Peter Kidd Artist

I am addicted to graffiti. Not doing it — appreciating it! It’s a strange predilection for someone who has never so much as scrawped her name on a school desk. The urge to deface something was just not there, and I was always saddened when a beautiful new desk was first defiled with inane scrawlings… I think I saw it as wanton egotism, and simply couldn’t understand the impetus behind it. I feel the same way about tagging. For me, it represents wilfulness expressed in uncompromising terms — a form of visual bullying, where the protagonist is unable to articulate their feelings and drives, so instead resorts to debasing something. I fail to see the merit.
Graffiti is different. Ideas are expressed, and the execution is often incredibly impressive. I love the rawness of it… the passion! It’s no wonder that graf art has become so popular. It’s often iconic, and usually has something really profound to say. it speaks a universal language and invariably expresses ideas that people can instantly relate to… people get it! Which is more than can be said of a lot of the institutionalised ‘fine art’ that’s on offer!
Peter Kidd is a graf artist that now works on canvas, which means that he’s entering the realms of fine art, but not via the main entrance, instead, he’s sliding gently through an half open window, with all the stealth of a cat burgler…
His story is an interesting one. He was denied the opportunity to submit his artwork to be examined for his Art GCSE on the grounds of taste! I’m appalled by this, and cannot quite believe that an art teacher could condone censorship, let alone practice it! People have worked hard to make art a truly free form of expression, and I’m unsettled by the idea that someone, who has been tasked with the job of inspiring its creation, would wilfully staunch it. This to me is distasteful in the extreme!
Nevertheless, like Peter Kidd, I am a firm believer that life gives us all the lessons we need in order to arrive at a place where we feel able to be ourselves. It may be that this was all the provocation he needed to become what he is today… and what he is, is an artist on the precipice of a great future! He is a lot of other things too, (eminently likeable, funny, self-​effacing and clearly fascinated by life), but I feel that his work is a distillation of all of his other traits, and that’s partly what makes it so utterly inspiring. I, for one, really hope that he continues to create with such unselfconsciousness if he does ultimately receive global recognition!
His work is selling well, despite the massive slump in the art market at present, and he is in the process of being commissioned to paint a mural on an exciting new restaurant in Bristol. His visibility is growing daily! Now all he needs is for Angelina Joli and Brad Pitt to buy one of his canvases, and his future will be made!!!