Kid Cudi is officially stepping into the fine art world, and he’s doing it under a new name.
The Grammy-winning musician and actor is preparing to unveil his first-ever art exhibition in Paris, officially introducing his painter identity, Scotty Ramon. The debut solo show, titled Echoes of the Past, will be presented at Ruttkowski;68 in the city’s 3rd arrondissement, running January 31 through March 1, with an opening reception set for January 30 (5–8 p.m.).
While fans have long known Cudi for emotionally vulnerable music and genre-bending creativity, the Paris show marks a major step in a different direction, one he’s been quietly building toward. Under the Scotty Ramon name, the Cleveland native has spent the past year developing a body of paintings that channel the same push-and-pull at the heart of his discography, which is color and heavy emotion existing in the same breath.
According to Amy Verner's listing on the Ruttkowski68 website, the exhibition will feature 10 paintings, many of which center on a recurring figure named Max, described as Ramon’s visual alter ego and a representation of his “inner child.” Across the works, Max appears in surreal scenarios, sometimes chased by playful demons, other times confronted by ominous shadows, making the canvases feel like vivid snapshots of the mind rather than traditional portraits.
The gallery’s description also says Ramon blends biomorphic forms and geometric design with a bold, almost synesthetic sense of color. The paintings carry unsettling phrases and graphic warnings, but stop short of handing viewers a simple conclusion, leaving space for interpretations that suggest growth, transformation, and emerging from darkness rather than being consumed by it.
Cudi reportedly picked up painting just over a year ago, reconnecting with a childhood dream of becoming a cartoonist. That early inspiration now shows up in his style, playful and animated at first glance, but layered with the kind of lived-in heaviness he’s explored in his music, memoir, and recent projects.
The show also won’t be purely visual, as Cudi has created an original score that will play throughout the exhibition. The sound component is described as atmospheric and electric, driven by synths and rhythm designed to shape the gallery experience into something closer to a full immersion than a traditional walk-through.
The Paris exhibition arrives shortly after Cudi premiered an artist-focused documentary at Art Basel Miami Beach, signaling that his painting era isn’t a side hobby; it’s becoming part of the larger creative identity he’s building beyond music.
