Nick Cave – The Devil: A Life

The Australian artist is primarily known as a musician but studied visual art in his earlier years. In this series, Cave narrates the life of the devil, from his birth to his death, through seventeen hand-painted ceramic figures. Cave was inspired by Staffordshire flatback figurines, which became popular mantelpiece decorations in the Victorian period.

‘You know, at night, when I try to sleep, I close my eyes and see the figurines parading by in sequence — the newborn Devil nestled against the foal, the infant with his ball of fire, the child holding the red monkey, the Devil seducing the girl, the Devil riding off to war through a field of flowers, and then returning on a black horse down a road of skulls, on and on they go, the Devil with his bride and the golden rabbit, the Devil sacrificing the child on the altar, the Devil separated from the world, on and on, the Devil sitting on a wall, his tears pooling around his feet, his chilling, operatic death, and at last his body washed up on a beach, a child crouched by his side reaching out a hand in forgiveness. This procession makes a certain sense and brings me enormous comfort. It draws my own story out of the darkness, out of the chaos, to stand in testament to something. It brings an order to the world and a kind of peace.’

— Nick Cave