The Verdant Works will turn Pure Evil on Halloween in what has been described as a “major coup” for the city.
Graffiti artist and gallery owner Charles Uzzell-Edwards, who goes under the name Pure Evil, will visit the Dundee museum next week for a unique performance.
The internationally-renowned artist’s multimedia performance will combine light, projections, sound and sculpture in the High Mill as part of the Museums at Night programme of events.
Verdant Works was chosen to host the event after a public vote selected which artists would perform in venues up and down the country.
The Dundee museum was the only Scottish venue to get through to the public vote stage of the process and one of only six selected by the public.
Uzzell-Edwards, 45, opened his Pure Evil Gallery in Shoreditch in 2007 after working with Banksy.
He began producing his own prints and artwork after working on the guerilla graffiti-artist’s annual Santa’s Grotto pop-up stall.
His work also featured in Banksy’s recent Dismaland “bemusement park” art show parody at Weston-super-Mare, which billed itself as the “UK’s most disappointing new visitor attraction”.
Uzzell-Edwards’ bold images have become icons in London, and his works such as Pearly Kings and the Live East Die Young have taken inspiration from the East End where he lives and works.
Anna Murray, learning and audiences officer for Dundee Heritage Trust, said: “This is an absolutely fantastic coup for Dundee and for Scotland’s Jute Museum @Verdant Works, bringing such an internationally-renowned artist to the city and to Scotland is amazing.
“We can’t wait for him to come to Dundee and weave his magic around the recently-refurbished High Mill@Verdant Works.”
One of Uzzell-Edwards’ best known images is the Pure Evil bunny, which was inspired by his own obsession with guns as a child and his belief in karmic retribution, which developed after he killed a rabbit with a shotgun and immediately began to regret his actions.
His graffiti work began while living in California, where he would paint “Dump Bush” on motorways and “murderers” on gun shops.
The Halloween event has already sold out, but Verdant Works is running a competition for the final two tickets.
They are asking people to draw their favourite Dundee landmark on a piece of paper and then tweet a photograph of it using the hashtag #pureevildundee.
The winner will be announced by Pure Evil on October 30.