Installation view.  image courtesy of the Mike Kelley Foundation for the Arts.

Installation view. image courtesy of the Mike Kelley Foundation for the Arts.

Mike Kelley, Rainbow Coalition, 1985. Collection Holzer Family.  Courtesy of the Mike Kelley Foundation for the Arts.

Mike Kelley, Rainbow Coalition, 1985. Collection Holzer Family. Courtesy of the Mike Kelley Foundation for the Arts.

 

Recently on view at the Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam was “Mike Kelley” and exhibition that consisted of almost 200 works spanning the 35 years of his career.  This is the largest exhibition of his work to date since the early 90s.  The exhibition will travel to the Centre Pompidou in Paris (May 2, 2013 – August 5, 2013), MoMA PS1, in New York (October 7, 2013 – January 5, 2014) and the Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles (March–June 2014) so there are still opportunities to see the show.

 

 

Installation view.  image courtesy of the Mike Kelley Foundation for the Arts.

Installation view. image courtesy of the Mike Kelley Foundation for the Arts.

Mike Kelley, Janitorial Banner, 1984. Collection Joel Wachs.  Courtesy of the Mike Kelley Foundation for the Arts.

Mike Kelley, Janitorial Banner, 1984. Collection Joel Wachs. Courtesy of the Mike Kelley Foundation for the Arts.

 

Mike Kelley is considered on the the most influential artist’s of his time and is truly innovative in the multiple facets of his practice including performance, sculpture, painting, installation and video, from experimental music and writing.  Mike Kelley was originally from Detroit, Michigan then lived and worked in Los Angeles for many years until he passed away at the age of 57 in 2012.  His passing was huge loss for the art world, but his work lives on through this exhibition for people to experience.

 

 

Installation view.  image courtesy of the Mike Kelley Foundation for the Arts.

Installation view. image courtesy of the Mike Kelley Foundation for the Arts.

 

The exhibition was loosely laid out chronologically.  You would first encounter the most recent works spanning the 80s to the 21st century and have the opportunity to step backward in time to the 70s when he was in art-school.  When you experience the show you understand how Kelley didn’t have one defined pathway for the progression of his work.  He worked along many tangents always pulling back to his major themes of American class relations, sexuality, repressed memories, systems of religious belief and transcendence, and post-punk politics.  He also traveled amongst past memories of his childhood bringing in a personal dialogue that added a genuine quality to his work.

 

If your in Paris, New York, or Los Angeles the show will be coming your way so be sure to see it when its in your city. For more information visit here.

 

-Contributed by Gregory Ito