeled for a similar street art bonanza next year...
