Mike Kelley Dies from Apparent Suicide in Los Angeles at the age of 57

February 1st, 2012


Mike Kelley, via Interview

Los Angeles-based artist Mike Kelley (born Detroit 1954) passed away from apparent suicide in a state of depression, according to Helene Winer of Metro Pictures Gallery in New York. Kelley was represented by Metro Pictures for twenty years before showing with Gagosian since the early 2000s. His work often dealt with found objects and abjection, from sculptures and collages to performance and video, coined “clusterfuck aesthetics” by Jerry Saltz after his 2005 show, Day is Done. Kelley was also a proponent of punk, having been in bands throughout college, ‘Destroy All Monsters’ at the University of Michigan, and ‘Poetics’ at the California Institute of the Arts. Having held major solo exhibitions at the Whitney, LACMA, Tate, and Louvre, Kelley’s work is slated to be shown at the Whitney Biennial for the eighth time this year.


Mike Kelley, Arena #7 (Bears). Via the Skarstedt Gallery.


Mike Kelley, video production still from Extracurricular Projective Reconstruction #34 (2010).
Courtesy Gagosian Gallery and Kelley Studio.


Mike Kelley, Twinkling Coppers (from “Plato’s Cave, Rothko’s Chapel, Lincoln’s Profile”) (1986). Via Gagosian Gallery.


Day is Done Installation view (2005). Via Gagosian Gallery.


Mike Kelley, via Dia.org

– S. Sveen

Related Links:

Artist Site [Mike Kelley]
Mike Kelley [Gagosian]
Mike Kelley, California Artist, Dead at 57 [New York Times]
Legendary Artist Mike Kelley Dead at 58, an Apparent Suicide [Art Info]
Mike Kelley [Interview]
Mike Kelley Has Died [Gallerist NY]