Affordable Art Fair – Bristol
Having never been to Bristol I was quite excited when I was invited to go to the Affordable Art Fair there last week. Located in Brunel’s Old Station, Temple Mead, AAF Bristol drew a wide variety of people, with families alongside couples and young people all in the search for something they liked. The stream of people with art wrapped up in the distinctive branded packaging leaving the fair when we arrived was encouraging and gave us confidence we were not going to be disappointed by the selection of work on display.
With some familiar galleries alongside a few new faces, we were offered sculpture, landscapes and the more unusual. Antler’s Gallery – based in Bristol – had a great selection of works by Charles Emerson and Geoff Diego Litherland. We had a chance to see some of Tim Lane‘s drawings we were even treated to a viewing of Tim’s ‘Anima Mundi’ which was the focus of a Kickstarter campaign we wrote about earlier this year in May – the work printed up and bound certainly didn’t disappoint.
Also at AAF Bristol was DegreeArt.com who had a selection on display including work by Sophie Derrick and Rogan Brown. Chantelle had enjoyed being in Bristol – and DegreeArt.com are off to Manchester next week for Buy Art Fair and then up to Edinburgh for Edinburgh Art Fair! Another familiar face at AAF Bristol was One Church Street who had a selection of works by Barry Stedman who is a recent addition to the gallery and whose three dimensional pieces perfectly compliments the abstract work of Chris Sims.
The fair was accompanied by live music, which helped create an atmosphere in which to spend a perfect Sunday afternoon. With a variety of 2D and 3D works on display, there was a variety of work to see, and buy. In a city famous for Banksy and street art, we had hoped to find some work inspired by Bristol and we were not disappointed. We had the pleasure of meeting artist Tom White whose paintings are inspired by the graffiti art around the city. On display on the Clifton Fine Art stand was his painting, Keep on the Grass , which is a painting of the Star and Garter pub which is covered in graffiti art.
The feeling of AAF Bristol was very different to any of the Affordable Art Fairs in London, having its own unique atmosphere and set of galleries which was great to see ahead of the AAF Battersea in October. Thanks for all the galleries at AAF Bristol for being so welcoming and telling us about their artists and their home city!
Bristol was a success, maybe Affordable Art Fair New York next year?
Header Image Comprises Highlights from Affordable Art Fair; Barry Stedman, Sophie Derrick and Georgie Woolridge (of The Paragon Gallery)
