An Arsenale Procession: Nick Cave’s Passage Through the Venice Biennale

Nick Cave presents Two Points in Time – At Once at the 61st Venice Art Biennale: a choreographed journey of seven sculptural works traversing the Arsenale's waterfront, exhibition halls and open-air courtyards. As curator Denise Markonish describes it, the installation forms a "processional path outside and within the Arsenale". Moving between outdoor and indoor spaces, the work traces a passage through mourning, reflection and renewal, offering one of the Biennale's most compelling site-responsive interventions.

Site of Transformation

The journey begins with Amalgam (Origin). Standing at the edge of the Arsenale basin, where water laps against stone quays, the bronze figure modelled after the artist's own body overlooks the city through the passage of time. Branches rise from its head like a living canopy, carrying birds and flowers as signs of regeneration. It appears as if the figure has remained rooted here through cycles of seasons, nurturing generations of lives. Part guardian, part witness, it occupies a prominent position within the former shipyard that once powered Venice's maritime empire and today serves as one of the world's foremost stages for contemporary art.

Photo: Amalgam (Origin), 2025. Bronze

The notion of transformation sees parallelity between the history of Arsenale and Cave’s showcase in Venice. Whilst his celebrated Soundsuits turned the body into exuberant moving sculptures animated by performance, colour and sound, Two Points in Time – At Once marks a shift in register within his artistic practice. The bronze sculptures are fixated across Arsenale with quiet gravity, exhibiting stillness that carries the emotional weight. On another level, the seven sculptures are alluding to the stages of grief, tracing emotional states from mourning towards renewal.

Photo: Details of Amalgam (Origin).

A Procession Through Memory and Loss

Crossing into the vast brick-and-timber architecture of the Corderie, visitors enter a dramatically different environment. The hall stretches for hundreds of metres beneath exposed timber beams, its long perspective supported by rows of brick columns. The mood encourages a measured pace as in a solemn procession. Within the context of this year's Biennale, curated under the theme In Minor Keys, the exhibition acquires an additional resonance following the passing of artistic director Koyo Kouoh in May 2025. Two Points in Time – At Once, conceived in dialogue with Kouoh before her death, reflects the exhibition's attention to quieter emotional registers: remembrance, vulnerability and the enduring traces left by human connection.

Photo: Amalgam (Seated), 2021. Bronze.

Photo: Amalgam (Plot), 2025. Bronze, tole flowers and cast iron door stops; 
Grapht, 2024. Vintage metal serving trays and needlepoint on wood panel.

In this space, Cave's sculptures punctuate like stations along a shared journey. Whilst one figure sits upright in contemplation, others kneel or lean, their bodies carrying traces of both exhaustion and care.

Unforgettable is Amalgam (Resuscitation), in which two figures merge into a single act of care, one seemingly breathing life into the other.

Suspended between sacrifice and revival, the sculpture radiates hope through its smallest details: flowers emerge from the body below, while birds remain perched above as quiet emblems of vitality. These motifs suggest growth, memory and continuity - even amid loss.

Photo: Nick Cave, Amalgam (Resuscitation), 2025. Bronze.

Photo: Detail of Amalgam (Resuscitation), 2025. Bronze.

Monumental in scale, Cave’s bronzes communicate through restraint. Their presence unfolds gradually, encouraging visitors to slow their pace and attune themselves to quieter emotional frequencies at the heart of In Minor Keys.

Arriving at Reflection

The final station of the Cave’s procession culminates outdoors. Leaving the shadowed atmosphere of the Corderie behind, visitors emerge into the courtyard where Amalgam (Meditation) sits beneath the Venetian sky. The sculpture offers a state of stillness after movement, contemplation after struggle, suggesting a moment of equilibrium. Flowers continue to flourish, birds remain present, and the body appears grounded rather than burdened. The language of grief has shifted towards acceptance.

Photo: Amalgam (Meditation), 2025. Bronze.

Here, the reflection on Two Points in Time – At Once comes naturally. The title proposes that loss and renewal can coexist. Mourning does not disappear; it becomes part of an ongoing process of living. Through this installation, we learn to inhabit the overlapping emotional states rather than force-resolve them.

Cave has transformed the Arsenale from a backdrop into an active participant in Two Points in Time – At Once. From the water-facing threshold of Amalgam (Origin), through the compressed rhythm of the Corderie, to the open sky surrounding Amalgam (Meditation), each site reshapes the meaning of the sculptures and each sculpture alters the way the site is experienced. The work demonstrates the power of site-specific art not simply to occupy a place, but to reveal hidden layers of its history, architecture and collective memory. Within the vast machinery of the Venice Biennale, Cave creates a slower, more contemplative passage - one in which place becomes a vessel for grief, remembrance and renewal.

Text by ALISON LO, FRSA

All photos provided by the author