Nick Cave | ICA Boston

Currently on view in the West Gallery of the Institute of Contemporary Art, Boston are a dozen of Nick Cave’s Soundsuits along with four remarkably decadent pieces built around regal dog statues. The dog sculptures exude luxury and wealth. It is an absolutely breathtaking scene that is hard to take in all at once. Cave “rescues” the dog figurines from flea markets and makes them the focus of each sculpture. In Western society the dog is thought of as loyal and sometimes powerful. Cave seats each dog on luxurious furniture and surrounds the figurines with glistening lights, beads, birds, flowers and other odds and ends from antique shops. Cave uses objects that were cast out from their original owners and uses them in a way that represents them and holds them to the highest standard.

As if these sculptures were not jaw dropping enough, next up are Cave’s famous Soundsuits. Again, the suits are made from discarded materials but are presented to the viewer with a sense of great importance and propriety. The suits may look like fun and games but Cave’s first Soundsuit was created in response to the Rodney King beating in Los Angeles in 1992. These suits are meant to be armor. They are visually loud and physically loud as the suits make noise when worn and made mobile. The Soundsuits seem otherworldly and bigger than any problem both political and social.