Nick Cave's 'Soundsuits' to invade Purdue April 18

April 7, 2015  


Cave-Soundsuit

Chicago-based artist Nick Cave is bringing his "Soundsuit Invasion" to Purdue University's Spring Fest on April 18. The 20-minute performance will feature eight student dancers from the Purdue Contemporary Dance Company in the suits. (Photo by James Prinz Photography. Courtesy of Nick Cave and Jack Shainman Gallery, New York.) 

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WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. — Chicago-based artist Nick Cave will lead a "Soundsuit Invasion" through Purdue University's Spring Fest on April 18th.

The approximate 20-minute performance will feature Purdue Contemporary Dance Company student dancers performing a selection of soundsuits created by the artist. The dancers will be accompanied by faculty and student musicians from Purdue University Bands and the Patti and Rusty Rueff School of Visual and Performing Arts. The event will begin at 2 p.m. at the Robert L. Ringel Gallery in Stewart Center, and travel from the gallery to the Spring Fest area. The performance is free and open to the public.

"Nick Cave's soundsuits are a powerful combination of fashion, sculpture and dance," said Liz Erlewine, gallery coordinator for Rueff Galleries and Purdue Galleries. "Constructed from a variety of colorful and often repurposed items, these suits, especially in motion, demand attention. While the suits are exhibited in various galleries and there are performance videos online, watching this live is a unique experience for all ages."

The performance at Purdue is part of the recent acquisition of two soundsuits for Purdue's Lonsford Collection, which is an ongoing series of art pieces to be displayed on campus. The collection is named for Florence H. Lonsford, a former Purdue graduate and artist. One suit will be on display on April 18 in the Ringel Gallery. This suit and the second one will be on permanent display this fall in the lobby of Yue-Kong Pao Hall. Pao Hall is the home of the Patti and Rusty Rueff School of Visual and Performing Arts.

Cave is a professor and chairman of the Fashion Department at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, and he is represented by Jack Shainman Gallery in New York. Cave's soundsuits have been shown nationally and internationally, including recent exhibitions at the Institute of Contemporary Art/Boston; the Denver Art Museum; the Trapholt Museum in Denmark; the Peabody Essex Museum, Salem; and le Tri Postal in Lille, France. Cave's work is included in a number of public collections, including the Brooklyn Museum; the Detroit Institute of Arts; the Museum of Modern Art, New York; the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston; the Smithsonian Institution; and the Indianapolis Museum of Art. 

Writer: Amy Patterson Neubert, 765-494-9723, apatterson@purdue.edu

Source: Liz Erlewine, 765-496-2958, eerlewin@purdue.edu

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