Artwork Description
Marilyn Pure Joy Aqua 3 Color Silkscreen Print by Pure Evil Hand-Pulled on Deckled 300gsm Somerset Fine Art Paper Limited Edition Screenprint Artwork.
2025 Signed & Numbered Limited Edition of TBD Artwork Size 16x20 Silkscreen Print of Hollywood Actress, Marilyn Monroe Stylized in Aqua Blue.
Marilyn Pure Joy Aqua by Pure Evil as Street Pop Art & Graffiti Artwork
Marilyn Pure Joy Aqua is a 2025 limited edition silkscreen print created by the British street pop art and graffiti artwork figure Pure Evil, whose real name is Charles Uzzell-Edwards. This piece is rendered in a vivid aqua blue palette using three silkscreen layers and hand-pulled on 300gsm Somerset fine art paper with deckled edges. Measuring 16 x 20 inches, the print is part of a series featuring iconic Hollywood actress Marilyn Monroe. The artwork’s bold use of flat color, high contrast, and Pure Evil’s signature tear motif reflects a deliberate synthesis of celebrity iconography with themes of loss and emotional weight. The tear streak, thick and black, drops from one of Monroe’s eyes and drips downward, bisecting the otherwise glamorous portrait. This tear motif, consistent across much of the artist’s portrait series, plays a crucial role in transforming popular imagery into emotionally charged commentary.
The Cultural Significance of Marilyn Monroe Reimagined
This piece anchors Marilyn Monroe not as a static figure of 1950s beauty but as a perpetually relevant cultural symbol. In Pure Evil’s reinterpretation, Monroe becomes a vessel for reflection on fame’s isolating and often devastating effects. Her image, one of the most recognizable in modern history, is stripped of its cinematic polish and reframed within a graffiti-informed aesthetic. The use of aqua blue softens the portrait but simultaneously creates an eerie vibrancy. The image no longer belongs solely to nostalgic Hollywood; it now inhabits the visual landscape of protest art, paste-ups, and gallery walls rooted in contemporary street culture. This transformation is central to how Monroe’s legacy continues to be shaped by new generations of visual artists.
The Mechanics of Street Pop Aesthetics
Street pop art and graffiti artwork thrive on remixing public iconography. By using silkscreen methods traditionally associated with fine art while keeping visual language rooted in urban subversion, Pure Evil blurs the boundaries between commercial symbolism and raw expression. The choice of Somerset paper, known for its premium archival quality, speaks to the artist’s dual engagement with both fine art collectors and anti-establishment sentiment. The flat fields of aqua blue give a sense of uniformity, but the hand-pulled nature ensures that each print carries unique qualities. This intersection of process and message allows the viewer to engage with the familiar image of Monroe in a deeper, more personal way.
Pure Evil’s Emotional Language Through Color and Form
In Marilyn Pure Joy Aqua, emotion is conveyed through contrast and subtraction. The simplicity of color selection—a stark blue and white backdrop, with shadows articulated in rich blacks—focuses attention on the emotional gravity of the piece. The tear that falls from Monroe’s eye acts not as an embellishment but as a core component of the narrative. It suggests unresolved sorrow, the exploitation of beauty, and the fading line between admiration and objectification. Through this silkscreen edition, Pure Evil uses Monroe’s face as both icon and canvas, achieving a work that is both reflective and provocative. The piece stands as a testament to the continuing dialogue between pop culture and street expression, and how graffiti-rooted techniques can recast even the most familiar subjects into powerful vehicles of introspection.
