For years, Kid Acne has been synonymous with the urban landscape of Sheffield. After exhibiting work all over the world, it seems fitting that his hometown is playing host to his first solo show, Kill Your Darlings.
Kill Your Darlings | Millennium Gallery
The exhibition at Millennium Galley features an eclectic mix of comic books, record sleeves, flyers and fanzines. As well as commercial commissions, large scale sculptures, paintings and a short film.
Don’t make the mistake of dismissing Kid Acne as just another graffiti artist jumping on the Banksy bandwagon. For the best part of two decades he has worked to establish himself as an illustrator, graphic designer and musician.
With a host of records, comic books and a T-shirt collection for Prada to his name, Kid Acne is quickly becoming a global brand.
Kill Your Darlings celebrates the DIY ethic and often transitory approach of Kid Acne’s work.
“It’s about showing the early work and where I started out and it’s about showing how I developed along the way,” he explains,
“but once it’s done I want to move on, I don’t want to have to keep referring to the past.”
The show takes its name from the writers’ motto referring to the painful process of cutting cherished characters or scenes which don’t serve the overall story.
For Kid Acne Kill Your Darlings marks the end of a chapter.
It is rare that you get the opportunity to trace the development of an artist’s work in one exhibition. Particularly spectacular in the case of Kid Acne who began creating graffiti as an early teen.
Kill Your Darlings provides the audience with a unique journey that shouldn’t be missed.
Kill Your Darlings runs at Millennium Gallery until 23rd October.