Jack Cave is a Chicago-based artist, designer, and founder of Jack Cave LLC. For the 30 years plus, he has branded and designed interior and fashion experience within commercial and retail environments as a Senior Creative Manager and Chief Creative Director.
In his art and design, he’s always been fascinated by urban and industrial decay and the randomness that throws-up juxtapositions, color harmonies, and patinas of decay. Photography, graphics, surface design, print, and fabrics can breathe new life into the discarded, elevating them to the desirable.
In recent years, sustainability and recycling have been at the heart of his professional creativity. Taking the discarded and the overlooked, applying vision and purpose to create meaningful and relevant products.
Cave announces his co-participation in the ArtEdge: “The Color Is” by Nick Cave and Jack Cave. “The Color Is” will kick off with a gala on May 21, featuring special guest LaBelle. With two public performances on May 22-23 by Jamilla Woods. The event will be held at The DuSable Museum of African American History.
N’DIGO: You and your brother, Nick, collaborate on “The Color Is.” How did the show come about?
Jack Cave: Since 1982, we worked together in a fashion show at the Kansas City Art Institute, where we were students. It was amazing. We had a lot of community using many models from the street. We were mentoring. We also use many models and people of color in the current show. It will include people of different sizes and genders.
Describe “The Color Is.”
It is a performative fashion experience featuring an 80-look production. It is an experience based on freedom from limits. It is described as a couture-created work that amalgamates cultures, times, and ideas, emancipating them from the limitations of standard classifications.
Is this a retrospective?
Nick’s show is a retrospective opening in Chicago at The Museum of Contemporary Art and then travels to New York. The second part of the show is “The Color Is,” where we collaborate.
Describe yourself as an artist.
I am incredibly detailed and very strategic, and I use much handwork.
What are the price points?
There are no price points; everything is one of a kind, with me stepping into my blackness. My objective is to share my vision and to get people excited. This is not just a fashion show. It is a fashion object. You have to come with an open mind.
Define fashion.
Fashion, to me, is an expression. It is how I feel about a sure thing, a mood, and how I want to improve that mood through a garment or an interior. Fashion is an open door that beautifies space.
What did your mother do to raise artistic geniuses?
She gave us the will to do what we wanted to do, and she always supported us. She never said no when we wanted to do something sports-wise or creative-wise. All five of my brothers were born one year apart. And Nick and I are one year apart in age.
What is your fascination with urban and industrial decay?
It is pretty much an essential part of what I do. I have a strong sense of textile. I use a lot of second-hand objects like leather from an old coat. I combine savage and vintage with new things that may come from a tailor shop. Me being an African-American, some things are essential. We had many hand-me-downs from the thrift store and such. I had five brothers. I still reflect that in my work.
What is “The Color is”?
“The Color Is” is a multimedia extravaganza combining art, fashion, and performance. It will be hosted inside the Roundhouse at the DuSable Museum of African American History and commissioned to coincide with Nick Cave: Forothermore at the MCA Chicago.
“The Color Is” pays tribute to Black excellence and innovation throughout history, drawing on influences including the Ebony Fashion Fair, ball culture, and the iconic Emerald City sequence from the 1978 film The Wiz – “The Color is Green.” We like this dance section of the film. Hearing the words “I want to be seen in green” and everything changes to the color was our stimulation. It’s like improvisation, being able to express how you see it. That is boldness, attitude, and confidence. It is very positive to visit the people strutting in the fabulous garments.
Chicago-based performers and community members will model around eighty looks—each garment a unique, couture art object—designed by me and my brother Nick. Also special musical guests perform at the center of the space. “The Color Is” celebrates how art, fashion, and performance can help us envision a more just future.
The gala is at The Roundhouse at the DuSable Museum of African American History. The legendary group LaBelle will perform at the gala. She may choose something from our collection.
Nick Cave and Jack Cave – The Color Is
May 21st ArtEdge Gala: $2,500 per ticket
Gala Performance – Saturday, May 21 (6:00 pm) featuring LaBelle
Sunday, May 22 (5:00 pm) and Monday, May 23 (7:30 pm) featuring Jamila Woods. The Color Is performance: $30 GA, discount for members and students
Purchase tickets at https://experience.mcachicago.org/events
