The Devil and the Drunk Man

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    Photo: Roger Manley, 1986
1950s
Description

During the 1950s, Hall made allegorical figures of concrete over wire and wood annatures, which he placed in small groups in the front yard of his small cinderblock home. One protective tableau, titled The Devil and the Drunk Man, shows a drunkard passed out on a bed, another slumped at a table, bottle in hand, and a fearsome, red-eyed, open-mouthed devil standing over both, a rock in his upraised fist. Hall said, "Satan, he's making that old boy go on drinkin'." Hall believed tliat the devil was active in daily life, going to and fro, seeking ways to influence people into sinful acts, or be "whooped." His sculptures protected him from this devil.