The Museum of Contemporary Art celebrates the thrillingly thought-provoking work of Chicago artist Nick Cave with an expansive new exhibition: Forothermore.
From his mesmerizing, wildly elaborate Soundsuits to stunning large-scale installations, the works of Nick Cave are a study in contradictions. Both joyful and justice-seeking, they lure the viewer in with the sheer magnificence of their craft, a hodgepodge of disparate everyday materials forming a unified and fashionable whole. Yet Cave is also delivering a most powerful message: Each of us—especially those considered “the other” whether because of race, sexual identity or whatever reason—deserves to live in a just world. As the Museum of Contemporary Art prepares to unveil Nick Cave: Forothermore, the artist’s largest museum survey thus far, which features nearly 80 works across the breadth of Cave’s career, we checked in with exhibit curator Naomi Beckwith to get her take on a few standout pieces from the must-see show. May 14-Oct. 2, 220 E. Chicago Ave.
“Soundsuit” (2010, mixed media), 97 inches by 48 inches by 42 inches
“This Soundsuit (below) is fun as it is an actual three-piece set—a suit with matching jacket, trousers and shoes— rather than a body sleeve that we see on other Soundsuits. It also combines Nick’s ‘Tondo’ (round painting) work into the Soundsuit; where a face would be is a mysterious and dynamic target that obscures the person’s face but makes them all the more visible.”
“Soundsuit” (2015, mixed media including wire, bugle beads, buttons, fabric, metal and mannequin), 103 inches by 32 inches by 21 inches
“Tondo” (2018, mixed media including metal, wire, bugle beads, sequined fabric and wood), diameter 72 inches, depth 4 3/4 inches
“There is a long tradition, dating back to the Italian Renaissance, of round paintings and wall reliefs. Cave brings this form into the 21st century with new materials—brush wires and sequins— and with new concerns. While the imagery in this work looks abstract, it’s actually based on brain scans of young African American men whose delicate, impressionable minds are already showing signs of stress and trauma.”
“Tondo” (2018, mixed media including wire, bugle beads, sequined fabric and wood), diameter 72 inches, depth 5 inches
“‘Amalgam’ heralds a significant development for Nick’s work. While the form is familiar—a humanoid character in the ‘Tree’ form of a Soundsuit—it is a seated figure at rest rather than ready to perform; it is the first large work of Nick’s in bronze, the first where all the elements are made in one material, and the first where Nick has created something where handcrafted techniques aren’t paramount, but an industrial process brings the work to life. That said, it’s also a moment where Nick, who can work on a large, ambitious scale, really introduces the tradition of monuments to his practice, working in a material recognized for permanent memorials.”
“A·mal·gam” (2021, bronze), 122 inches by 94 inches by 85 inches
“Soundsuit” (2012, mixed media including embroidery, fabric, vintage toys, rug and mannequin), 127 inches by 98 inches by 93 inches; rug 98 inches by 92 inches
“Soundsuit” (2010, mixed media), 97 inches by 48 inches by 42 inches
“Soundsuit” (2015, mixed media including wire and bugle beads, buttons, sequined appliqués, fabric, metal and mannequin), 99 inches by 25 inches by 20 inches
“Soundsuit” (2015, mixed media including wire and bugle beads, buttons, sequined appliqués, fabric, metal and mannequin), 103 inches by 32 inches by 21 inches
“The Soundsuit ensemble here (below) is a ‘fabric’ made of thousands of shiny buttons, giving anyone who wears it the look of a sequined performer straight from Motown. Yet the performer is masked in a lovely escutcheon made of flowers so that the ‘face’ of the performer is one of beauty and peace.”
Soundsuit (2013, mixed media including buttons, beaded flowers, wire, metal, upholstery and mannequin)
“Soundsuit” (2021, mixed media including vintage ceramic birds, wire, beads, fabric, metal and mannequin), 98 1/₂ inches by 48 inches by 48 inches
“Soundsuit 8:46” (2021, mixed media including vintage textile and sequined appliqués, metal and mannequin), 102 inches by 29 inches by 29 inches
“Cave’s Soundsuits were born of protest and a need for protection. After George Floyd’s murder, the protest element became more apparent, as signified by the title of this series—the initially reported time that Derek Chauvin knelt on Floyd’s neck—and the black flowers symbolizing mourning.”
Photography by: PORTRAIT BY SANDRO MILLER; ARTWORK PHOTOS COURTESY OF THE ARTIST AND JACK SHAINMAN GALLERY, NEW YORK
