Nick Cave

1959 -

Nick Cave (born February 4, 1959) is an American sculptor, dancer, performance artist, and professor.[1] He is best known for his Soundsuit series – wearable assemblage fabric sculptures that are bright, whimsical, and other-worldly, often made with found objects. He also trained as a dancer with Alvin Ailey and often incorporates dance and performance into his works.[2] His later sculptures have focused on color theory and included mixed media and large-scale installations. He currently resides in Chicago, Illinois, and is director of the graduate fashion program at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago.[3] He continues to work on Soundsuits as well as works completed as a sculptor, dancer, and performance artist.[4]

Nick Cave was raised in Fulton, Missouri, alongside seven brothers by a single mother who encouraged Cave's interest in fashion.[7][8] His grandparents owned a farm in Chariton, Missouri, where Cave would sometimes help care for crops and chickens.[7] Cave attributes much of his interests in found objects and assemblage to his childhood circumstances.[2] Graduating from Hickman High School in 1977, he enrolled in the Kansas City Art Institute, where he would study fiber arts and later earn a Bachelor of Fine Arts in 1982.[9][10] In 1979, Cave met Alvin Aileyand spent that summer and several summers thereafter in New York, where he studied with the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theatre.[2] After graduating from the Kansas City Art Institute in 1982, he designed displays for the department store, Macy's, and worked professionally as a fashion designer while maintaining his interest in art and dance.[8]

In 1988, Cave earned his M.F.A. degree from Cranbrook Academy of Art in Bloomfield Hills, Michigan.[8] He also did some graduate coursework at the University of North Texas.[1] After graduating from Cranbrook, he went on to teach in a fiber arts program at the Art Institute of Chicago in 1989. Since then, Cave has run a clothing company in Chicago where he designs, manufactures, and markets his own line of men's & women's clothing.[10]

Cave's low socio-economic status growing up forced him to repair hand-me-downs from older siblings; this is where he began developing skills in manipulating fabrics. He created his first Soundsuit through the utilization of these skills.[11] Up until then, his work had nothing to do with the figure or performance art. He explained that he made a sudden shift that would redefine the work he was making.[7]

Influences of African art traditions, armor, ceremonial dress, couture fashion, and designed textiles, as well as stereotypically feminine objects, are present in his work to express a multitude of concepts. Much of his work is in the round, but occasionally he enjoys the dimension created when working with bas-relief, referring to them as paintings.[7][12][13] His work deals with strategies to negotiate the real-life stakes of vulnerability and consequence by transforming the experience and environment. With his performance art, he aims to create situations where diverse communities come together to share the experience, making sure to distinguish his pieces as art rather than costumes.[7][12] Cave describes himself not as an artist but as a messenger as his work frequently deals with spectacle and responsibility.[12]

One such work of his that follows this principle is Augment. This piece consists of five assemblages made with over 1000 inflatable lawn decorations that are sewn together. The sculptures were on display in the Cyclorama at the Boston Center for the Arts in Boston’s South End from August 8, 2019, to September 13, 2019. On September 14, the piece was taken to the streets in the form of a parade with the mission to spread joy through the South End and Upham's Corner neighborhoods in Boston. More than 75 Boston-area artists and performers and 500 members of the public participated in this parade to bridge the gap between the two neighborhoods. At its final location at 555 Columbia Avenue in Upham's corner, the piece spills out through the windows of a custom-designed building wrapped in collages made by members of the Upham's Corner community.

Cave creates most of his pieces in a workshop with several assistants, fabricators, and suppliers, his head assistant being Jen Grygiel. He most often commissions fabrication from a shop in Skokie, Illinois called "Iron and Wire" owned by David Greene.[7]

His first career retrospective museum exhibition opened in May 2022 at the Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago.[5] He received an honorary Doctor of Fine Arts degree from the Rhode Island School of Design in June 2022.[6]