This gives way to circus-inspired chaos from Cave's days in post-punk band The Birthday Party, then to an immersive replica of his 1980s apartment in Berlin, before we arrive at his most iconic act, Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds, and finally land in the pared-down present.
With over 300 unique pieces in eight rooms, we move through his childhood in Warracknabeal, Australia, set to the sounds of barking dogs and a children's choir. Searching for signs of this experience, I start making my way through engrossing spaces that are reconstructions of periods of Cave's life. Lyrical drafts from Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds, included in Stranger Than Kindness: The Nick Cave Exhibition. He visits Susie in her sleep regularly, speaks to her, comforts her, but he may not be there." I hear him talk to me, parent me, guide me, though he may not be there. He addressed the tragic death of his son Arthur in 2015, saying, "I feel the presence of my son, all around, but he may not be there. In 2018, Cave wrote an open letter in response to a question about grief from someone named Cynthia. One of those is what originally pulled me into his murky world full of sex, saints and sacrifices. Reading the exhibition's dimly lit description, like the start of a dark labyrinth, I spot a mention of The Red Hand Files, an online forum where Cave directly answers fan questions.
That's how I found myself at Stranger Than Kindness, an exhibition about the artist that he co-created, which made its North American debut at L'Astral in Montreal on April 8. But it was something else entirely that drew me to his work for the first time: his meditations on grief.
#Matthew crawford gay for fans movie#
Nick Cave has inspired fervent devotion from fans of his experimental art rock, novels and poetry, movie soundtracks and screenplays, and so much more art during his nearly 50-year career. Nick Cave sits at his desk in the Stranger Than Kindness exhibit in Montreal.