Watch this space: Artist Profile : Kid Acne

Tuesday, 15 January 2013

Artist Profile : Kid Acne

Kid Acne currently resides in Sheffield and has been involved in many aspects of Street Art over the years and also as a recording artist. He recently came down and blessed the walls with his art, here's what he had to say.....

Okay, time for a clean up

Almost there

Kid Acne

What are you hoping to do this year?

This year I'm planning to paint plenty of murals and to get our print studio up and running. We've also started recording music again + I have a few self-publishing projects on the go. So we'll see what happens.

↑ Edna. Sheffield 2013

What are you currently working on?

We're currently working on the Zebra Face animations.

↑ Durable Mouth Organ Diabetic and Zebra Face under attack.

What is the Zebra Face project?

Zebra Face is a character created by myself and Supreme Vagabond Craftsman back in 1995. He started life as a comic strip and is now being turned into a short animated series for Channel 4. We're working with a small team of animators, musicians and designers to make it as good as we possibly can. The characters are voiced by the likes of Roots Manuva, Taskforce, Lady Chann and Jarvis Cocker, so it's a pretty exciting project so far.

What is being a freelance artist like?

I love it. I mean, it can be tough at times, but without doing what I do I doubt I would have had the opportunities to travel and have all these great experiences. For me, painting graffiti has been like alternative schooling in many ways. It teaches you to work with whatever materials you've got at hand and to make the most of it. Being an artist is just a case of turning your hobby into a hustle and translating those skills into the rest of your output.

↑ 'Rollin' Stock' toy series. Kid Robot 2009

What makes a good painting in your view?

Me personally, I like paintings that are vibrant and not too refined. I like to see the human error in the work - I think it all adds to it. I'd say the style and the vision is more important than the execution in many respects. If something is too perfect, it can become contrived. That said, it works both ways, some people try to make something look deliberately shit as a kind of defence mechanism. I'd say a good painting is somewhere in the middle, which has honesty.