FREEPORT [NO. 006]: NICK CAVE ON VIEW MARCH 2 – MAY 27, 2013
Original and otherworldly, Nick Cave’s art blends the boundaries between sculpture, costume, video, dance and public performance in unexpected ways. The Peabody Essex Museum (PEM) continues its growing contemporary art program with three never-before-seen Nick Cave Soundsuits made especially for this exhibition, alongside an immersive film projection. FreePort [No. 006]: Nick Cave will be on view at PEM March 2 through May 27, 2013.
Cave’s humanoid Soundsuit sculptures are built from a diverse bricolage of found objects and materials collected by the artist, including twigs, sisal, beads, sequins and feathers. When worn, Cave’s Soundsuits take on a larger-than-life dimension, obscuring the wearer’s identity, gender and class and unleashing the sculpture’s kinetic potential. Drawing on his experience with the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, Cave choreographs performers’ movements to activate the Soundsuits’ inherent motion and highlight their mesmerizing appeal. Two Soundsuit performance films, Drive-by and Clowning, will be presented in conjunction with this exhibition.
“The physicality of Nick Cave’s Soundsuits invites viewers to imagine what it might feel like to inhabit one. Textural, faceless, disorienting and enigmatic, Cave’s Soundsuits are whimsical, but project a certain power,” says Trevor Smith, PEM’s curator of contemporary art. “We are excited to share this groundbreaking artist with our visitors and we hope to expand the definition of what performance art can be.”
Cave was born in Fulton, Missouri, in 1959. He lives and works in Chicago where he is a professor of fashion design at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. The three Soundsuits featured in this exhibition are among the last that the artist intends to create. Cave, who since the early 1990s has created more than 500 Soundsuits, plans to explore new artistic avenues.
FREEPORT
Each FreePort is an invitation to a contemporary artist to establish a unique dialogue with the museum and its audiences. These artists explore the dynamics of cultural change; their creative expressions open conversations across disciplines critical to the evolution of a 21st-century museum.
PHOTOGRAPHY CREDIT
Photos by James Prinz Photography. Courtesy of Nick Cave and Jack Shainman Gallery, New York.
PRESS IMAGES
Captioned, high-resolution press images are available upon request.
EXHIBITION CREDITS
Generous support provided by Fay Chandler. Additional support provided by donors to the 2013 FreePort Fund including Jeffrey P. Beale and by the East India Marine Associates of the Peabody Essex Museum.
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ABOUT THE PEABODY ESSEX MUSEUM
Founded in 1799, the Peabody Essex Museum (PEM) presents outstanding works of artistic and cultural creativity in ways that transform people’s lives. The museum’s collection is among the finest of its kind, showcasing an unrivaled spectrum of American art and architecture as well as outstanding Asian, Asian Export, Native American, African, Oceanic, Maritime and Photography collections. In addition to its vast holding, the museum offers a vibrant schedule of changing exhibitions and an interactive education center. The museum campus features numerous parks, period gardens and 22 historic properties, including Yin Yu Tang, a 200‐year‐old house that is the only example of Chinese domestic architecture on display in the United States. Currently, a comprehensive $650 million Campaign is underway to advance PEM’s mission, fortify its endowment, improve infrastructures and build a 175,000-square-foot expansion, set to open in 2017.
HOURS: Open Tuesday-Sunday, 10 am-5 pm and the third Thursday of every month, 10 am-9:30 pm. Closed Mondays (except holidays), Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year’s Day.
ADMISSION: Adults $15; seniors $13; students $11. Additional admission to Yin Yu Tang: $5. Members, youth 16 and under and residents of Salem enjoy free general admission and free admission to Yin Yu Tang.
INFO: Call 866‐745‐1876 or visit our Web site at www.pem.org
PEM APPOINTS FIRST CURATOR OF AMERICAN ART
The Peabody Essex Museum (PEM) is pleased to announce the appointment of Austen Barron Bailly as the museum’s first George Putnam Curator of American Art. Bailly joins PEM’s curatorial team following her post as the head of the American Art department at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA) and previous positions held at the Metropolitan Museum of Art and Wildenstein & Co., Inc. in New York.
Selected for her interdisciplinary and adventuresome curatorial approach, Bailly joins PEM at the cusp of the museum’s landmark $650 million campaign and expansion project. In her curatorial capacity at PEM, Bailly will lead the development of a multi-faceted American art program focusing on exhibitions, new interpretation in the galleries, and expanding the museum’s collection which currently includes paintings, decorative arts, photographs, folk art, and textiles representing over 300 years of New England and American art and culture.
“Austen brings a fresh and exciting perspective to the field that will greatly accelerate and enhance the museum’s presentation of American Art in the years to come,” said Lynda Roscoe Hartigan, PEM’s James B. and Mary Lou Hawkes Chief Curator.
A native of New Orleans, Bailly earned her PhD in art history from the University of California, Santa Barbara and her MA from Williams College. She will begin her new position as PEM’s George Putnam Curator of American Art in January, 2013. George and Nancy Putnam are long-time PEM Trustees who have made an indelible contribution to the museum’s future with their endowment of Bailly’s position, and that of a future Curator of Fashion and Textiles, for whom a national search is in progress.
The PEM Campaign
PEM announced a comprehensive $650 million Campaign in October 2011, designed to advance the museum’s mission to celebrate outstanding artistic and cultural creativity in ways that transform people’s lives. To date, the museum has received gifts and pledges totaling $570 million. The Campaign includes a $350 million addition to the current $280 million endowment, $200 million for a 175,000-square-foot expansion designed by Rick Mather Architects, and $100 million to support creative new installations of the collection, several infrastructure improvements to existing facilities and other advancement initiatives.
The $350 million endowment increase will cover all increased operating and program costs for an expanded facility; support continued development of the museum’s distinctive exhibitions, publications, curatorial and education programs; and enable continuation of a strong financial base.
The expansion, set to open in 2017, will add up to 75,000 square feet of new galleries; a new restaurant and roof garden; new public program and education space; and essential improvements to collections storage, exhibition processing and conservation functions.
ABOUT THE PEABODY ESSEX MUSEUM
The Peabody Essex Museum presents art and culture from New England and around the world. The museum’s collections are among the finest of their kind, showcasing an unrivaled spectrum of American art and architecture (including four National Historic Landmark buildings) and outstanding Asian, Asian Export, Native American, African, Oceanic, Maritime and Photography collections. In addition to its vast collections, the museum offers a vibrant schedule of changing exhibitions and a hands‐on education center. The museum campus features numerous parks, period gardens and 22 historic properties, including Yin Yu Tang, a 200‐year‐old house that is the only example of Chinese domestic architecture on display in the United States.
HOURS: Open Tuesday‐Sunday and holiday Mondays, 10 am‐5 pm. Closed Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year’s Day.
ADMISSION: Adults $15; seniors $13; students $11. Additional admission to Yin Yu Tang: $5. Members, youth 16 and under and residents of Salem enjoy free general admission and free admission to Yin Yu Tang.
INFO: Call 866‐745‐1876 or visit our Web site at www.pem.org
Exuberant Fabrics of Central Asia Explored in Ikat Exhibition at Seattle Asian Art Museum
Colors of the Oasis, a striking new exhibition, opens March 15 at the Seattle Asian Art Museum and features the dazzling textiles that were created in the oasis cities of Central Asia. Organized by The Textile Museum in Washington, D.C. the exhibition features 65 ikat textiles primarily from Uzbekistan, where this art form, utilizing daring designs and jewel-like colors, emerged in the 19th century. This exhibition heralds the recent revival of the ikat technique after near extinction during the Soviet era, and growing global popularity through popular design houses such as Oscar de la Renta, J. Crew, West Elm and Pottery Barn. In addition, two films by Kazakhstan director Almagul Menlibayeva that explore her nomadic heritage in concert with an ancient belief system are featured.
Ikat, a term derived from a Malay word meaning to tie or bind, is a technique that requires supreme concentration and collaboration, the results of which give each image a blazing edge that is ikat’s distinctive signature. Unlike a majority of textiles woven with solid-colored thread or printed or dyed after weaving, ikat is produced using the reverse process. Individual threads are first dyed with several colors that, when woven together, produce energetic patterns. Successful application of this complex technique requires extensive forethought and teamwork between various craftsmen and the designer. Ikat has been considered a cultural treasure and fashion statement in Uzbekistan for over two centuries. After centuries of trade along the Silk Road, Central Asian artists elevated the technique to new heights of innovation, experimenting with exuberant designs that combine menacing hooks with floral arabesques, scorpions with tulips, or flowing water with pomegranates.
Visitors to the exhibition will be able to see the special effects that are unique to this art form: the sumptuous quality of silk that has been dyed in rich saturated colors, glazes that give the fabric a unique polish, and linings made out of sharply contrasting cotton prints. To enhance this experience for visitors who may not be familiar with Central Asian art history, life in the oasis kingdoms will be introduced. Remarkable photographs by a Russian photographer who experimented with color in the early 20th century provide glimpses of life on the streets of oasis kingdoms. In the largest gallery, visitors will be surrounded by an ikat city bazaar, akin to walking into a design kaleidoscope where urban energy mixed with this textile heritage. Contemporary photographs from two major cities, Bukhara and Samarkand, will further explore ornate decorative surfaces. Samarkand, nicknamed the “City of Famous Shadows” and the “Jewel of Islam”, and Bukhara, known as the “Pedestal of Greatness”, are home to astonishing buildings covered in colored geometric, floral and epigraphic patterns which reflect their influence on the textiles on display.
To bring the vision of Central Asia up to the present, two videos by Almagul Menlibayeva are included in the installation. Born in Kazakhstan in 1960, Ms. Menlibayeva stages complex mythological narratives that fuse her own nomadic heritage with ancient belief systems that were challenged by 60 years of Soviet domination. Milk for Lambs, 2011, depicts the many roles of women in the Steppes, and emphasizes the ways women strive to keep cultures intact. Butterflies of Aisha Bibi, 2011, recounts an ancient love story of the Sufi poet’s daughter Aisha Bibi and Karakhan. The push/pull dynamic between these lovers is played out in a drama that involves many observations of unfulfilled longing with a problematic relationship. As men and women appear and disappear in and out of dramatic architecture, their choices in clothing underline the changes in 21st century life in Central Asia. Colors of the Oasis comes to the Seattle Asian Art Museum after opening at The Textile Museum in Washington DC (October 16, 2010–March 13, 2011). Curated by Sumru Belger Krody, senior curator of Eastern Hemisphere Collections at The Textile Museum. Pamela McClusky, SAM’s Curator for African and Oceanic Art, is the curator for the show in Seattle.
Seyie Design Provided Celebs with the Ultimate Sweet Escape at the 54th Annual Grammy Awards® Official Talent Gift Lounge
Rihanna, LL Cool J, Maroon 5, Chris Brown, The Band Perry, Jason Aldean and many more experienced “a sweet escape” between rehearsals at the 54th Annual GRAMMY Awards® Official Talent Gift Lounge. Music’s Biggest Night® was broadcast live on Feb. 12, 2012 on the CBS network at 8 p.m. ET/PT. From February 9-11, 2012, talent indulged in what the best of Hollywood has to offer at this candy concept Lounge. Candy colors and the experience of being in a sweet shop inspired the design.
A whimsical yet wonderfully modern space with monumental pink architectural arches and a black & white checkerboard floor surely brought out the inner child in every rock star who walked through! Talent received a $10,000 gift certificate towards design services by Seyie Design. In addition, exciting sweepstake prizes from Seyie Design and contributing vendors were picked up by a few lucky winners. Rihanna won a gold “Kiss” sculpture by Jean Wells, Joy Williams of The Civil Wars won a limited edition “Copper Ganesha” screen print by artist CRYPTIK and Neil Patrick Harris got the “Stamen” pendant light by Niche Modern.
Seyie Putsure of Seyie Design was selected as the exclusive interior designer for the 54th Annual GRAMMY Awards Official Talent Gift Lounge. “What do you give someone who has everything? I think it is by creating a special experience of how they receive these gifts. In designing this lounge, I wanted to create a fanciful place that stimulated child-like excitement in the talent, yet still sophisticated and edgy to appeal to their rock-star tastes,” said Seyie. Seyie has more than 10 years of experience in high fashion and interior design and began her career as an executive with Dolce & Gabbana and Chanel in New York City.
Seyie founded Seyie Design in 2007 to bring fashion and function into residential and retail environments. She works with residential and retail clients in California and India. Seyie was Fendi Casa’s Designer of the Month, participated in DIFFA’s Dining by Design, and has been featured in Vogue, Elle, and DDI Magazine, among others. She has designed lifestyle lounges for celebrity gifting, including one for the 2010 American Music Awards. Her exclusive presentation, Designing the Luxury Retail Brand: Secrets to Creating Successful In-Store Branding and Merchandising, was featured at Mobius LA @ Dwell by Design. Through her design and her blog, Life is Fashionable at http://www.seyiedesign.com Seyie continues to merge the fashion and interior design worlds.
