John Uzzell Edwards

John Uzzell Edwards was born in Deri in the Rhymney Valley, South Wales in 1937. He is one of Wales’ most important artists whose work is held at the National Museum and Gallery of Wales and in many public and private collections worldwide. His work is to do with Pure Painting, not picture making, and is driven by an exploration of Celtic forms.

He is inspired by Celtic crosses and stone inscriptions, mediaeval tiles, and the lettering and carpet pages of holy books and ancient manuscripts. In looking at his work..”my mind falls silent……with no analysis, no musing, no questioning, only pure sensory focus inside a perfect stillness of thought (which) has silenced the chatter in my mind and caused a profound shift within such that I am not the same person I was just moments ago. The paintings of John Uzzell Edwards have this power….. muscular outlines and vigorous matrixes created through a layering of oils, brush strokes and pallet knife, that generate the most amazing textures and colour combinations I had ever seen.” (quoted from Robert McKee).