The Ian Curtis mural in Macclesfield

An artwork dedicated to one of Macclesfield’s finest musicians has pride of place in the town centre. The mural of Ian Curtis, the iconic former frontman of Joy Division, is a fully funded Cheshire East Council project and has been painted by well-known street artist ‘Akse’. It adorns a building on Mill Street, just across from the bus station.

Ian was brought up in Macclesfield, won a scholarship to King’s School in the town and his ashes are buried in Macclesfield Cemetery. He took his own life in 1980. 

The commissioning of the mural follows on from Cheshire East Council’s approval of the Macclesfield town centre strategic regeneration framework, which the council is continuing to deliver against.

The framework sets out the council’s vision for the town centre as a place which celebrates its quirkiness and provides the development sector with the confidence and certainty needed to bring forward investment, jobs and economic growth.

As part of the council-funded project, you can watch Macclesfield residents share their thoughts on what the mural brings to their town.

You can also watch a timelapse video of the mural being created. The soundtrack for the video is an instrumental version of 'Love Will Tear Us Apart', a Joy Division hit which still commands airtime more than 40 years after its release.