Street Art Festival: Opening Night

The return of the annual Street Art festival was anticipated by many, this hugely popular exhibition supports and promotes Nottingham’s vibrant alternative art scene by showcasing some of todays best local talent. With over 150 visitors, it is clear that the exhibition opening was not only greatly missed but essential to the revival of the arts in Nottingham during these last few years of uncertainty.

Organising the exhibition this year came with much uncertainty, as the first Street Art exhibition in nearly two years it needed to be made sure that it wouldn’t be cancelled in the constant upheaval COVID has caused. Jez Kirby as the exhibition coordinator took extra care in ensuring this event would go ahead. With a team of volunteers by his side, it was a huge task to curate and organise the artworks that had been sent in to feature in the exhibition and consideration for all of the work was key. By ensuring that each piece was located in a place where it could be showcased, hung salon style allowed the whole main gallery to be packed full of artwork and leave no space untouched by this incredible artwork.

Work spilled out into the alleyway towards the back of the gallery, which was painted by some of Nottingham’s finest street artists. This space is a blank canvas for the imagination of those artists that work outside the frames of traditional art galleries, allowing their work to transform spaces into spectacular displays of originality. The images below some snippets of the pieces on display in the alleyway (go and see the exhibition for the full impact of this work).

The Street Art Festival has always been one which has brought people back into the gallery time and time again, as well as intriguing new participation, by priding itself on the inclusivity of the art displayed. The work featured was extremely varied in style, demonstrating the offbeat ethos of surface gallery, aimed towards showcasing young and aspiring artists. The Launch party saw a live DJ set from Rob SoulFood and food made by Tony’s Jerk Stop, saw this night become a hive of energy.

Original spray painted piece in the gallery space by @tunn4rd

A panel of Judges which included: Saziso Phiri; founder of The Anti Gallery, Tamily Cookson; Creative Quarter CEO and Dayseye, 2019 Street Art Festival Prizewinner, decided on the winners for varying categories of prizes. The winners included:

Mimm voucher: ‘ King for a Day’ by Boo’21

Knit Nottingham voucher: ‘Seafood’ by Eszter Katona

Bonnington Voucher: ‘Here’s Where the Story Ends’ by Finsbury Park Deltics

Exhibition in Le Loovre: ‘Trueman for French Bulldog’ by Elsa Rickett

London Camera Exchange: ‘Boston Street, Snenton #6’ by Richard Wain

Montana: ‘Blue Flower’ Johnny Illfinger

The opening night for the Street Art exhibition’s a much needed relief from the pressures of the time, it cultivated a positive atmosphere which promoted inclusivity for all involved. This exhibition has signalled a long await return of the arts back into Nottingham and the response from everyone who has visited so far shows how needed this has been. But the opening night was just the beginning, if you want to see this exhibition for yourself it is running from the 21th August- 11th September at Surface, we can’t wait to see you there!

Any questions you have can be asked via our Instagram @surfacegallery

Words by Megan Davies