Author: Charlotte Bearn

What you should know about Pure Evil

Last week artrepublic jumped on the train to Shoreditch to have a chat with Pure Evil himself.

Pure Evil is a very busy man-hosting artists exhibition’s at his east London gallery space and showing his own work to an international audience. He may have the name Pure Evil, but the man behind the work, Charley Edwards, is a welcoming personable character with drive, passion and enthusiasm for his work which shows through. We catch Charley, Pure Evil, on one of his particularly eventful days and discuss his recent schedule.

Today consists of two exhibitions in two different locations running simultaneously- thankfully they are within close proximity of each other as Charley plans to flit between the two demonstrating hand screen printings.

What you should know about Pure Evil | Image

What you should know about Pure Evil | Image

What you should know about Pure Evil | Image

This evening’s shows take place at the Pure Evil gallery and the trendy Box Park temporary mall space. Box Park exhibits his recent evolution of work based on the popular Nightmare series. The originals have been deconstructed and reassembled, merging multiple faces together to create one. Charley creates the faces by stencilling using acetate and hand spray painting onto paper. By using this process he aims to produce a “grime” effect, if he were to use photoshop it would create a “boring cleanness” that he didn’t want.

The alternate venue tonight, the Pure Evil gallery, hosts Charley’s body of up to date work including the original of ‘Sergeant Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Bastards’, ‘Bunny Fingers’, and the Nightmare series. His gallery space is somewhat of a tardis and possesses a basement level complete with a staged area and separate sound proof room which is brimming with keyboards, drums, guitars and speaker equipment. Charley explains how he utilized these rooms and mentions how he will often spend evenings jamming in the music room after closing the gallery.

Around the corner from the gallery is Strong Room fm- a radio production house, who recently approached Charley to have his own show scheduled for the last Friday of every month. The collaboration with music and Pure Evil has always been evident in his work and Charley accepted the opportunity with much excitement.

What you should know about Pure Evil | Image

What you should know about Pure Evil | Image

What you should know about Pure Evil | Image

When talking to Charley about the shows he puts on for artists and if he finds it difficult selecting from the masses of enquiries he receives on a daily basis he states it’s important to be honest with the artists. If they are good but not something that would be appropriate for the gallery then he would advise them where’s best to try. Charley’s view of the current UK Street Art scene is a very positive one. He mentions how he had recently been discussing with Ben Eine how the scene is becoming more global than Pop Art with more people doing it.

The most successful artists Charley has worked with are the ones he has found easy to get along with, who have a nice temperament and remain grounded, the artists include Roa, Ben Eine, Gustavo Ortiz, to name a few. If the relationship isn’t there with an artist then for Charley he would find further collaborations quite difficult. Charley has come to realise that his time is precious and it’s nice to be representing new artists but he is also glad to be selling his own work. “Don’t put all your eggs into one basket”.

Pure Evil is very active with self promotion and Charley mentions finding social media sites a useful tool- tumblr in particular, which he also uses regularly for inspiration and general interest. Charley finds the thumbnail culture allow him to scan through a vast amount of images quickly so he can pick out the images that catch his eye.

NEW RELEASES

Down The Rabbit Hole... £295

Mark Petty

27 x 37cm

Limited edition of 50

Ley Lines £450

Maxine Gregson

100 x 50cm

Limited edition of 250

AZUL Mini £125

Florence Blanchard

40 x 40cm

Limited edition of 25

Blue Sway £170

Angus Vasili

59.4 x 84.1cm

Limited edition of 8

Made You Look - Neon Pink A4 £40

Heath Kane

21 x 29.7cm

Limited edition of 20

Space Cadet - Magma by RYCA
Exclusive
Arrives by christmas
Space Cadet - Magma £180

RYCA

13 x 26cm

Limited edition of 12

Gamebuoy by Nick Chaffe
Exclusive
Arrives by christmas
Gamebuoy £100

Nick Chaffe

29.7 x 42cm

Limited edition of 50

Pikachu by Mr. Wu
Exclusive
Arrives by christmas
Pikachu £85

Mr. Wu

40 x 40cm

Limited edition of 50

Armour by Will Blood
Arrives by christmas
Armour £170

Will Blood

50 x 50cm

Timed edition of 305

NYC - Let's Go Get Lost -... £395

Dave Buonaguidi

72.5 x 100cm

Limited edition of 75

Set Your Sails - Blue & Gold by Donk
Exclusive
Arrives by christmas
Set Your Sails - Blue & Gold £150

Donk

60 x 70cm

Limited edition of 30

Sunday Morning is a Feeling - Variant 1 by Phoebe Boddy
Exclusive
Arrives by christmas
Electric Blue £650

Nathalie Kingdon

76 x 76cm

Limited edition of 30

Care Bears - 4 Print Set £300 £175

Louise McNaught

21 x 30cm

Limited edition of 100

Reconfigure £180

Maxine Gregson

50 x 70cm

Limited edition of 50

Always Remember The Things That Brought Us... £195

Adam Bridgland

42 x 59.4cm

Limited edition of 50

Small Steps £250

Joe Webb

55 x 75cm

Limited edition of 70

Jasmine Garden £150

Hannah Adamaszek

42 x 60cm

Limited edition of 20

Home Plate by RYCA
Exclusive
Arrives by christmas
Home Plate £50

RYCA

27 x 27cm

Limited edition of 30

White Dove by Dan David
Exclusive
Arrives by christmas
White Dove £220

Dan David

10 x 10cm

Limited edition of 30

Space Vader - Yellow by The Thomas Brothers
Exclusive
Arrives by christmas
Space Vader - Yellow £95

The Thomas Brothers

40 x 40cm

Limited edition of 25

Mickey (Orange Stripe) by Carl Stimpson
Exclusive
Arrives by christmas
Mickey (Orange Stripe) £100

Carl Stimpson

35 x 35cm

Limited edition of 20

Pacman by Haus of Lucy
Exclusive
Arrives by christmas
Pacman £65

Haus of Lucy

20.32 x 20.32cm

Limited edition of 30

Paloma by Maria Rivans
Exclusive
Arrives by christmas
Paloma £80

Maria Rivans

25.5 x 34cm

Limited edition of 75

Light Through Trees by Billy Childish
Exclusive
Light Through Trees £300 £225

Billy Childish

56 x 42cm

Limited edition of 50

Cat Pyramids - Gold by Memori Prints
Exclusive
Cat Pyramids - Gold £65

Memori Prints

29.7 x 42cm

Limited edition of 38

A Light Melody from £225

Emma Reynolds

Various sizes

Sunny Sunbirds £230

Charlotte Farmer

42 x 59.4cm

Limited edition of 100

The Strip - Mini by Bonnie and Clyde
Exclusive
Arrives by christmas
The Strip - Mini £200 £150

Bonnie and Clyde

42 x 30cm

Limited edition of 60

Yesterday Never Seems To End by Rob Draper
Exclusive
Yesterday Never Seems To End £100

Rob Draper

42 x 59.4cm

Limited edition of 15