Mike Kelley
Mike Kelley (1954-2012), born in Wayne, Michigan, lived and worked in Los Angeles. Kelley was a groundbreaking artist whose provocative work profoundly shaped contemporary art. Known for his disturbing yet compelling installations, he often incorporated banal or discarded everyday materials –such as stuffed animals, blankets, and found objects – to confront themes of memory, trauma, and cultural conditioning. After studying at the University of Michigan and the California Institute of the Arts, Kelley emerged in the 1980s with a body of work that laid bare suppressed fears and social anxieties. His practice spanned performance, video, sculpture, and drawing, frequently challenging the boundaries between high and low culture. Kelley’s art remains a powerful critique of societal norms, personal history, and institutional authority.
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Poetics Country
1997
Published for Documenta X
Silkscreen on baked enamel road sign with bullet holes, 91 x 91 x 3 cm (36 x 36 x 1 in), edition of 60, signed and numbered.
This joint edition by Mike Kelley and Tony Oursler takes the form of a standard American crosswalk sign, overlaid with graffiti-like imagery drawn from the artists’ personal notebooks. The work references the graphic clarity of international signage – a visual language that strongly influenced the 'new wave' design aesthetics of the late 1970s. The addition of bullet holes anchors the piece in the local context of the Antelope Valley, where the artists' shared rehearsal space was located.
EUR 3,000
