Singer-songwriter, who died in January, commemorated in his home town of Prestwich

This article is more than 2 years old

This article is more than 2 years old

Glaring down from the gable end of a chippy, Mark E Smith has been immortalised in his home town of Prestwich.

The waspish songwriter behind the cult post-punk band the Fall, who died in January aged 60, is being commemorated in the Greater Manchester town for an arts festival.

Mark E Smith obituary: the Fall's driving force was poet, satirist and misanthrope Read more

The 6 metre (20ft) painting of Smith, looking typically abrasive, is nearing completion on the side of Chips@No.8 on Clifton Road in the centre of the town.

The graffiti artist Akse P19 began painting the mural last weekend and is due to complete it during the Prestwich arts festival, which runs from 29-30 September.

Akse P19 has also created murals of the music industry figures David Bowie and Tony Wilson in the Northern Quarter area of Manchester.

Jane Thomson, the festival chair, said: “There have been six local members of the community who have funded the materials and donated the cherry picker to make it happen, as well as Akse P19 donating his time for free.

“We’re incredibly honoured to have such a well-respected and talented artist be involved in our festival and enable us to doff our proverbial cap to local legend Mark E Smith in this way.”

The Prestwich-based artist Myro Doodles will also be creating a trail of Fall lyrics at locations across the town, the funding for which was crowdsourced by the Fall fan club.

Myro, who organised the 22 Bees Project last year to support the victims of the Manchester Arena terrorist attack, said: “I’m delighted to be part of this exciting project for Prestwich arts festival and encouraging people to explore Prestwich to find all the locations.”

Bury Art Museum will exhibit images inspired by the words of the iconic lyricist. More than 60 artists and designers from around the world were invited to create one original A3-sized artwork from a single line of their favourite Mark E Smith lyric.

The work includes photography, typography, sculptural form and fabric design, with featured designers including Ian Anderson (Designers Republic), Vince Frost, Malcolm Garrett RDI, Maxine Gregson, Claire Reyes, Angela Roche and Spin.

Born in Broughton, Salford, in March 1957, Smith moved to Prestwich at a young age and lived there for the rest of his life. He formed the Fall, named after the novel by Albert Camus, after seeing the Sex Pistols perform their famous concert at the Lesser Free Trade Hall in Manchester in June 1976. Aside from the Sex Pistols, the band cited the German group Can and the Velvet Underground as its chief influences.

While Smith would remain the band’s constant central focus for more than 40 years, he was known for his tempestuous relationship with his bandmates, and frequently fired them. There have been 66 members of the Fall, with a third of them lasting less than a year. The band released 32 studio albums.