:: XXIX. Grams

Switching things up a bit, I wanted to share some art for a change. Having had a free Saturday to myself, I decided to take advantage of the country’s Museum Day a month or so back. Having worked at the Orlando Museum of Art for a short spell of time in the beginnings of my adulting career, it always feels a bit like home when I go back – especially when I still see some of the pieces I helped set-up, under the supervision of my superiors at the time, years ago, still hanging in place. So, excited, as per usual, to return to familiar stomping grounds, I found myself in a higher state of ecstasy upon the realization that Museum Day fell during the time Nick Cave’s exhibit was showcasing at OMA. A long-time fan of Nick Cave’s works, I was happy to finally get to see his work in person. Knowing I’d be blown away, I made sure to have my camera ready to capture all the moments that were sure to STICK with me as I went through his exhibit. And as expected, his works did NOT disappoint. His exhibition FEAT was an optical illusion of mixed media, textures, sculptures, colors, videos, and more. YOU NAME IT, he had it. A full sensory experience, the exhibition sucks you in and surrounds you. It’s one of the handful of times in which STARING is encouraged. And that is what I did, alongside the hundreds of others who happened to be swarming the museum on that day.

An experience worth E X P I E R E N C I N G. Nick Cave’s FEAT Exhibit was more than just a kaleidoscope of art and wonder, it was also an exhibit that explored DEEPER issues. As a black man, an artist of color, Nick Cave uses his art to explore some of the main issues that plague our society today, such as: identity and social justice, especially regarding race, gun violence and civic responsibility. All of which ring out a LOUD call for equity and equality. And as a woman of color myself, a black woman, experiencing this exhibit left me with a sense of even greater appreciation because I no longer relate on just a superficial level. Now, I relate, on a DEEPER, more personal. As a black woman, I am in constant pursuit of equity. So, it was on that level in which I felt the power in Nick Cave’s works.

In the end, my experience was GRAND. It was a moment collected. One to be cherished. And now, as I am doing, SHARED. So, hopefully, in a town near you, you’ll find his exhibit once it hits the roads again. Or should you already live in the Orlando area, you can pop on over to the Orlando Museum of Art to not only view, but to EXPERIENCE Nick Cave’s exhibit: FEAT. It is more than worth it.

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For further details on Nick Cave’s exhibit at the Orlando Museum of Art, please visit OMA’s website: NICK CAVE: FEAT.

The exhibit shows from: September 14 - December 30, 2018 in the Mr. and Mrs. Robert E. Brooker Sr. Grand Gallery.

For further information on Nick Cave, the artist himself, please visit his website: NICK CAVE.

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Remember, as Thomas Merton once said, “Art enables us to find ourselves and lose ourselves at the same time.”

So, as per usual, continue to SHARE and REPEAT.

Enjoy!