Cranbrook Art Museum and Nick Cave (Fiber ’89) Announce “Nick Cave: Here Hear”

James Prinz Photography. Courtesy of the artist and Jack Shainman Gallery, New York

Seven-month project includes Museum exhibition and Cave’s “Biggest, Baddest Performance Series!”

Bloomfield Hills, Mich., March 30, 2015 – This spring, summer, and fall, Cranbrook Art Museum and Detroit will serve as the backdrop for Nick Cave’s most ambitious project to date – Nick Cave: Here Hear. At the invitation of Cranbrook Art Museum, Cave will stage seven months of events throughout the city of Detroit anchored by his first solo exhibition in Michigan at Cranbrook Art Museum, opening this summer. Nick Cave is an artist and dancer, famous for his sculptures, called Soundsuits, which he often stages in public spectacle.

The events will kick off in April, when Nick begins “invading” the city of Detroit for a series of site-specific photo shoots. His first stop will be on the Peristyle at Cranbrook Art Museum at noon on April 10. Cave will be dressed in one of his iconic Soundsuits giving the public the rare opportunity to see the artist dressed in a suit himself. He will continue to “pop up” at locations throughout the city of Detroit in April and May – the Dequindre Cut, the Brightmoor neighborhood, the Parade Company, Mexicantown, the African Bead Museum, Eastern Market, The Fisher Building, One Woodward Avenue and many more. Follow Cranbrook Art Museum on Facebook and Twitter for clues about his locations and the opportunity to see Cave in action at some of these locations. The photographs will be published as a book this summer, titled Nick Cave: Greetings from Detroit, depicting the positive creativity of the city.

The exhibition at Cranbrook Art Museum will open to the public on June 20 and run through October 11, 2015. It will include a collection of approximately 30 sculptural Soundsuits in the main gallery, offset by a room of seven newly commissioned artworks surrounded by a wall-based tapestry inspired by Cave’s childhood watching the night sky. An additional gallery will feature a selection of his recent sculpture work and a projection room of the artist’s video work. Finally, the “Map in Action” room will serve as a hub for the Detroit Performance Series and display the wearable Soundsuits that will come and go to performances throughout the city of Detroit. Video footage of the performances will be added to the room throughout the duration of the show, thereby becoming a living document of the entire project.

A full weekend of celebrations are planned for the exhibition opening, including a film screening and block party performance in Detroit’s Brightmoor and Old Redford communities on Sunday, June 21 at both the historic Redford Theatre and The Artist Village.

Cave will be using his time in Detroit to engage the area in a philosophy he calls “collective dreaming.” Cave is a 1989 graduate of Cranbrook Academy of Art, and he has said the time he spent in Detroit was critical to his growth as an artist. He is returning to capture the excitement currently captivating the city. “My goal,” says the artist, “is to work with these groups and those who live in and love the city to reimagine Detroit as an always-surprising environment of creativity, excitement, and engagement. My dreams for the city are big, because I believe it is important for Detroit to be dreaming ambitiously at this moment about its own future.”

In addition to the exhibition, Cave will use the city of Detroit to stage his largest performance series to date. He will design Dance Labs in partnership with the Museum of Contemporary Art Detroit (MOCAD); work with LBGTQ young adults from the Ruth Ellis Center in Highland Park to create the performance Up Right Detroit, and work with students from the Detroit School of Arts and the Detroit RiverFront Conservancy for Heard•Detroit, a procession of as many as 30 life-size horse sculptures operated by 60 high school dancers that will parade along Detroit’s riverfront on Saturday, September 26. Cave’s project will culminate at the end of the exhibition in October, when the artist will stage Figure This: Detroit, a massive public performance at Detroit’s Masonic Temple on Sunday, October 4.

Though influenced by a vibrant palette of African art, armor, found objects, and fashion and textile design, Cave’s Soundsuits are rooted in social critique. Cave first created a suit in the aftermath of the Rodney King beatings in 1991, envisioning an emotional shield that protects one’s race or gender while still expressing individuality.

“Nick Cave’s return begins with his past connection to the city, but it is fueled by an enthusiasm for the future of Detroit,” says Cranbrook Art Museum Curator of Contemporary Art and Design Laura Mott. “This ambitious project is sited in many different neighborhoods and communities throughout the city and it is part of Cave’s mission to ignite Detroit’s collective imagination. Nick Cave chose the title—Here Hear—because it speaks to both the place and an act of engagement, and together they form a triumphant cheer.”

According to Cave, “the exhibition at Cranbrook is a way to recognize and celebrate the richness in the city of Detroit. The idea of rebuilding and repurposing is very much in line with what I do as an artist.”

Cranbrook Art Museum Director Gregory Wittkopp says this project highlights Cranbrook’s plans to continue to connect its international exhibition program with the city of Detroit, and also to highlight work from alumni of Cranbrook Academy of Art. “We’ve made a special effort over the past two years to bring more emerging and contemporary artists into our exhibitions, with a focus on Detroit-based artists and graduates from Cranbrook Academy of Art,” Wittkopp says. “The Nick Cave project not only fulfills both goals, it knocks them out of the park.”

The project will also include “Nick Cave: Exploring Identity through the Arts,” a K-12 curriculum for educators that will be available online without charge. It will encourage students to explore social and cultural issues relevant to their personal and community identity through the arts. Cranbrook Art Museum will also offer costume workshops and camps inspired by the work of Nick Cave during the summer months.

This project has attracted a wide variety of sponsors and community partners who are eager to share Cranbrook Art Museum’s desire to spread creative positivity throughout Detroit. The Presenting Sponsors are the Ford Foundation and the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation, who through their Knight Arts Challenge Detroit initiative look to fund ideas that engage and enrich Detroit through the arts. Cranbrook Art Museum received a matching grant of $150,000 to kick-off this ambitious project. According to Dennis Scholl, vice president of arts for Knight Foundation, “Detroit’s future is being driven by the cultural creatives who have big ideas for their city. It’s an honor to help bring visual artist Nick Cave back to the Michigan, to engage many more people in thinking creatively about their lives, their neighborhoods, their Detroit.”

Leadership Sponsors include Quicken Loans with their Opportunity Detroit mission and The Kresge Foundation. The Major Sponsor is The Taubman Foundation. Supporting Sponsors include Strategic Staffing Solutions, the Michigan Council for Arts and Cultural Affairs and the National Endowment for the Arts, the Masco Corporation Foundation, Maggie and Bob Allesee, and the Jack Shainman Gallery. Community Partners include the Detroit RiverFront Conservancy, the Ruth Ellis Center, Detroit School of Arts and the Museum of Contemporary Art Detroit.

The ambitious schedule of events for Nick Cave: Here Hear, includes: