Nick Cave returns to Cranbrook | Detroit Metro Times

Missouri-born, Chicago-based artist Nick Cave has made a name for himself with his colorful "Soundsuits" — ornate, wearable sculptures that have been exhibited as standalone art objects and costumed dance performances. Lately, he's partnered with his alma mater the Cranbrook Academy of Art (Cave is an '89 graduate of their master's program) to bring performances around the metro Detroit area. We caught up by phone with Cave from his Chicago studio to learn more. Metro Times: Tell us more about your Soundsuits — when did you first arrive at that artistic revelation? Nick Cave: After graduating in '89, I was offered at position at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. It was '92 — when the Rodney King incident happened, and the L.A. riots. It just literally flipped me upside down. So I just started thinking about it, and the fact that as soon as I stepped out of the ...

Nick Cave Soundsuits invade Cranbrook — and Detroit | Detroit Free Press

When Nick Cave arrived at the Cranbrook Academy of Art in 1987, he was the only African American in his class. He felt as out of place on the idyllic suburban campus in Bloomfield Hills as a penguin on the prairie. Cave escaped as often as he could to Detroit, where he was able to reaffirm his cultural identity within the rich texture of black life in the city, especially the dance and music scenes. "That was the first time I had to look at myself as a black male, and it was a struggle to find my place," said the 56-year-old Chicago-based artist. "Detroit allowed Cranbrook to work for me, to find a balance." Nearly 30 years later, Cave returns to Cranbrook as an art-world star, best known for his innovative, wearable Soundsuits that connect the dots between sculpture, fashion design, performance art and the politics of race. About 40 of them ...

The Master of Metals : An Exhibition at Cranbrook Explores Harry Bertoia’s Jewelry and the Forging of His Career | Modern Magazine

A WRITHING CENTIPEDE WROUGHT in hammer­ed brass and a gold necklace evoking the decayed, wilted sepals of a plant are among the jewelry de­signs on view in the Cranbrook Art Museum’s ex­hibition Bent, Cast, and Forged: The Jewelry of Harry Bertoia. To celebrate the centennial of the artist’s birth, the institution has organized the first museum exhibition devoted exclusively to his jewelry. A founder of the American studio jewelry move­ment, Bertoia’s concepts, materials, and methods of construction laid the groundwork for a style that flourished in the postwar years. While he is better known for his large-­scale sculpture and the chairs he designed for Knoll, Bertoia’s jewelry designs from the early 1940s were vital to the develop­ment of his versatile career. Arri (Harry) Bertoia was born on March 10, 1915, in the village of San Lorenzo in northeast Italy. At fifteen, he and his father immigrated to Detroit, a growing city with ...

Tagged: Harry Bertoia

Nick Cave and the Good Seeds | W Magazine

The artist brings his largest show to date to his alma mater. “Detroit was such a pivotal part of my time at school,” says the artist Nick Cave, who attended Cranbrook in nearby Bloomfield Hills. When his alma mater approached him to do an exhibition there, he told them, “I would only do the show if I could do some work in Detroit. They were really on board.” The show is a monumental homecoming for the sculptor who now lives in Chicago. Partnering with a local high school, dance academies and grass roots non-profits, Cave dreamt up an entire summer of programming, which will activate seemingly every corner of the city with vibrant performances. “We’re bringing the work to Detroit, but hiring the city to build the project,” explains Cave. “Detroit is re-identifying itself. It’s a new beginning. These supporters are imagining the future of their city. They have the power. ...

Nick Cave Revisits Detroit, Soundsuits in Tow | T: The New York Times Style Magazine

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 ...

The Visual and the Musical: Nick Cave’s Soundsuits Invade Metro Detroit | IXITI.com

“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. Cave, an African-American, was a master’s student at the Cranbrook Academy of Art’s lauded fine arts program in 1988 and 1989, where he recalls being the only minority at the time. As a result, he says he spent about half of his time in Detroit. “Detroit was so pivotal in my time at Cranbrook because it really allowed and created ...

Nick Cave’s anticipated exhibit is finally ‘here, hear’ | C & G News

BLOOMFIELD HILLS — 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. Beginning June 20, visitors can see the installations at the museum through the fall. The exhibit will include images from the pop-up photo shoots, about 30 sculptural Soundsuits used during the shoots, tapestries and other pieces. “My goal is to work with those who live in and love the city, ...

The Financial Times Takes a Close Look at Nick Cave’s Exhibition and Performance Series

The performance artist returns to the scene of his artistic education for a survey of his work 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 coordinate 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 ...

Arnold Blanch’s “The Hunters”

CRANBROOK SIGHTINGS: INSIDE THE VAULT Arnold Blanch The Hunters Circa 1947 Oil on canvas 30 x 48 inches Collection of Cranbrook Art Museum (CAM 1970.28) Gift of J. L. Hudson Company With summer fast approaching (though it does not always feel like it in mercurial Michigan!), it’s about time that we let ourselves take a break from our everyday lives of work and obligations to imagine ourselves in the soon-to-be summer sun, carefree and radiant. For some children, summer means boundless days, free from the shackles of oppressive homework. For others, summer is merely a lazy day on the hammock or a leisurely bike ride to the ice cream parlor. For some of us here in Michigan, summer promises treks up north, to the glistening lakes and sun-kissed days. It is truly beautiful here, whether summer or any other season, and it is this beauty that Arnold Blanch captures in his oil painting, The Hunters, which the Cranbrook ...

Tagged: Arnold Blanch, Detroit, MI, Exhibitions, Jacqueline Honet, MI, Michigan, Painting

Trippy video previews artist Nick Cave’s ‘Here Hear’ Detroit exhibit | M Live

DETROIT - An artist known for his colorful fabric "Soundsuits" will open an exhibit in Metro Detroit next week. Nick Cave, an American sculptor and performance artist, opens his five-month-long exhibit "Here Hear" at the Cranbrook Art Museum June 20. 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. https://youtu.be/Q4RePq2Opds His show opening in June will be his largest yet, spanning 7,000-square-feet in the museum. According to Cranbrook's website, the exhibit will feature the Soundsuits, tapestry work, sculptures and some video work. There's also a space for performance art. Cave will also be hosting events in and around Detroit throughout the summer and fall. His time in Detroit will wrap up with a a piece called "Figure This: Detroit" to be held at the Masonic ...