Nick Cave Speaks (text + video 5:33)
Ricki Morse – Nick Cave: Master of Celebration and Transparency
Nick Cave
American, 1959-
Rescue, 2013
mixed media including ceramic birds, metal flowers, ceramic Basset Hound, and vintage settee
Courtesy Jordan Schnitzer Family Foundation, LA Louver Gallery and Jack Shainman Gallery
Nick Cave - undated photo
“All of my resources lie outside of my studio. They’re just out in the world for me to gather and pull together.” – Nick Cave
COMMENTS
Cave’s “Rescue” series from 2013 glorifies found ceramic dogs on thrones of discarded flea-market objects. Perched on ordinary chairs and antique armoires, the dogs become masters of their kitschy miniature universes, which Cave creates with cages bedecked in beads, ceramic birds, metal flora, and crystals. These highly decorated armatures connect the dogs to the long tradition in Western art history and PAFA’s collection of symbolically associating canines with aristocracy. The dogs also embody loyalty, fidelity, and playfulness. Cave contrasts these traditionally white Western concepts of social status with the contemporary use of the term “dawg,” which is prevalent in hip-hop culture and a signifier of respect and brotherhood. Cave’s invocation of both the historical and contemporary connotations embedded within dog symbolism poses challenging questions concerning the forging of power through symbolism, cultural knowledge, and ornamentation.
https://www.pafa.org/museum/exhibitions/nick-cave-rescue
“Rescue” comprises sculptures that incorporate found ceramic dogs sitting on furniture within elaborate grottos or dreamlike dens. Dogs have historically been associated with loyalty, class, breed, commitment, and protection. More recently, the term “dawg” has played a role in hip-hop culture as a moniker for brotherhood, respect, and power.
In the “Rescues”, Cave focuses on a single canine that has quite literally been rescued from destruction, very much like an adopted pet. These dogs become the benevolent guardians of their self-contained worlds, focusing the spotlight on the forgotten and discarded. A Doberman lounges on a gold sofa while a small dog fiercely guards a wishbone on a shoeshine table. The armatures that envelop these animals correspond with large-scale wall-based bas reliefs dripping with crystals, beads, and metal flowers.
Nick Cave is an artist, educator and foremost a messenger, working between the visual and performing arts through a wide range of mediums including sculpture, installation, video, sound and performance. He has said, "I have found my middle and now am working toward what I am leaving behind."
Cave was recently the subject of a solo exhibition at the Institute of Contemporary Art in Boston in 2014. Other recent solo exhibitions include: Nick Cave: Sojourn at the Denver Art Museum, Nick Cave: Freeport 006: at the Peabody Essex Museum, and Fantastic 2012, Lille3000, at the Tri Postal in Lille, France. In 2013 he worked with Creative Time and MTA Arts for Transit to present HEARD•NY at Grand Central Station in New York City, a performance that transformed the commuter experience into a dream world occupied by 30 raffia horses activated by 60 dancers. Upcoming solo exhibitions include the St. Louis Museum of Art, MO in 2014, the Cranbrook Art Museum, Bloomfield Hills, MI, in 2015, which will be accompanied by a series of performances in Detroit, MI, and a major exhibition of new work at Mass MoCA, North Adams, MA in 2016.
Cave’s work is part of many public collections including the Brooklyn Museum, Crystal Bridges, the Detroit Institute of Arts, the High Museum, the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, the Norton Museum of Art, the Museum of Modern Art, New York, the Birmingham Museum of Art, the De Young Museum, the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, the Orlando Museum of Art, the Smithsonian Institution, and the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, and the Baltimore Museum of Art, among others.
Courtesy of the artist and Jack Shainman Gallery, New York
https://www.galleriesnow.net/shows/nick-cave-rescue/