Akse-p19 produces his Buddha portrait
Buy Art Fair, the largest contemporary art fair outside London, will be playing host to Manchester-based street artist Akse-p19. The internationally recognised freehand graffiti artist will be producing portraits live on canvas on Saturday 28th and Sunday 29th September.
Manchester residents will be familiar with Akse-p19’s work, with many of his popular street art pieces having gained legendary status in the region. Based at Spinningfields in Manchester, Buy Art Fair is free to attend and runs from 26-29 September offering works from £50 from over 70 galleries from across the UK, representing over 500 artists.
This year the Fair is witnessing an increased popularity in street art with works for sale from Banksy, Mr Brainwash and Dolk, as well as Pure Evil who is making a special guest appearance at Buy Art Fair on 26 September to produce three artworks from his famous Nightmare series.
Akse (P19 Crew), is a French Graffiti Artist of Vietnamese origin who became a member of the P19 Crew in 1993 and has been spray-painting walls for over 20 years. Having relocated to Manchester 15 years ago, he has a fast growing reputation in the North West, specialising in photorealistic portraiture which has gained international recognition within the street art community.
Akse, whose pieces, including ‘XXXL Beauty’ and ‘Hank’, can be found on streets across Manchester, was shortlisted with 100 other artists (out of 1200 entries) to participate in the BBC2 program “Show me the Monet” in 2011. At Buy Art Fair, Akse will be freehand spray painting a portrait of a homeless person on canvas.
Thom Hetherington, Director of the Arts Council supported Buy Art Fair commented: “I have long admired Akse’s work. It’s fantastic to have such strong local talent at Buy Art Fair and to be able to see him produce his work live will be amazing. This year we have an eclectic and exciting collection and to be able to present two esteemed street artists, producing work live at the event will add a real buzz to the creative atmosphere.”
Buy Art Fair and The Manchester Contemporary are supported by the National Lottery through Arts Council England.
Buy Art Fair is located in the thriving hub of Spinningfields in the heart of Manchester and is housed in a large pavilion situated along Hardman Boulevard, an area surrounded by bars, restaurants and high-end retail. A few steps away on Spinningfields’ Leftbank, The Manchester Contemporary will take up residence for the weekend long four day event.
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