"Having sean the living and the sain I have decided to align myself with the mad." Billy Childish (Sex Crimes of the Futcher).

Billy Childish must be the most prolific artist in the UK. He has produced thousands of paintings and woodcuts, nearly one hundred albums, 3 novels and over 40 collections of poetry. He is a cult figure across Europe, Japan and America, is Tracey Emin's ex-boyfriend and is described by The Guardian as "Britain's greatest cultural asset".

Childish (real name William Charlie Hamper) comes from Chatham in Kent. He left school at 16, a dyslexic unqualified outspoken youth. Failing to gain entry into the local art school Childish successfully started his working life as an apprentice stonemason in the Chatham Royal Navel Dockyards. Six months later it ended, in a dramatic act of frustration (pounding his hand with a 3lb club hammer) Childish walked from his first career and ran to his second. The six hundred pictures he drew whilst "labouring" in the "tea huts of hell" secured his "genius clause" entry as a student into the "Art School" world.

Three years later Childish was expelled from St Martin's School of art for refusing to paint pictures whilst at the art school (in case he became contaminated) and for publishing poetry which was described as "toilet wall humour". Childish was happy and even proud to be expelled, it meant that he was free to go his own way. There followed 15 years of "painting on the dole".

Musically Childish formed his first band The Pop Rivets in 1977 as the vocalist. After they split in 1980 Childish went on to form Thee Milkshakes, Thee Might Caesars, The Del Monas and Thee Headcoats. In 2000 he formed The Buff Medways who split in 2006 and he is now recording as Wild Billy Childish & the Musicians of the British Empire. Childish's style has always carried the punk attitude and homemade ethic. Kurt Cobain was a fan of The Mighty Caesars and the White Stripes wanted Childish to paint on stage whilst performing on Top Of The Pops. When the BBC refused Jack Stripe scrawled Billy's name on his forearm for the cameras. Kylie Minogue even named her LP 'Impossible Princess' after one of his books 'Poems to Break the Harts of Impossible Princesses'.

As a writer and poet Childish uniquely uses his dyslexic prose to candidly share his intimate thoughts and experiences. 'Sex Crimes of the Futcher' (Future) and 'My Fault' semi-autobiographically detail his love life and childhood sexual abuse with embittered honesty, humour and bizarre clarity. In 1979 Childish formed The Medway Poets where he performed, amongst others, with Sexton Ming. The Medway Poets went on to form the heart of the Stuckist Art Movement which Childish left in 2001. Today the writer Billy Childish is recognised as being one of Britain's most important independent voices.

Childish met Tracey Emin in 1982 and although they went their separate ways after being together for four years they remained friends for some time. In 1995 Emin said that "hanging around with Billy Childish" was the one of greatest influences on her life. However, since then Childish has become one of "celebrity artist" Emin's greatest critics and he has been written out of her history.

Artistically Childish has developed his own style over many years and remains contemporary, uncompromising and uncontaminated by the Art World 'clique'. His painting style follows his music and writing in its punk attitude and homemade ethic.

Childish continues to paint, write and make music independently.

In his own words:

"i am a man who demands to be listened too
i am a man who denounces the dullness of money and status
i am a man who will not bow down to acolayed or success
i am a man who loves the simplicity painting
and hates gallarys and white walls and the dealers in art
i love unreasonableness
and hotheadedness
i love contradiction
hate pubishing houses
and
also i am vicent an gogh
hiroshige and every living breathing artist
who dares to draw god
on this planet"