The Devil—A Life (2020-22) by Nick Cave is a series of seventeen glazed ceramic figurines that tells the cradle-to-grave story of the Devil. More everyman than fearsome Antichrist, he is an allegorical character who experiences the vicissitudes of life in a very human way. Presented in Belgium for the first time, this narrative work is a visual expression of the artist's abiding interest in religion as a catalyst for a deeper and more creative approach to life.
In Cave's series, the young Devil inherits the world, grows up and falls in love. He is brave, fights a lion and rides off to war. He kills his firstborn son, is shunned for his transgressions and turns into a shell of his former self. Ultimately, he suffers an abject death before achieving, in the final work, a child's posthumous forgiveness. It is a trajectory that evokes Shakespeare's Seven Ages of Man from As You Like it, through which the playwright classified the roles we are assigned in life: infant, schoolchild, lover, soldier, judge, dotage and decrepitude. Like a parable, The Devil—A Life chronicles a process of mental and physical transformation, namely the transition from innocence to experience. The changing nature of the Devil's horns and physique marks the passage of time. Cave's protagonist is a complex figure whose interactions with the world are open to interpretation. Lust and love, bravery and vanity, deception, sin and sacrifice, remorse and sorrow are just some of the themes that come to the fore. Symbols abound, such as red, black and white horses (the colours of the three steeds ridden by Horsemen of the Apocalypse), a monkey, dog and snake, rabbits and skulls.
Nick Cave's interest in the Devil is linked to his engagement with religion and spirituality, which he approaches with a mix of scepticism and belief. He views these antithetical sentiments as analogous to the artistic struggle, which is akin to a quest for something that transcends the realms of pure rationality. The Devil—A Life is a form of pictorial storytelling that questions how we interpret the human condition. In the figure of the Devil, Cave sees a flawed individual— an embodiment of the darker, irrational aspects of the human psyche—who nevertheless aspires to betterment. In other words, people are conflicted, and there is good and bad in everyone.
In Western culture, the Devil is an archetype that is lodged in the collective consciousness, whether through scripture, literature, art or folklore. Is he the personification of evil, a horned figure with cloven hooves, a fallen angel or, as in Cave's series, someone who looks just like us? From the Bible to Dante's Inferno and Milton's Paradise Lost, and from William Blake to Christopher Marlowe's Doctor Faustus, the Devil has long been a prism through which to consider notions of good and evil, liberation and damnation. For Blake, the Devil was a symbol of energy, passion and creative freedom. That Cave identifies with his protagonist is borne out by Devil In Remorse, which is a self-portrait of the artist in his signature black suit. He has said of this deeply personal series: "What started as a desire to create a single small devil figure as a vehicle for an intense red glaze became a journey towards some kind of absolution from a series of shattering events. This [the ceramic works]—and in fact, all the songs that I write—are about the idea of forgiveness, the idea that there is a moral virtue in beauty. It's a kind of balancing of our sins."
The Devil—A Life is created in the style of Victorian Staffordshire flatback figurines, which were produced in small factories in England between 1837 and 1900, often by children. Although they date back to the 1740s, the Victorian models were largely designed to stand on a shelf or mantlepiece and, as result, were only modelled and decorated on the fronts and sides—hence the name 'flatbacks'. Staffordshire figurines depict all manner of subjects and, while cheap in their time, they are now very desirable items.
Nick Cave (b. 1957, Victoria, Australia) is a singer, songwriter, poet, lyricist, author, screenwriter and composer. Born in Warracknabeal in rural Victoria, he was drawn to the arts from an early age. Cave studied painting at the Caulfield Institute of Technology (Monash University, Melbourne) in 1976 before abandoning his studies to pursue music, relocating to Berlin and London in the 1980s. He rose to prominence fronting The Birthday Party (1973-83) before forming his current band, Nick Cave and The Bad Seeds, in 1984. Cave's first major body of visual work, The Devil—A Life (2020-22), was born out of his recent interest in ceramics and was shown in the exhibition We at the Sara Hildén Art Museum in Finland (2022-23), together with work by Brad Pitt and Thomas Houseago.
Nick Cave (b. 1957, Victoria, Australia) is a singer, songwriter, poet, lyricist, author, screenwriter and composer. Born in Warracknabeal in rural Victoria, he was drawn to the arts from an early age. Cave studied painting at the Caulfield Institute of Technology (Monash University, Melbourne) in 1976 before abandoning his studies to pursue music, relocating to Berlin and London in the 1980s.
Xavier Hufkens is one of Europe’s leading galleries for contemporary art. Located in Brussels, the gallery maintains a diverse exhibition programme with solo exhibitions of the gallery artists as well as group exhibitions and special projects. The gallery deals in a distinctive combination of painting, drawing, sculpture, photography, video and installation-based work.
The origins of the gallery date back to 1987, when Xavier Hufkens opened a gallery space in an un-refurbished warehouse in the neighbourhood of the South Station (Midi) in Brussels. During the early years, the focus of the gallery was upon mid-career and emerging artists and the gallery is known for having introduced some of the most influential contemporary artists to Brussels at a time when they were still relatively unknown. British sculptor Antony Gormley, who is still affiliated with the gallery, Felix Gonzalez-Torres and Rosemarie Trockel all showed in Belgium for the first time with Xavier Hufkens (Gormley in 1987; Gonzalez-Torres in 1991 and Trockel in 1993).
In 1992, the gallery moved to a 19th-century townhouse at 6 rue Saint-Georges, close to the Avenue Louise. Completely renovated by Belgian architects Paul Robbrecht, Hilde Daem and Marie-José Van Hee, the house quickly gained a reputation for being not just one of the most beautiful contemporary art spaces in the Belgian capital, but also one of the most interesting. The expanded exhibition programme coincided with the additional representation of a number of established artists from Belgium and abroad, including Richard Artschwager, Thierry De Cordier and Jan Vercruysse. In 1997, Hufkens expanded the gallery further by annexing the adjacent building and a number of new artists joined the gallery, including Louise Bourgeois, Roni Horn and Thomas Houseago.
A second space in the same street, at 107 rue Saint-Georges, opened in spring 2013. Located in the Galerie Rivoli, a mixed-use commercial development from the 1970s, the new gallery space was designed by Swiss architect Harry Gugger, who was previously in partnership with Herzog and De Meuron. Slegten & Toegemann, Brussels, managed the project. A third space opened in spring 2020, located at 44 Rue Van Eyck, designed by architect Bernard Dubois.
An eclectic but very clear vision underpins all of the gallery’s activities: 'The definition of the gallery was established from the start. The common thread, then and now, is quality over and above everything else, which I find more intellectually challenging than a forced definition. From the early days I juxtaposed established artists such as Michelangelo Pistoletto with someone like Felix Gonzalez-Torres when he was totally unknown. Today I still mix my work: I have no problem showing Malcolm Morley … alongside Robert Ryman, or Willem de Kooning.' [Xavier Hufkens in The Art Newspaper, Issue 220, January 2011, published online: 20 January 2011]
Xavier Hufkens represents some thirty artists from different generations. He was part of the six-member selection committee for Art Basel during seven years and also participates in up to five international Arts Fairs annually. The gallery has partnerships with the estates of Louise Bourgeois, Willem de Kooning, Robert Mapplethorpe and Alice Neel.
