Kid Cudi, working here under his given name Scotty Ramon (b. 1984, Cleveland), has opened his first-ever solo exhibition, Echoes of the Past, with Ruttkowski;68 in Paris.
Ramon began painting just over a year ago. The earliest works already carry a striking clarity: large canvases washed in tender pinks, punctured by lone figures locked in acts of quiet self-sabotage. From there, the practice accelerated. A chromatic surge of paintings followed, saturated yet unsettled, where moments of softness collide with sharply articulated darkness.
Recurring throughout is Max, Ramon’s alter ego — a denim-clad figure chased by cartoonish demons, confronted by looming shadows, or reduced to a solitary head. Rendered in simplified forms and muted browns, these faces speak to isolation, vulnerability and the uneasy labour of self-knowledge. Across the works, biomorphic shapes and flattened geometry vibrate with a synesthetic sense of rhythm and colour.
This visual language feels less like a departure than a return. As a child, Ramon dreamed of becoming a cartoonist; here, that instinct re-emerges, tempered by lived experience. Much like his music, the paintings oscillate between melancholy and optimism, humour and unease. They read not as self-portraits, but as studies in becoming — tentative, searching, and quietly defiant.
While words like trapped or lost surface across the canvases, meaning is never fixed. Instead, the works suggest movement: a passage through fear rather than a surrender to it, edging toward clarity and light.
Completing the exhibition, Ramon has produced an original sound work that plays throughout the gallery. Built from atmospheric synths and propulsive beats, it folds seamlessly into the paintings, amplifying the emotional register and binding the space into a single, immersive mood.
Scotty Ramon, Echoes of the Past, 31st January – 1st March, 2026 Ruttkowski;68
All Installation views by © Thibault Jorge
About the artist
Scotty Ramon (b. 1984, Cleveland, Ohio) Scotty Ramon is an American multidisciplinary artist whose practice spans painting, sculpture, and sound art. While perhaps better known under his musical moniker, Kid Cudi, Ramon’s foray into the visual arts represents a profound return to his earliest creative inclinations. As a youth in Ohio, he harboured ambitions of becoming a cartoonist—a foundational interest that has recently resurfaced as a sophisticated exploration of the human psyche.
Ramon’s paintings are characterised by a raw, synesthetic immediacy, often featuring his alter-ego, Max. Dressed in baggy denim and navigating vivid, sometimes unsettling landscapes, Max serves as a vessel for the artist’s introspection. These works oscillate between soothing, expansive washes of colour and hyper-conscious manifestations of darkness, where biomorphic shapes and flat geometric configurations evoke a sense of “visual vibration.” Whether depicting a solitary figure in a state of self-sabotage or the pursuit of an empowered self, Ramon’s canvases offer a vulnerable confrontation with inner truths, rendered with an urgency that belies his relatively recent adoption of the medium.
Beyond the canvas, Ramon’s practice extends into the auditory realm through original, immersive sound components designed to accompany his visual works. Shifting away from the lyrical structures of his musical career, these scores are atmospheric and propulsive, utilising electric synths and rhythmic beats to enhance the gallery experience. This marriage of sight and sound creates a cohesive, “total” environment, reflecting a lived experience that has swerved between heights and depths.
Ramon’s work does not merely inhabit the space between melancholy and joy; it actively seeks a path through them. His practice is ultimately one of emergence—moving through the graphic warnings and “nightmares” of the past toward a reclaimed sense of creative freedom and light.
Scotty Ramon lives and works in the United States. Echoes of the Past at Ruttkowski;68, Paris, marks his first-ever solo exhibition.
