Soundsuit

Nick Cave, Soundsuit, 2009, mixed media, 962620 in. (243.866.050.8 cm), Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of the James Renwick Alliance and museum purchase through the Luisita L. and Franz H. Denghausen Endowment, 2012.34A-B, © 2009, Nick Cave. Courtesy of the artist and Jack Shainman Gallery, New York. Photo by James Prinz Photography

Artwork Details

Title
Soundsuit
Artist
Date
2009
Location
Not on view
Dimensions
962620 in. (243.866.050.8 cm)
Copyright
© 2009, Nick Cave. Courtesy of the artist and Jack Shainman Gallery, New York. Photo by James Prinz Photography
Credit Line
Gift of the James Renwick Alliance and museum purchase through the Luisita L. and Franz H. Denghausen Endowment
Mediums Description
mixed media
Classifications
Object Number
2012.34A-B

Artwork Description

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?"

Works by this artist (17 items)

Bill Traylor, Untitled (Brown Pig), April 1940, opaque watercolor and pencil on paperboard, Smithsonian American Art Museum, The Margaret Z. Robson Collection, Gift of John E. and Douglas O. Robson, 2016.38.70, © 1994, Bill Traylor Family Trust
Untitled (Brown Pig)
DateApril 1940
opaque watercolor and pencil on paperboard
Not on view
Bill Traylor, Untitled (Radio), ca. 1940-1942, opaque watercolor and pencil on printed advertising paperboard, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Museum purchase through the Luisita L. and Franz H. Denghausen Endowment, 2016.14.4, © 1994, Bill Traylor Family Trust
Untitled (Radio)
Dateca. 1940-1942
opaque watercolor and pencil on printed advertising paperboard
Not on view
Bill Traylor, Untitled (Woman with Umbrella and Man on Crutch), 1939, pencil and opaque watercolor on paperboard, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of Herbert Waide Hemphill, Jr., 1991.96.7, © 1994, Bill Traylor Family Trust
Untitled (Woman with Umbrella and Man on Crutch)
Date1939
pencil and opaque watercolor on paperboard
Not on view
Bill Traylor, Untitled (Pig with Corkscrew Tail), ca. 1940, pencil and opaque watercolor on paperboard, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of Chuck and Jan Rosenak, 1983.11, © 1994, Bill Traylor Family Trust
Untitled (Pig with Corkscrew Tail)
Dateca. 1940
pencil and opaque watercolor on paperboard
Not on view

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      Artist Nick Cave discusses his work “Soundsuit.”

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