Object Details
Artist
Nick Cave, born Fulton, MO 1959
Gallery Label
Trained as a fiber artist and dancer, Nick Cave named his ongoing series of Soundsuits for the rustling he heard as he moved around in them.
He created his first suit in response to the beating of Rodney King by Los Angeles police officers in 1991. He imagined his extravagant costume-sculptures to be protective shields that masked a person's identity and scrambled notions of race, class, and gender.
This suit is composed of doilies that he collected from thrift stores, while other suits in the series incorporate discarded toys, hair, and buttons. In giving these objects new life, he asks, "How do we . . . look at things that are devalued, discarded, and bring a different kind of relevancy to them?"
Credit Line
Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of the James Renwick Alliance and museum purchase through the Luisita L. and Franz H. Denghausen Endowment
Copyright
© 2009, Nick Cave. Courtesy of the artist and Jack Shainman Gallery, New York. Photo by James Prinz Photography
Date
2009
Object number
2012.34A-B
Restrictions & Rights
Usage conditions apply
Type
Sculpture
Medium
mixed media
Dimensions
96 x 26 x 20 in. (243.8 x 66.0 x 50.8 cm)
See more items in
Smithsonian American Art Museum Collection
Department
Painting and Sculpture
Data Source
Smithsonian American Art Museum
Link to Original Record
Record ID
saam_2012.34A-B