Pure Evil

Charles Uzzell Edwards adopted his dramatic moniker, Pure Evil, after shooting a rabbit when he was ten years old and feeling overcome with guilt. Macabre and hyperbolic, Uzzell’s nickname has informed his aesthetic ever since, from his early graffiti-tag bunnies to his tragic celebrity iconography, always using his art to reflect the darkness of the contemporary world.

Heavily influenced by the Pop Art movement, Pure Evil is known for his Nightmare Series: doomed female icons, from Marilyn Monroe to Sharon Tate, are portrayed in Pop print colours, while a single, heavy tear (the artist’s trademark symbol) drips down their fated faces. A comment on the ills of celebrity culture, and the brutal realities of fandom and adulation, the instantly recognisable Nightmare Series has earned Pure Evil a well-deserved following in both Street and Contemporary Art circles.