Nick Cave

Holland Cotter has a positive review of Jack Shainman Gallery's "The Whole World Is Rotten: Free Radicals and the Gold Coast Slave Castles of Paa Joe" in which he states of artist Nick Cave -

"Mr. Cave is a Chicago-based dancer and couturier; this is his first appearance in a gallery show. I am sure there will be others."

Not so! Nick Cave had a fantastic solo show here in Richmond at the Hand Workshop Art Center. I'm not sure what Mr. Cotter meant by that. Cave's first show in a commercial gallery? His first show in New York? Whatever - you can find Nick Cave's three-year-old resume here. Will the NYTimes run a correction? I know there are a lot of sticklers for the facts out there.

The other part of that review that made me wonder is -

"At Mr. Simard's (the gallery director) request, he (artist Paa Joe) produced a set of 13 coffins - suitable for burials but intended as sculptures - depicting European-built fortresses on the Ghana coast that once served as holding pens for America-bound slaves."

What does that mean? Did the gallery director direct the artist on what he should make? How much? It sounds like a great show but who is the artist? If someone like my main man Jeff Koons orders the fabrication of artwork for an exhibition it's in his name - not the craftsperson's. Does the artist work for the gallery? Was this more of a collaboration? What choice did the artist have?

Final Question: Now that Nick Cave has exhibited with a commercial gallery that advertises on artnet will artnet put up some images of his work?

Poor Marlene Dumas!