Editor’s note: for this issue, Coco Picard talked to Chicago artist and professor Nick Cave about his art practice and work, as well as his exhibition “Forothermore.” Edited text from the comic is transcribed here to ease readability.
The artist, activist, and educator Nick Cave’s first retrospective, “Forothermore,” is on view at the Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago through October 2. Spanning three decades of work, this immersive exhibition includes installations, video, and sculpture, as well as the Soundsuit series–inspired by the beating of Rodney King in 1992–and the debut of the Soundsuit 9:29 series–inspired by the death of George Floyd.
Throughout the show, Cave mixes fashion, found objects, sculpture, textiles, and more to address issues of race, gender, sexuality, and class. Curated by Naomi Beckwith, “Forothermore” will travel to New York this fall and open at the Guggenheim Museum on November 18. Cave spoke to the Reader about his work and process.
Nick Cave: “Standing in this show illustrates my own commitment to this purpose. While it’s 30 years of work in this vein, it is also 30 years of being fueled by this issue of being othered.
“I want to be sure we flip the other into a fueled way of looking at oneself as a change agent.
“Tondos are large immersive objects that one can find purpose and power within, even while they show catastrophic happenings on their surface.
“A sculpture asks you to move around it, and a performance shares the movement to a stationary audience member. Both require movement and shared space.
“Art is the fuel for all things. Thought. Drive. Beauty. Power. Change. Love.”
