Nick Cave
(b. 1959)Nick Cave works between visual and performing arts, and across a wide range of media, to create assemblage works that contemplate contemporary strategies of survival.
Biography
Nick Cave’s work offers an exploration of the promises—both those fulfilled and those broken—that were offered to marginalized groups in the late twentieth and early twenty-first centuries.
From an early age, he demonstrated a creative and artistic ability and, as an undergraduate at the Kansas City Art Institute, experimented with both visual and performance art. In 1979, he met Alvin Ailey and spent significant time over the ensuing years studying with the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater in New York. After college, he designed displays for Macy’s and worked as a fashion designer before pursuing an MFA from Cranbook Academy of Art.
Since that time, Cave has worked extensively as an educator and performance artist. He is best known for his sculpted, wearable works constructed using objects found in antique shops and flea markets. These works—influenced by Cave’s studies with Ailey, and first created in direct response to the police beating of Rodney King in 1991—put forth joy and vibrancy. They often also act as a second skin that conceals race, gender, and class. Through immersive installations, sculptures, and video, Cave juxtaposes despair and hope, survival and renewal. His work offers an exploration of the promises—both those fulfilled and those broken—that were offered to marginalized groups in the late twentieth and early twenty-first centuries.
Cave received a BFA from the Kansas City Art Institute and MFA from Cranbrook Academy of Art. He is the recipient of awards such as the Joan Mitchell Foundation Award (2008) and the Artadia Award (2006). His major solo exhibitions include Nick Cave: Forothermore (2022) at the Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago; Nick Cave: Until (2016) at MASS MoCA, North Adams, Massachusetts; and Nick Cave (2014) at Institute of Contemporary Art, Boston. His work first entered the Studio Museum’s collection in 2018.
Nick Cave
(b. 1959)Nick Cave works between visual and performing arts, and across a wide range of media, to create assemblage works that contemplate contemporary strategies of survival.
Soundsuit, 2009
Biography
Nick Cave’s work offers an exploration of the promises—both those fulfilled and those broken—that were offered to marginalized groups in the late twentieth and early twenty-first centuries.
From an early age, he demonstrated a creative and artistic ability and, as an undergraduate at the Kansas City Art Institute, experimented with both visual and performance art. In 1979, he met Alvin Ailey and spent significant time over the ensuing years studying with the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater in New York. After college, he designed displays for Macy’s and worked as a fashion designer before pursuing an MFA from Cranbook Academy of Art.
Since that time, Cave has worked extensively as an educator and performance artist. He is best known for his sculpted, wearable works constructed using objects found in antique shops and flea markets. These works—influenced by Cave’s studies with Ailey, and first created in direct response to the police beating of Rodney King in 1991—put forth joy and vibrancy. They often also act as a second skin that conceals race, gender, and class. Through immersive installations, sculptures, and video, Cave juxtaposes despair and hope, survival and renewal. His work offers an exploration of the promises—both those fulfilled and those broken—that were offered to marginalized groups in the late twentieth and early twenty-first centuries.
Cave received a BFA from the Kansas City Art Institute and MFA from Cranbrook Academy of Art. He is the recipient of awards such as the Joan Mitchell Foundation Award (2008) and the Artadia Award (2006). His major solo exhibitions include Nick Cave: Forothermore (2022) at the Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago; Nick Cave: Until (2016) at MASS MoCA, North Adams, Massachusetts; and Nick Cave (2014) at Institute of Contemporary Art, Boston. His work first entered the Studio Museum’s collection in 2018.