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.

Related Categories

Contemporary Art

Related Artists

Paul McCarthy, Tony Oursler, Bill Viola, Erwin Wurm

Mike Kelley News

Art & Exhibitions

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

by Artnet News
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
Galleries

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

Artworks for Sale &
Auction Results

Mike Kelley (787 results)
River and tributaries, 1985–1985

Mike Kelley

River and tributaries, 1985–1985

Sale Date: June 27, 2001

Auction Closed

Rainbow coalition, 1985–1985

Mike Kelley

Rainbow coalition, 1985–1985

Sale Date: June 27, 2001

Auction Closed

Compound eye, 1983–1983

Mike Kelley

Compound eye, 1983–1983

Sale Date: June 27, 2001

Auction Closed

Continental divide, 1984–1984

Mike Kelley

Continental divide, 1984–1984

Sale Date: June 27, 2001

Auction Closed

Twinkling coppers, 1986–1986

Mike Kelley

Twinkling coppers, 1986–1986

Sale Date: June 6, 2001

Auction Closed

Ayre's Rock I & II, 1983–1983

Mike Kelley

Ayre's Rock I & II, 1983–1983

Sale Date: June 6, 2001

Auction Closed

Blood and soil, 1989–1989

Mike Kelley

Blood and soil, 1989–1989

Sale Date: May 18, 2001

Auction Closed

God, 1984–1984

Mike Kelley

God, 1984–1984

Sale Date: May 18, 2001

Auction Closed

King of the mountain - From Monkey Island, 1983–1983

Mike Kelley

King of the mountain - From Monkey Island, 1983–1983

Sale Date: May 18, 2001

Auction Closed

Garbage drawing #63, 1988–1988

Mike Kelley

Garbage drawing #63, 1988–1988

Sale Date: May 18, 2001

Auction Closed

Garbage drawing #6, 1988–1988

Mike Kelley

Garbage drawing #6, 1988–1988

Sale Date: May 18, 2001

Auction Closed

The left wing of Monkey Island, 1982–1982

Mike Kelley

The left wing of Monkey Island, 1982–1982

Sale Date: May 18, 2001

Auction Closed

Human geometry, 1986–1986

Mike Kelley

Human geometry, 1986–1986

Sale Date: May 17, 2001

Auction Closed

Green frog, 1991–1991

Mike Kelley

Green frog, 1991–1991

Sale Date: May 16, 2001

Auction Closed

Mike Kelley

"Many faceted compound eyes...", 1982–1982

Sale Date: May 16, 2001

Auction Closed

Untitled, 1990–1990

Mike Kelley

Untitled, 1990–1990

Sale Date: May 15, 2001

Auction Closed

Signing stop sign - Senalizacio de pare , 1998–1998

Mike Kelley and Tony Oursler

Signing stop sign - Senalizacio de pare , 1998–1998

Sale Date: May 15, 2001

Auction Closed

Purple stain, 1986–1986

Mike Kelley

Purple stain, 1986–1986

Sale Date: May 14, 2001

Auction Closed

Poetics country, 1997–1997

Mike Kelley

Poetics country, 1997–1997

Sale Date: March 28, 2001

Auction Closed

Study for a twisted shamrock, 1989–1989

Mike Kelley

Study for a twisted shamrock, 1989–1989

Sale Date: February 9, 2001

Auction Closed

Garbage drawing #56, 1988–1988

Mike Kelley

Garbage drawing #56, 1988–1988

Sale Date: February 9, 2001

Auction Closed

Big ol'farm balls, almos' bigger than..., 1991–1991

Mike Kelley

Big ol'farm balls, almos' bigger than..., 1991–1991

Sale Date: February 9, 2001

Auction Closed

Garbage drawing #59, 1988–1988

Mike Kelley

Garbage drawing #59, 1988–1988

Sale Date: February 9, 2001

Auction Closed

Hump, 1984–1984

Mike Kelley

Hump, 1984–1984

Sale Date: February 9, 2001

Auction Closed

English (US)

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