Nick Cave Mammoths at Smithsonian

Ohana Magazine – On a cold winter afternoon in Chicago, something impossible seemed to happen. Mammoths appeared to return, walking slowly along the lakefront with the skyline behind them. Yet, as their metal-and-hair skeletons moved, you could see puffer jackets and scarves inside. Performers carried the towering creatures on their shoulders, stepping in rhythm as tusks curved forward like ancient warnings. This surreal moment was not a movie scene. Instead, it was part of Nick Cave’s new exhibition, “Mammoth,” now opening at the Smithsonian American Art Museum on February 13, 2026. The mammoths feel enormous, but their presence also feels strangely intimate. Because the humans inside remain visible, the work becomes less about hiding and more about revealing. In that way, Cave turns spectacle into a shared emotional experience.

The Smithsonian’s Biggest Single-Artist Commission Signals a Historic Moment

The Smithsonian does not often place its full weight behind one artist. That is why this exhibition feels so significant. “Mammoth” is the institution’s largest commission by a single artist to date. It also marks Nick Cave’s first solo exhibition in Washington, DC. For an artist who has spent decades transforming thrift-store materials into breathtaking sculptures, this moment feels like a career milestone. However, it also feels like a statement. The Smithsonian is not only showcasing art. It is also elevating a voice that has consistently explored identity, memory, and survival. While Cave has already earned major retrospectives, including “Forothermore” at the Guggenheim, this show carries a different kind of gravity. It sits inside one of America’s most symbolic cultural spaces. Therefore, the exhibition reads like both celebration and cultural reckoning.

Cave’s Studio Process Turns Everyday Objects Into Living Archives

Nick Cave’s art begins where many people stop looking: thrift stores, flea markets, and antique malls. Over nine years, he collected thousands of objects for “Mammoth,” including family heirlooms and familiar American items. These range from corded phones to quilting blocks, toys, tools, and tiny pieces of craft-store history. In his Chicago studio, mammoths sat in different stages of completion. Some were bare metal shells. Others wore thick hair, as if time itself had returned to their bodies. Meanwhile, assistants worked patiently on beads, sequins, and textiles. This is where Cave’s genius becomes clear. He does not simply build sculptures. Instead, he builds memory. Each object carries a past, even if it looks worthless. Because of that, the exhibition becomes an archive of lives that museums often ignore.

“Mammoth” Explores What Gets Remembered and What Gets Removed

Cave describes the exhibition as a response to a moment when history feels unstable. “I’m witnessing a time where history is being erased,” he said, “but yet history is being revealed at the same time.” That idea becomes the emotional engine of “Mammoth.” The mammoth itself is the perfect symbol. It once existed, then disappeared, then returned through discovery. Likewise, Cave suggests that erased stories can reappear, even after generations of silence. Inside the museum, mammoth skulls loom overhead on towering wooden structures. They feel watchful, almost like witnesses. Meanwhile, a large beaded tapestry titled “Palimpsest (Promised Land)” maps the farmland of his grandparents in Missouri. Through these works, Cave asks a painful question: Who gets preserved in history, and who gets buried? Then, quietly, he offers an answer.

The Work Feels Timely Amid America’s Cultural and Political Tensions

Although Cave avoids speaking directly about politics behind the scenes, the timing of the show feels impossible to ignore. The exhibition arrives during a period when the US government has increased scrutiny of museums, including the Smithsonian. Under President Trump’s second term, executive orders have targeted what the administration calls “improper ideology.” That context creates a charged atmosphere, even if the wall texts remain open-ended. Still, the show does not need slogans to feel urgent. Its message lives in materials and symbolism. The museum’s curator, Sarah Newman, said the institution did not change the show’s intent and believes it is the right time to present it. In other words, the Smithsonian is choosing to stand behind art that invites reflection. And in 2026, that choice carries weight.

From Soundsuits to Mammoths, Cave Turns Pain Into Something Beautiful

Nick Cave’s most famous works, the Soundsuits, began in 1991 after the police brutality against Rodney King. That moment shook his worldview. In response, he built wearable sculptures that could hide race, gender, and class while producing sound through movement. Over the years, the Soundsuits became armor, celebration, and protest all at once. Now, the mammoths carry a different kind of power. They do not hide the body. Instead, they reveal it. Cave said he abandoned the idea of covering them completely because he loved seeing the humans inside. This shift feels meaningful. It suggests that protection is not always invisibility. Sometimes, it is visibility without shame. As Naomi Beckwith noted, Cave has a rare gift: he transforms agonizing realities into something joyful. That joy is not naïve. Instead, it is resilient, and it demands to be seen.