Pure Evil

Pure Evil (Charles Uzzell-Edwards, b. 1968)

Pure Evil is the artistic identity of British artist Charles Uzzell-Edwards, whose distinctive work combines street art, Pop Art and contemporary culture with a darkly playful exploration of fame, celebrity and the power of iconic images.

Born in South Wales in 1968, Uzzell-Edwards grew up in an artistic family and later spent a number of years in California before returning to Britain. His experience of street culture, music and graphic art helped shape a bold visual language influenced by Pop Art and the imagery of mass media.

Pure Evil is particularly recognised for his Nightmare Series, in which portraits of cultural and political icons are transformed by a distinctive painted tear. These works explore the darker side of celebrity, questioning how familiar public images become altered through memory, tragedy, nostalgia and popular culture. Alongside these portraits, his wider practice incorporates vivid colour, repetition, graphic silhouettes and imagery drawn from contemporary life.

In 2014, Will Allen of Painted Ltd commissioned six Pure Evil tapestries: Floating Audrey, Prince Philip's Nightmare, Frank Sinatra's Nightmare, Lotus, Dream Eating Dragons and JFK's Nightmare. The works were produced as hand-knotted tapestries in India, translating Pure Evil's bold graphic imagery into a richly textured textile medium.

The collection brings together several strands of Pure Evil's practice, from his reinterpretations of famous faces to more symbolic and dreamlike imagery. The transformation from painted and printed image to hand-knotted textile gives the works a new physical presence while preserving their strong outlines, dramatic contrasts and immediately recognisable contemporary character.

Through these tapestries, the visual language of street and Pop Art is brought into dialogue with the traditional craftsmanship of hand-knotted textile, creating an unusual meeting of contemporary urban imagery and an ancient handmade medium.