Nick Cave’s 26-foot tall bronze sculpture, Amalgam (Origin), has landed a home at Frederik Meijer Gardens & Sculpture Park in Grand Rapids, Michigan.

Happy Friday Everyone! Nick Cave’s magnificent sculpture has been installed at Meijer Gardens since fall, but they have had the area where it’s at blocked off because of various construction projects – and there are still large areas blocked off – so we were not able to see it until this past Tuesday. Because we didn’t get to the gardens until later and it still gets dark earlier, it was dusk by the time we got out there. Daughter-in-law and granddaughter decided to stay at the big playground area while son and I walked out there. It took awhile.

The top image of Amalgam (Origin) and the artist, Nick Cave, was lifted off of a Chicago-based website, as I wasn’t able to lift the one at the gardens website, which has a nice little slideshow and lots of information about the artist and his sculpture.

From the website:

Amalgam (Origin), by Nick Cave, is a monumental 26-foot-tall bronze sculpture representing a significant evolution of his iconic Soundsuits—wearable sculptures that blend fashion, craft and performance art. Originally created in 1992 as a response to the brutal beating of Rodney King by police, Cave’s Soundsuits were conceived as protective armor, concealing the wearer’s race, gender and class to challenge viewers to look beyond surface judgments. Over the years, Cave has crafted more than 500 Soundsuits, each a unique vehicle for empowerment and self-expression.

I would very much encourage you to follow the Soundsuits link to see lots more of Nick’s work, including videos of his creations moving around. It’s art at its most inspiring.  I have to thank whatever board decides on what art to make part of its permanent collection for Meijer Gardens.  THANK YOU. 

THANK YOU to Nick, for creating a star to admire in the night sky. 

Also I want to THANK KERFE for telling me about Nick Cave and steering me to his work.  When I saw the sculpture was coming to the gardens I was thinking it was Nick Cave the musician lol.  She made sure I knew they were two different people.

I can’t wait until granddaughter sees Amalgam.