When the Cranbrook Art Museum asked to host his inaugural solo outing in Michigan, the artist and dancer — and Cranbrook Academy of Art alum — Nick Cave agreed, on one condition: “I said, I will only do it if I can do work in Detroit.” For the uninitiated, the school’s campus sits about 20 miles away from the downtown area, Cave’s first lesson upon his arrival in the late ’80s. “Girl, thank God for the city,” he says. “I got here and I was the sole black person, so Detroit saved my life. I became connected to this circle of creative people.” He recalls a fearlessness to the way they came together and fed off of one another. “I don’t know if I could have done Cranbrook without Detroit,” he avers. “That’s why this is so important; I’m reconnecting with the city that really allowed me to create a balance in my higher education.”
“Thank God for Detroit,” exclaims Nick Cave as he lays out the plans and inspiration for his takeover of the City. His trademark Soundsuits have already invaded Eastern Market, the Michigan Assembly Plant and the Fisher Building for photo shoots and promotional activities, with the main event, Nick Cave: Here Hear, opening to the public this weekend at Cranbrook Art Museum. But Cave’s art and community events transcend far beyond Cranbrook’s Bloomfield Hills environs, into Detroit’s Riverfront and Brightmoor neighborhood, for an interactive, participatory exhibition unlike any the museum has produced.
A few months ago, artist Nick Cave caused a stir of excitement when he returned to his native Detroit to photograph a series of dramatic art installations.Now, his fans will finally be able to see the results of that effort when his exhibition “Nick Cave: Here Hear” opens at Cranbrook Art Museum this weekend.Cave, a noted sculptor and performance artist, graduated from Cranbrook Art Academy in 1989. In March, he returned to his alma mater to start his photo tour of metro Detroit, which included stops in the Brightmoor neighborhood, Mexicantown and Eastern Market, along with nine other places.
Supported by a stack of storage boxes in Shed 5 of Detroit’s Eastern Market one humid morning, the artist Nick Cave steps gingerly into a suit of clipped twigs, one leg at a time. Crouching at his feet, two assistants adjust the jagged hem of each trouser leg while Bob Faust, Cave’s studio director and right-hand man, lifts the waist and draws the suspenders tightly across his chest. Struggling to co-ordinate their movements, the team of three hauls the garment’s top half — a towering assemblage of sticks weighing more than 50lb — above Cave’s head, lowering it over his face and settling it on his shoulders. Faust takes his hand and leads him outside; like a splintery Chewbacca, Cave lumbers blindly through rows of poppies to a small grove of potted pines, the suit’s improbable wooden surface clacking as he moves.
Ahead of the opening, the artist posted a trippy preview video on YouTube, showing his Soundsuits dancing -- and standing still -- at various iconic spots around Detroit. The video features some high-energy movement, as well as eerie shots near urban decay.
Nick Cave is taking over Detroit. Next Saturday, June 20, will see the debut of Here Hear, the largest show of the American artist’s work to date, at the Cranbook Art Museum. The weekend will kick off a string of events that runs through the rest of the year. Among the Cave-planned celebrations are a performance called Up Right: Detroit and a series of Dance Labs, both in July; and a procession of dozens of Cave’s life-size horse sculptures traipsing through the city on September 26 (manned by high-school dancers, no less). All this will then culminate with a project called Figure This: Detroit, which will take place in the city’s magisterial Masonic Temple on October 4.
A new exhibition at the Cranbrook Art Museum, Detroit, casts light on the creative world of American sculptor, dancer and performance artist Nick Cave. The 7,000 square-foot solo exhibition features a large selection of Cave’s famous “Soundsuits”, a series of African-inspired colorful sculptures that merge art, fashion and sound. Standing somewhere between performative sculptures and ritual costumes, Cave’s Soundsuits are conceived as an emotional shield that protects one’s race or gender, while still allowing him to express his individuality. The exhibition, which is titled “Here Hear”, will also include newly commissioned artworks, a site-specific wall-based tapestry inspired by the artist’s childhood memories of contemplating the night sky, a series of video works and a selection of his recent sculptures.
As buzz about Detroit becoming one of the centers of contemporary art production in the United States heightens, so does focus on its exhibitions. This may explain why rather than staging a quiet show this summer, the Cranbrook Art Museum, located in a suburb of Detroit, is making a bold statement with "Here Hear," a solo exhibition by Nick Cave. It includes programming not only at the museum itself, but also happenings throughout the city. Best known for his Soundsuits, which are wearable sculptures made out of colorful, often flamboyant materials such as feathers, knit flowers and sequins, Cave also creates a wide variety of videos and static works. Trained as dancer at Alvin Ailey, he is deliciously aware of how the body moves -- and how it can be transformed to a vessel in which a person contained can be set free. "Up Right: Detroit," for example, will be an ongoing performance staged in collaboration with the Ruth Ellis Center, a nonprofit working with LGBTQ youth and young adults in Metro Detroit. And "Heard•Detroit," held on September 26, will feature 60 high-school dancers clad in life-size horse costumes, parading down the Detroit riverfront. If you've been looking for an excuse to visit Detroit, here's your opportunity.
Museum Exhibition and Performance Series Run Through October Bloomfield Hills, Mich., May 28, 2015 – The stage is being set for Nick Cave’s most ambitious project to date – Nick Cave: Here Hear. The exhibition will open at Cranbrook Art Museum on Saturday, June 20, with a special ArtMembers’ Opening Reception on Friday, June 19. […]
That summer feeling. The escapism, natural romanticism, and bitter nostalgia the mind conjures for the year’s warmest season is unmistakable. Designing Summer: Objects of Escape examines how summertime is embodied through objects of the past and present. Exclusively featuring works by Michigan designers and makers, the exhibition begins in the mid-century, when a thriving automobile […]
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