Musical legend to be immortalised with Oxford Road mural

Cherished Manc graffiti artist Akse P19 is set to create another awesome mural in Manchester.

To join up with the incredible Ian Curtis mural on the Star and Garter, artist Akse P19 is set to do another, of Nirvana frontman Kurt Cobain.

Manchester’s Kurt Cobain mural

You might be thinking, why should there be a mural of Seattle native Cobain, and what does he have to do with Manchester?

The singer took his own life in April 1994, sending shockwaves around the world of music and devastating fans around the globe. Nirvana were seemingly at the peak of their powers.

Headstock charity

The Manchester-based charity Headstock commissioned the mural, in a bid to encourage people to talk about their mental health and to check in with each other.

The painting will be done by Akse P19, who also did the incredible one of Ian Curtis from Joy Division on the Star and Garter Pub.

They also did the incredible one of Marcus Rashford in Withington.

Atheer Al-Salim, the founder of Headstock

Atheer Al-Salim, the founder of Headstock said: “It’s easy to focus on artists who are from Manchester, but we picked Kurt Cobain because of what he and Nirvana contributed to the city.

“The band played two grassroots gigs in the city before they became a global name.

“With the murals, we’ve hoped to reach new and different groups of music fans.

“With Ian Curtis, we covered Manchester music fans and with Keith Flint, we touched on dance and electric fans. With Kurt Cobain, we are reaching out to grunge and rock music fans.”

Atheer added: “The murals are talking points. We at Headstock try to use music and art to promote conversations about mental health.

“We also want to raise awareness of the mental health support line SHOUT and their number 8528 features prominently on all the murals – and will on the Kurt Cobain work.

“We wanted to make sure that the Kurt Cobain mural was on a music venue.

“On the Bread Shed, the mural will be a stone’s throw from the two gigs Nirvana played in Manchester.

“This year also marks the 30th anniversary of Cobain’s death from suicide, so we wanted to commemorate him on a music venue in the city.”

Kurt Cobain mural

The mural is currently the subject of a crowdfunding campaign.

They are hoping to raise around £3,500 for the materials to paint the mural

The mural will be created to coincide with the 30th anniversary of Kurt Cobain’s death – which falls on 05th April, 2024.

The money raised will contribute towards the artist’s time and materials and will also help Headstock cover hard costs such as the reference image licensing fee.

You can donate to the crowdfunded by clicking here

About Akse P19

Akse P19 is a Street Artist based in Manchester and he has been painting murals since 1992.

He focuses on photo-realistic portraits, and over the last 15 years his subjects have ranged from footballer, Marcus Rashford to musician, David Bowie.

Over the past 5 years, Akse has collaborated with Headstock on several projects – creating murals of Joy Division’s Ian Curtis and The Prodigy’s Keith Flint – again, to raise awareness of Shout’s life-saving service.

As a Street Artist, he aspires to bring inspiration to the local community through the subjects he paints.

Header photo credit: Mark Webb / Avalon

This article was last updated 9 months ago.
It was first published on 22 February 2024 and is subject to be updated from time to time. Please refresh or return to see the latest version.

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