Property
Made by Whites for Whites, Jack Shainman Gallery, New York, September 4-October
11, 2014, no cat.
Field, Road, Cloud: Art and Africa, Des Moines Art Center, IA, February 13-April 19, 2015,
no. 13.
Nick Cave: Here Hear, Cranbrook Art Museum, Bloomfield Hills, MI, June
20-October 11, 2015, no cat.
Nick Cave’s Property suggests many things, from the institution of slavery to the lifecycle of things sold, used, and discarded. A caricatured figure stands near part of a shoeshine chair: a reference to racial stereotypes. Above, an ornamented structure suggests a tree of life, a symbol that embodies hope and regeneration amidst oppression. Objects that Cave collected and did not alter fill vintage boxes. Together, these objects and symbols raise questions about race, oppression, identity, and memory.
Cave hopes that by reusing objects in a manner different than originally intended may cause viewers to ask themselves, “Have you moved forward? How have you changed? What work have you done?”
With
Jack Shainman Gallery, New York, 2014;
Purchased
from Jack Shainman Gallery by The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, Kansas City, MO,
2014.
Des Moines Art Center, Field, Road, Cloud: Art and Africa (Des Moines: Des Moines Art Center, 2015), 17, (repro.).
