“Artist Nick Cave Embraced Detroit, And We Hugged Him Back” |Detroit Free Press

The art world often can be too esoteric, too insular, too out there to capture the attention of any sizable swath of the public. But that’s no such problem for Nick Cave. Beginning this summer, the Chicago artist was the subject of a sprawling, months-long exhibit centered at the Cranbrook Art Museum. The “Here Hear” presentation did everything we might expect of the arts. It was aesthetically dazzling. It was provocative. It was thoughtful. It had big, even confrontational, ideas in mind. But it wasn’t protected behind a glass case, or adorned with DO NOT TOUCH signs. In fact, it was more like a joyful embrace. And gosh darn if Detroit didn’t embrace it right back. Largely composed of Cave’s trademark Soundsuits – outsized, dramatic costumes built of a wide array of materials, from twigs to ostentatious fabrics – the Cranbrook installation was a mesmerizing sight, and worthy of celebration and contemplation on ...

Mark Stryker’s Top Ten in the Detroit Free Press

[…] "Nick Cave: Here Hear," Cranbrook Art Museum, June: Contemporary art is rarely as much fun as Nick Cave's Soundsuits, his hybrid, full-body creations that sit at the intersection of art, fashion, sculpture, assemblage, installation and social critique. Still, Cave's homecoming — he is a Cranbrook alum — reminded you that the eye-candy comes with sharp observations about race and gender, especially notable in a gallery where an affecting suit named for Trayvon Martin was surrounded by sculptures fashioned from racist objects like lawn jockeys found at second-hand shops. Beyond the exhibition itself, Cave took his art directly to the people via a string of dance-based performances in Detroit, linking the suburban Cranbrook museum directly to urban life.

“Nick Cave: Here Hear” Named Second-Best Exhibition in Country

Photo by Sarah Rose Sharp/Hyperallergic"Nick Cave: Here Hear" was recently named the second-best exhibition in the country by Hyperallergic, the online arts magazine. The news was also covered by the Detroit Metro Times and the Knight Foundation.

“Nick Cave: Here Hear” Review | Art Forum

The Nick Cave: Here Hear exhibition at Cranbrook Museum of Art is reviewed by Matthew Biro in the December 2015 issue of Art Forum. "[...]the Cranbrook Art Museum presented a powerful demonstration of Cave's incisive take on the current sociopolitical climate, while simultaneously evidencing his efforts to assemble alternative communities."

Treasure: Cranbrook exhibit spotlights Pewabic’s legacy | The Detroit News

Santa came a little early last week when I had the opportunity to preview the encyclopedic exhibition of Pewabic Pottery opening Saturday at Cranbrook. One of the largest private collections in the nation, “Simple Forms, Stunning Glazes” features the 117-piece collection of Gerald W. McNeely, recently donated to Cranbrook by the New York-based collector. I toured the luminous exhibition with director of the Center for Collections and Research’s Gregory Wittkopp and collections fellow Stefanie Dlugosz-Acton, who curated the exhibition. Both shared their thoughts about the collection and exhibition with Trash or Treasure readers. Who is Gerald McNeely? Why did he collect Pewabic? GW: Gerald McNeely lives in New York City, where he studied painting and drawing at the Cooper Union, developed a career working as a graphic designer and commercial illustrator, and socialized in a circle of artists that included Andy Warhol. Although he considers himself a New Yorker, he was born ...

Tagged: Mary Chase Stratton, Pewabic

Cranbrook exhibit gets noisy with Lou Reed album | Detroit Free Press

Back in 1975, rock musician Lou Reed nearly drove his now revered career into the ground with the release of his fifth solo album, "Metal Machine Music." As one of pop culture’s earliest examples of experimental noise (meaning no songs and no structure), the controversial "Metal Machine Music" was largely hailed as a joke upon its release by fans and critics alike. It took decades before it was given proper credit for helping spearhead the idea of contemporary sound art. To help pay tribute to the widely misunderstood double album — a current staple of avant-garde music — Cranbrook Art Museum is hosting an exhibit called “Lou Reed, Metal Machine Trio: The Creation of the Universe” through March 26. Housed in just a small black room, the exhibit is made up of a live ambisonic 3D installation that utilizes 12 loudspeakers to create a fully immersive sound experience. It’s designed ...

Tagged: Lou Reed

Cranbrook Receives Knight Arts Challenge Awards

Photo Credit: The Roadside Tavern, Lisdoon, Ireland.Image courtesy of Cause CollectiveCranbrook Art Museum and Cranbrook Artist-in-Residence Anders Ruhwald Each Awarded Knight Arts Challenge Grants Projects will both originate in the city of Detroit Bloomfield Hills, Mich., November 10, 2015 --  Cranbrook Art Museum and Anders Ruhwald, Cranbrook Academy of Art Artist-in-Residence, were each awarded separate grants yesterday from the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation, as part of its Detroit Knight Arts Challenge. Cranbrook Art Museum was awarded a $60,000 matching grant to create a Detroit tour of the public art installation In Search of the Truth (The Truth Booth). The ambitious public program will also result in a new presentation at the Museum in the fall of 2016. The Truth Booth is a portable, inflatable video recording studio in the shape of a giant speech bubble. Created by artists Hank Willis Thomas, Ryan Alexiev, Will Sylvester and Jim Ricks, known together as the Cause ...

Tagged: Anders Ruhwald, Exhibition, Knight Arts, The Truth Booth

Cranbrook Art Museum Announces New Exhibition Series

Bloomfield Hills, Mich., Oct. 12, 2015- Cranbrook Art Museum announces its fall season of exhibitions today, which continue the Museum’s tradition of bringing innovative and interactive contemporary art to the metro Detroit area. Opening on November 21 (with a special ArtMembers’ Opening Reception on November 20) are the exhibitions Lou Reed, Metal Machine Trio: The Creation of the Universe; Andy Warhol: Empire; Him, a project by Liz Cohen; and The Cranbrook Salon. Then in December, the Museum will debut Simple Forms, Stunning Glazes: The Gerald W. McNeely Pewabic Pottery Collection. While the new exhibitions are being installed, the lower galleries of the Museum remain open, featuring the exhibitions Bent, Cast & Forged: The Jewelry of Harry Bertoia and Read Image: See Text. After an incredibly successful run, the Nick Cave: Here Hear exhibition closed yesterday.Photo by Amy-Beth McNeelyLou Reed, Metal Machine Trio: The Creation of the Universe November 21, 2015 – March 26, ...

Tagged: Lou Reed

Wearable Artwork Makes Noise Against Racism | Studio 360

This is not a story about Nick Cave the Australian rock star. This is a story about a different Nick Cave: a Missouri-born fabric artist, sculptor, and dancer. Cave has become famous in the art world for what he calls “soundsuits,” wearable sculptures composed of bottle caps, sweaters, toy drums, globes, metal buckets, tambourines, purses, and anything else Cave finds rummaging through flea markets. Inspired by the brutal beating of Rodney King in 1991, Cave’s soundsuits have become increasingly relevant in the wake of recent violence against African Americans and the rise of the Black Lives Matter movement. “I think his work gives us a starting point for a conversation we really have to have,” says Laura Mott, the curator of a major retrospective of Cave’s work at the Cranbook Art Museum, in suburban Detroit. I’m just lucky that I have this medium as a way of expressing things that are difficult ...

View All Nick Cave Here Hear Press Coverage

Photo by James Prinz Photography. Courtesy of the artist and Jack Shainman Gallery, New York