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Billy Childish Art

English, b. 1959
Billy Childish (b. 1959, Chatham, Kent, United Kingdom; lives and works in Whitstable, Kent) is known for his introspective, autobiographical, and deeply emotional paintings, writing, and music. After leaving secondary school at age 16, Childish worked at the Naval Dockyard in Chatham as an apprentice stonemason. Initially denied an interview to the local art school, he produced hundreds of drawings that gained him entry to London’s Saint Martin's School of Art. Childish's defiance of authority led to his eventual expulsion from art school in 1981. Since then, Childish has gained something of a cult status worldwide, writing and publishing several novels and more than 40 volumes of confessional poetry, recording more than 150 LPs, and painting several hundred works. Through all of these disciplines, Childish addresses social, political, and personal issues such as war, protest, his turbulent childhood, and his struggles with addiction. While his confessional poetry and music explore these issues with startling honesty, Childish’s paintings are more subtle. His subjects are often drawn from his environment or are people he knows or admires: birch forests, self-portraits, a lone figure in a pastoral English landscape, and his wife as a reclining female nude. Childish works quickly and intuitively, making spare marks on raw canvas that leave much of it visible. He identifies with artists who worked outside a group or movement, intrigued by their outsider roles in society, such as Vincent van Gogh, Kurt Schwitters, and Edvard Munch. Labeling himself a “radical traditionalist,” Childish has a reverence for traditional oil painting yet has resolutely resisted any connection with a particular group or artistic movement.
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Artist: Billy Childish
Night Forest

Billy ChildishNight Forest, 2019

$273

Night Forest

By Billy Childish

Located in London, GB

Night Forest, 2019 Archival print on heavy matt stock 30.5 x 44.5 cm Edition of 200 signed and numbered by the artist Billy Childish is a prolific British artist, musician, and writ...

Category

2010s Billy Childish Art

Materials

Archival Pigment

Untitled

Billy ChildishUntitled, 2013

$1,179

Untitled

By Billy Childish

Located in London, GB

Billy Childish Untitled , 2013 Signed and numbered on front of sheet Giclee archival print 41.6 x 30.5 cm Billy Childish’s emotional, introspective portraits and landscapes take ins...

Category

2010s Contemporary Billy Childish Art

Materials

Giclée, Archival Pigment

Untitled (skull) By Billy Childish
Untitled (skull) By Billy Childish

Billy ChildishUntitled (skull) By Billy Childish, 2009

Price Upon Request

Untitled (skull) By Billy Childish

By Billy Childish

Located in Dubai, Dubai

Untitled (skull) By Billy Childish Billy Childish is a British artist, musician, and writer known for his prolific output across painting, poetry, and punk music. His raw, expressi...

Category

Early 2000s Contemporary Billy Childish Art

Materials

Paper, Pencil

Untitled By Billy Childish
Untitled By Billy Childish

Billy ChildishUntitled By Billy Childish, 2012

Price Upon Request

Untitled By Billy Childish

By Billy Childish

Located in Dubai, Dubai

Untitled By Billy Childish Billy Childish is a British artist, musician, and writer known for his prolific output across painting, poetry, and punk music. His raw, expressionist wo...

Category

2010s Contemporary Billy Childish Art

Materials

Paper, Woodcut

Billy Childish art for sale on 1stDibs.

Find a wide variety of authentic Billy Childish art available for sale on 1stDibs. You can also browse by medium to find art by Billy Childish in archival pigment print, color pencil, paper and more. Much of the original work by this artist or collective was created during the 21st century and contemporary and is mostly associated with the contemporary style. Not every interior allows for large Billy Childish art, so small editions measuring 8 inches across are available. Customers who are interested in this artist might also find the work of John Rettie, Tami Bahat, and Ken Burton. Billy Childish art prices can differ depending upon medium, time period and other attributes. On 1stDibs, the price for these items starts at $750 and tops out at $7,645, while the average work can sell for $4,433.

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