HELSINKI (AP) — Hollywood’s Brad Pitt and Australian musician Nick Cave have debuted as artists in an exhibition in Finland that displays sculptures and ceramics created by the movie star and the singer-songwriter.
The Sara
Hilden Art Museum, located in the southern Finnish city of Tampere, was initially
scheduled to exhibit solely the wide variety of works by British artist Thomas
Houseago — known for his sculptures — but he reportedly persuaded the museum
include works by his friends Pitt and Cave.
“Cave and
Pitt are already renowned in their respective fields of music and cinema, but
this is the first time ever they have exhibited their artwork — pieces which
were created during the course of an ongoing dialogue with Houseago,” the
Finnish museum said.
Pitt and
Cave traveled to Tampere, an university city known for its vibrant culture and
music scene, for a pre-opening event on Saturday. Finnish media reported that
both men acknowledged being excited and nervous about presenting their art in
public for the first time.
Among the nine
works on show by the 58-year-old Pitt is a house-shaped structure molded in
clear silicon and shot with bullets and a plaster panel depicting a shooting
scene.
Pitt
reportedly began making ceramic art following his divorce from Angelina Jolie
in 2017.
“To me it’s
all about self-reflection,” Pitt told the Finnish public broadcaster YLE. “It’s
about, you know, where have I gone wrong in my relationships? Where have I
missed up?”
“It was
borne out of ownership really what I call a radical inventory of self, getting
really gruelly honest with me and ... taking account those I may have hurt and
moments I’ve just gotten wrong,” the American Oscar-winning actor and film
producer told YLE.
From Cave,
known for his dark baritone voice as the front man for his band Nick Cave and
the Bad Seeds, the exhibition features a series of ceramic figurines that
depict the life of the devil. He designed, painted and glazed the 17 figures
between 2020 and this year.
“I wanted to
do devil because I like red. And I like the color red glaze,” Cave told YLE.
“Eventually I decided to make the life story of the devil. For me personally,
it speaks into something about the idea of forgiveness or the need to be
forgiven. It’a very personal work for me.”
The
exhibition opened Sunday and runs through Jan. 15, 2023.