#soundsuit

Nick Cave

Soundsuit

Nick Cave (American, b. 1959), Soundsuit, 2010, fabirc with beads and sequins

In anticipation of the (now virtual) New York Caribbean Week and the annual Labor Day Parade, this August we're highlighting artworks in the Museum's collection that celebrate the presence of Caribbean culture and its diasporas.

Nick Cave is among the most prominent and influential contemporary artists working today, and his Soundsuits are simultaneously costumes and sculptures, their title evoking the rattling, swishing, and rhythm of their motion. Richly detailed in an array of materials and textile applications—here, mass-produced metal flowers, black-on-black sequining, and embroidered floral embellishments—Cave has cited Mardi Gras Indian clothing, Dogon masks and dances of Mali, and Trinidadian Carnival pageantry as visual and conceptual inspirations. Cave designed his first Soundsuit in response to the 1992 police beating of Rodney King, suggesting an armor that conceals race, gender, and class, deflecting white supremacist stereotyping and its often deadly results. In drawing on the street-centric traditions of Caribbean carnival to do so, Cave's works emphasize the liberatory potential of public, shared rituals in music, dance, and art. 

Nick Cave, Hustle Coat.