Nick Cave "Speak Louder" 2011 via Jack Shainman Gallery
Nick Cave combines his training in textiles and dance to create body sculptures called Soundsuits. Chelsea’s Jack Shainman and Mary Boone galleries have teamed up to exhibit his latest work. At Jack Shainman, Ever After exhibits three sets of sculptures and a video installation. In “Mating Season” nine shaggy white rabbit-eared figures are arranged in a row at slightly different positions to suggest multiple frames of a single entity’s sexual gesture. “Speak Louder” displays seven figures with protruding circular heads unified by a single draped cloak embroidered to shimmering saturation with black buttons and bugle beads. The bodies resemble a band of forlorn animated trumpets.
Oddly enough, these figures are subdued in comparison to the psychedelic chaos down the street at Mary Boone. Cave’s imagination runs wild as he assembles found and organic objects into unseen combinations. For Now takes place in a high-ceiling room where a platform acts as a dance floor extravaganza of interacting figures. Globes, antique metal toys, and porcelain roses become cohesive textures through Cave’s limitless ingenuity and craftsmanship. The two shows are tied together when twigs take the place of buttons in monochrome figures with familiar disc-like heads, a cross between Maurice Sendak’s Wild Things and a subwoofer.
Cave’s exhibit titles may suggest a future mellowing of his work. The loud, pandemonic miscellany on display at Mary Boone is an ephemeral manifestation of his vision. His more emblematic series at Jack Shainman seems to indicate a shift away from spectacle to contemplation.
See For Now at Mary Boone Gallery until October 22nd and Ever After at Jack Shainman Gallery until October 8th
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