Brad Pitt Unveils Sculptures at Finnish Museum: It’s About ‘Getting Brutally Honest with Me’
After becoming an Academy Award winner in 2021, Brad Pitt has launched three new careers: amateur treasure hunter, “The Great Pottery Throw Down” fan club leader, and now professional sculptor.
The “Bullet Train” star unveiled nine sculptures at a Finnish art museum, the Sara Hildén Art Museum, as part of a larger exhibition by British artist Thomas Houseago and a ceramic series by Australian musician Nick Cave. To note, Pitt’s longtime collaborator, director Andrew Dominik, has helmed two Cave documentaries.
“For Nick and I this is a new world and our first entry. It just feels right,” Pitt told Finnish broadcasting company Yle at the opening ceremony (via The Independent).
Pitt, billed as a “largely self-taught” artist, explained his pieces are part of his emotional rebirth.
“To me, it’s about self-reflection,” Pitt mused. “It’s about where I have gotten it wrong in my relationships, where have I misstepped, where am I complicit. For me, it was born out of ownership of what I call a radical inventory of self, getting really brutally honest with me and taking account of those I may have hurt, moments I have just gotten wrong.”
Pitt’s works include a molded plaster panel titled “Self-Inflicted Gunshot Wound to the House” which was made of crystallized bullets in platinum silicone. Another sculptor named “Candle Holders For Loved Ones” was “made in the time of COVID.” A bronze box with hands, feet, and faces is called “Aiming At You I Saw Me But It Was Too Late This Time.”
Pitt previously voiced his fandom for British reality series “The Great Pottery Throw Down,” informing his latest artistic works. “I’ve seen every season,” Pitt confirmed, adding that the show is “so beautiful.”
Per an official synopsis (for those who aren’t in the know about the kiln-centric series), “The Great Pottery Throw Down” centers on 10 home potters from around the country who venture to Stoke-on-Trent, the home of pottery, in their quest to become the Top Potter.
The official show page retweeted the “Bullet Train” interview with the caption, “The first rule of pottery club is: you *must* talk about pottery,” nodding to “Fight Club.”
Big news! @SaraHildenArt in #Tampere #Finland presents Thomas Houseago’s 1st exhibition in the Nordic countries. In the exhibition you can see his sculptures & paintings alongside a ceramic series by Nick Cave and sculptures by Brad Pitt
. Photo: Jussi Koivunen #VisitTampere pic.twitter.com/OFixSLj9tp
— Visit Tampere (@VisitTampere) September 17, 2022