Mike Kelley

(American, 1954–2012)

Mike Kelley was an American artist regarded as one of the most influential members of the Conceptual Art movement. Concerned with abjection, youth, class, and the divide between high and low culture, Kelley’s work was often both playful and grotesque, using found objects like stuffed animals, knickknacks, and child-like drawings in its skeptical investigation of societal norms. Working across disciplines in installations, sculpture, drawings, paintings, and videos, Kelley’s career was both eclectic and prolific. “I think they’re really standardized kinds of repressed things in the culture—embarrassing things, like sexual dysfunction and the scatological,” he once said of his subject matter. “I started seeing throughout my work that a lot of these traditional, low comedy forms and subject matters were operating. I wanted to start to deal with that in a more conscious way.” Born on October 27, 1954 in Wayne, MI, the artist studied at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor where he formed the band Destroy All Monsters with fellow visual artist Jim Shaw. His interest in politics and performance carried over into his graduate work at the California Institute of the Arts in the late 1970s, where he studied with John Baldessari and befriended Tony Oursler. Suffering from depression throughout his life, the artist committed suicide on January 31, 2012 in South Pasadena, CA at the age of 57. In 2012, the posthumous retrospective “Mike Kelley: Themes and Variations from 35 Years” opened at the Stedelijk Museum in Amsterdam, and travelled to the Centre Georges Pompidou in Paris, MoMA PS1 in Queens, and finally the Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles. Today, Kelley’s works are held in the collections of the Whitney Museum of American Art in New York, the Goetz Collection in Munich, the Walker Art Center in Minneapolis, and the Art Institute of Chicago, among others.

Mike Kelley News

Art & Exhibitions

Best in Show: Here Are the 5 Buzziest Museum Exhibitions Everyone Is Talking About in Paris

Best in Show: Here Are the 5 Buzziest Museum Exhibitions Everyone Is Talking About in Paris

Art & Exhibitions

Too Cute! An Upcoming Show in London Will Unpack the Power of Cuteness With Works by Juliana Huxtable, Wong Ping, and More

by Richard Whiddington

Too Cute! An Upcoming Show in London Will Unpack the Power of Cuteness With Works by Juliana Huxtable, Wong Ping, and More

Hauser and Wirth Announces Its New Paris Gallery's Inaugural Show and Its Debut Director

by Eileen Kinsella

Hauser and Wirth Announces Its New Paris Gallery's Inaugural Show and Its Debut Director

Mike Kelley Artworks

Mike Kelley (787 results)

Three valleys (in 12 parts), 1980–1998

Mike Kelley

Three valleys (in 12 parts), 1980–1998

Sale Date: July 1, 2014

Auction Closed

Toward a Coffee Table Book (Notes on), 1994

Mike Kelley

Toward a Coffee Table Book (Notes on), 1994

Sale Date: June 23, 2014

Auction Closed

Garbage drawing #18, 1988

Mike Kelley

Garbage drawing #18, 1988

Sale Date: June 1, 2014

Auction Closed

The Big Day (in 2 parts), 1980

Mike Kelley

The Big Day (in 2 parts), 1980

Sale Date: May 16, 2014

Auction Closed

#12 (We Communicate Only Through our Shared..., 1995

Mike Kelley

#12 (We Communicate Only Through our Shared..., 1995

Sale Date: May 18, 2014

Auction Closed

Lenticular 15, 2007

Mike Kelley

Lenticular 15, 2007

Sale Date: May 15, 2014

Auction Closed

The bounty, 1989

Mike Kelley

The bounty, 1989

Sale Date: May 15, 2014

Auction Closed

A weakness inside (from The Sublime), 1983

Mike Kelley

A weakness inside (from The Sublime), 1983

Sale Date: May 15, 2014

Auction Closed

Ah... youth (in 8 parts), 1990

Mike Kelley

Ah... youth (in 8 parts), 1990

Sale Date: May 14, 2014

Auction Closed

Two Frogs/Two Cats (in 4 parts), 1990

Mike Kelley

Two Frogs/Two Cats (in 4 parts), 1990

Sale Date: May 12, 2014

Auction Closed

Area #3 (Green Circle), 1990

Mike Kelley

Area #3 (Green Circle), 1990

Sale Date: May 14, 2014

Auction Closed

Abuse Report, 2012

Mike Kelley

Abuse Report, 2012

Sale Date: May 14, 2014

Auction Closed

Untitled (Mrs. Claus); Toy Santa Claus (2..., 1990

Mike Kelley and Cindy Sherman

Untitled (Mrs. Claus); Toy Santa Claus (2..., 1990

Sale Date: April 28, 2014

Auction Closed

The Orange & Green (from Pansy..., 1989

Mike Kelley

The Orange & Green (from Pansy..., 1989

Sale Date: April 28, 2014

Auction Closed

The Bill of Rights, 1992

Mike Kelley

The Bill of Rights, 1992

Sale Date: April 27, 2014

Auction Closed

Toward a Coffee Table Book (Notes on), 1994

Mike Kelley

Toward a Coffee Table Book (Notes on), 1994

Sale Date: April 27, 2014

Auction Closed

Uprooted fruit tree (from Monkey Island), 1983

Mike Kelley

Uprooted fruit tree (from Monkey Island), 1983

Sale Date: March 7, 2014

Auction Closed

Sketches from Meditation, 1981

Mike Kelley

Sketches from Meditation, 1981

Sale Date: March 6, 2014

Auction Closed

Square, Tangents & Cats (in 3 parts), 1980

Mike Kelley

Square, Tangents & Cats (in 3 parts), 1980

Sale Date: March 7, 2014

Auction Closed

Banner (Master Dik Y'all), 1989

Mike Kelley

Banner (Master Dik Y'all), 1989

Sale Date: February 27, 2014

Auction Closed

Black Garbage (Grassy Island, (Canadian)) /..., 2001

Mike Kelley

Black Garbage (Grassy Island, (Canadian)) /..., 2001

Sale Date: February 14, 2014

Auction Closed

Street Sign, 2004

Mike Kelley

Street Sign, 2004

Sale Date: January 25, 2014

Auction Closed

Poetics Country, 1997

Mike Kelley and Tony Oursler

Poetics Country, 1997

Sale Date: January 25, 2014

Auction Closed

Mike Kelley und Toni Oursler Poetics Country, 1997

Mike Kelley and Tony Oursler

Mike Kelley und Toni Oursler Poetics Country, 1997

Sale Date: December 6, 2013

Auction Closed

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