Skip to main content

Nick Cave Art

American, b. 1959

Nick Cave (b. 1959) confronts violence and trauma with hopeful exuberance in vibrant art that ranges from sculpture and installation to video and performance. The best-known works in his ongoing Soundsuits series are sometimes displayed as static objects, but they come to life when worn for performances. The costumes consume a body in beads, sequins, faux fur, dyed hair, buttons, raffia, colorful fabric, salvaged musical instruments and an eclectic gathering of other materials so that a performer is kaleidoscopically transformed.

The humble and widely familiar materials that comprise the Soundsuits — frequently acquired at flea markets and thrift stores — are elevated in these assemblages, reorganized so that they become something majestic. Cave created the first of the Soundsuits in 1992 in reaction to the Los Angeles police department’s beating of Rodney King the previous year. In dramatically masking a person, the suits can, as Cave puts it, “hide gender, race, class — so you’re forced to look at something without judgment.”

Born in Fulton, Missouri, Cave is now based in Chicago and continues to push into new media as he advocates for social justice and empowerment through his art. His study of fiber arts at the Kansas City Art Institute as well as his summers with the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater in the early 1980s led to his enduring interest in the body. Whether bringing a percussive performance with dancers and horse-like costumes to Grand Central Terminal in 2013 or filling a gallery at the Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art with a monumental installation of found objects woven with millions of beads in response to gun violence and the deaths of Black people at the hands of police in 2016, Cave reveals the power of joy through dynamic materials.

Find original Nick Cave art now on 1stDibs.

to
1
1
Overall Width
to
Overall Height
to
2
2
2
2
2
1
1
1
1
2
1
1
1
1
2
11,627
2,880
2,492
1,600
1
1
Artist: Nick Cave
Specimens By Nick Cave
Specimens By Nick Cave

Specimens By Nick Cave

By Nick Cave

Located in Dubai, Dubai

Specimens By Nick Cave Nick Cave is an Australian singer, songwriter, author, and musician. He is best known as the frontman of Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds. His music combines rock...

Category

2010s Contemporary Nick Cave Art

Materials

Lithograph, Paper

Soundsuit #6 (Performance Art, Artistic Expression, Contemporary Art)
Soundsuit #6 (Performance Art, Artistic Expression, Contemporary Art)

Soundsuit #6 (Performance Art, Artistic Expression, Contemporary Art)

By Nick Cave

Located in Kansas City, MO

Nick Cave Soundsuit #6 Year: 2010 Archival Pigment Print on Premium Rag Size: 17 x 12 in. Edition: 200 Signed by hand on label COA provided Ref.: 924802-2069 Tags: #NickCave #Missou...

Category

2010s Contemporary Nick Cave Art

Materials

Archival Paper, Archival Pigment

Related Items
The Warrior, Contemporary Lithograph Print, Edition of 500, 1981

The Warrior, Contemporary Lithograph Print, Edition of 500, 1981

Located in Aventura, FL

Offset lithograph in colors on paper. Artist signature signed in the plate. Hand numbered in pencil. From the edition of 500. Published by Images International Hawaii. Printed by Tree Lautrec...

Category

Late 20th Century Contemporary Nick Cave Art

Materials

Paper, Lithograph

Henry Moore Lithograph on Paper, Contemporary, Framed, 1949

Henry Moore Lithograph on Paper, Contemporary, Framed, 1949

By Henry Moore

Located in Aventura, FL

Lithograph in colors on paper. Signed and dated '49' in the plate (printed) by Henry Moore. Frame size approx 26 x 37 inches. Artwork is in excellent condition. Certificate of auth...

Category

21st Century and Contemporary Contemporary Nick Cave Art

Materials

Paper, Lithograph

Reflections on Lido Island Cyanotype Triptych, Contemporary Seascape
Reflections on Lido Island Cyanotype Triptych, Contemporary Seascape

Reflections on Lido Island Cyanotype Triptych, Contemporary Seascape

By Kind of Cyan

Located in Barcelona, ES

This series of cyanotype triptychs showcases the beauty of nature scenes, including stunning beaches and oceans, as well as the intricate textures of water, forests, and skies. These...

Category

2010s Contemporary Nick Cave Art

Materials

Lithograph, Monotype, Paper

Ode to Titian's Venus of Urbino
Ode to Titian's Venus of Urbino

Ode to Titian's Venus of Urbino

By E2 - Kleinveld & Julien

Located in New Orleans, LA

16 x 24 inches - Edition 2 of 5 with 2 APs framing is an additional $420. Photography and acting are kindred spirits in the new series by e2 (Elizabeth Kleinveld and Epaul Julien)....

Category

21st Century and Contemporary Contemporary Nick Cave Art

Materials

Archival Pigment

Ode to Goya's Maya
Ode to Goya's Maya

Ode to Goya's Maya

By E2 - Kleinveld & Julien

Located in New Orleans, LA

10.5 x 16 inches - Edition 3 of 7 with 2 APs framing is an additional $265. Photography and acting are kindred spirits in the new series by e2 (Elizabeth Kleinveld...

Category

21st Century and Contemporary Contemporary Nick Cave Art

Materials

Archival Pigment

Flamingo - Lithograph by Alberto Mastroianni - 1970s

Flamingo - Lithograph by Alberto Mastroianni - 1970s

By Alberto Mastroianni

Located in Roma, IT

Flamingo is a lithograph realized by Alberto Mastroianni in the 1970s. Hand Signed on the lower right margin. Numbered on the lower in pencil. . The artwork represents an interesti...

Category

1970s Contemporary Nick Cave Art

Materials

Paper, Lithograph

Barbican Centre for the Arts Exhibition Poster

Barbican Centre for the Arts Exhibition Poster

By David Hockney

Located in London, GB

Original exhibition poster produced when Hockney exhibited his work at the Barbican Centre in London. Features part of Hockney's Cubistic Bar artwork, a period where he explored Cubi...

Category

1980s Contemporary Nick Cave Art

Materials

Paper, Lithograph

Adam and Steve, Ode to Hugo van der Goes' The Fall of Man
Adam and Steve, Ode to Hugo van der Goes' The Fall of Man

Adam and Steve, Ode to Hugo van der Goes' The Fall of Man

By E2 - Kleinveld & Julien

Located in New Orleans, LA

Edition 3 of 7, 2 APs framing is an additional $270. Shot in Amsterdam in 2013, background illustrated by Marco Ventura Inspired by van der Goes’ the fall of man, 1470-75 Photogr...

Category

21st Century and Contemporary Contemporary Nick Cave Art

Materials

Archival Pigment

Ode to the Pinching D'Estrées Sisters
Ode to the Pinching D'Estrées Sisters

Ode to the Pinching D'Estrées Sisters

By E2 - Kleinveld & Julien

Located in New Orleans, LA

24 x 36 inches - Edition 1 of 3 with 2 APs Additional framing $525. Shot in 2011 in Amsterdam Inspired by an anonymous artist of the Fontainebleau School’s Presumed Portrait of Ga...

Category

21st Century and Contemporary Contemporary Nick Cave Art

Materials

Archival Pigment

Ode to Courbet's The Sleepers

Ode to Courbet's The Sleepers

By E2 - Kleinveld & Julien

Located in New Orleans, LA

Edition 1 of 7 with 2 APs framing is an additional $265. Photography and acting are kindred spirits in the ongoing series by E2 - Kleinveld & Julien, entitled In Empathy We Trust....

Category

2010s Contemporary Nick Cave Art

Materials

Archival Pigment

Hand-signed Two Boys Aged 23 or 24 Galerie Mikro Berlin
Hand-signed Two Boys Aged 23 or 24 Galerie Mikro Berlin

Hand-signed Two Boys Aged 23 or 24 Galerie Mikro Berlin

By David Hockney

Located in London, GB

An extremely rare hand-signed edition of the iconic exhibition poster depicting two male figures lying in bed together in a moment of relaxation, created to advertise Hockney's 1968 ...

Category

1960s Contemporary Nick Cave Art

Materials

Lithograph, Paper, Offset

Previously Available Items
NICK CAVE DOUBLE SIDED, INFLATABLE PUNCHING BAG
NICK CAVE DOUBLE SIDED, INFLATABLE PUNCHING BAG

NICK CAVE DOUBLE SIDED, INFLATABLE PUNCHING BAG

By Nick Cave

Located in New York, NY

Standing a full five-feet tall and donning a multi-colored human-hair Soundsuit on one side and a swirling sequined Soundsuit on the other is every kids perfect sparring partner. Fil...

Category

Early 2000s Nick Cave Art

Materials

Plastic

Nick Cave 1959 American art for sale on 1stDibs.

Find a wide variety of authentic Nick Cave 1959 American art available for sale on 1stDibs. Customers who are interested in this artist might also find the work of Mary Ellen Johnson, Winslow Homer, and Frank Weston Benson.

Artists Similar to Nick Cave