He rocketed to notoriety at 19 with the shocking film Kids. Now, at 51, he’s smoking two fat cigars for breakfast – and making retina-burning work with acids and infrared cameras. Our writer gets deep with the eternal enfant terrible

At 19 he exploded onto the scene with teen shocker Kids – and spent the next 20 years making lurid, provocative films like Gummo and Spring Breakers. So why is Harmony Korine now doing oil paintings? He talks fatherhood, crack addiction, and getting beaten up for laughs