Welcome to the 50th insertion of DEMUR®, an analytical series highlighting the intricacies of the artistic world and the minutiae lying within. In this episode we take a look into the “portfolio” of Kidult, an underground graffiti artist taking a stand against luxury brands in pursuit of artistic freedom.
Kidult is a namesake that floated around in the early-mid 2010’s as an anonymous Graffiti artist. He began by tagging JC/DC in 2011, defacing the storefront with a paint rigged fire extinguisher. Bombing the store in a barade of pink lettering, the tag read “KIDULT” and was done in the depths of night, filmed and later uploaded to YouTube. His motive was cited as a revolt against the establishment’s use of Graffiti for commercial purposes, speaking up and pushing the artform they’d appropriated into the label’s face.
This was the first of many artistic expressions done by the shadowed figure, gaining notoriety in the fashion industry for his disregard of social norms. Although rather bold, his message is clear in all of his work and strives to check these multi-million dollar companies when seen fit. His resume in Graffiti spans far and wide, tagging brands like Yves Saint Laurent, Louis Vuitton and Hermès in the early days, altering his tags to speak on differing topics.
While the majority of Kidult’s declarations are done in protection of street culture, i.e Balenciaga’s use of graffiti atop their city bag, and of course his following “Crisis” tag at their Paris storefront, in 2011 the creative turned his aim to that of Supreme. Being his first hit outside of the European region, Supreme’s New York location was bombed with jarring “KID” text, sparking controversy in the streetwear community. The label is known for its rooted ties in skate culture, but Kidult was skeptical, stating “Supreme likes the streets and graffiti? I put them to the test.”
His most lucrative signature remains his feud with Marc Jacobs, after painting the store with a red “ART” motif. Jacobs responded in capturing the illicit artwork and printed such on a t-shirt, selling for a staggering $686. Enraged, the artist then struck again with a pervasive “686” in a fluorescent green, and printed his own shirts for $10.
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