MIKE KELLEY (b. 1954) PIGTAIL ROAD & ESCAPE R

PROPERTY FROM A PRIVATE EUROPEAN COLLECTION

Provenance
Bonakdar Jancou Gallery, NEW YORK

Exhibited
RIDGEFIELD, CONNECTICUT, The Aldrich Museum of Contemporary Art,
CALIFORNIA ARTISTS, January 20-May 5, 1991

I THINK THAT THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN THE VIEWER AND THE ARTIST IS 'CONVERSATIONAL' EVEN THOUGH I ALLOW FOR AN OPENNESS OF READING, IT'S NOT COMPLETELY OPEN.
Mike Kelley taken from and interview with I. Graw in J.C. Welchman,
I. Graw and A. Vidler, MIKE KELLEY, LONDON, 1999, p. 14

Mike Kelley appears to have little to no filter when it comes to explaining his philosophical, religious or political stances. Extremely outspoken since the beginning of his career, Kelley frequently plays the role of social commentator. Whether it is through his performance-based works, drawings, paintings sculptural objects or a combination of these things, Kelley has—for over three decades—consistently presented thought provoking and often times confounding works. They take on the role of the "proverbial soap box" from where he preaches his ideas.

"My language usage in artworks is not just babble. Often there are jokes on certain critical or historical issues-and that can be seen if one reads closely… I expect the reader to spend a little time with the work. I'm not interested in quick surface readings. This is especially important in relation to my works that have a socialized veneer, that seem to be a reiteration of mass cultural tropes" (ibid., pp. 8 and 9).

Early on in his career Kelley developed a flat, almost cartoon-like, illustrative style for his paintings and drawings. He is more interested and concerned with communicating his concept rather than with aesthetics and artistic acumen. He limited his tried palette to black and white, rarely using color. This style allows him to communicate a variety of themes and ideas thus making it the most effective"carrier of information" an almost universal carrier: "the same technique can be applied to humor, technical drawings or to explain story text or to political allegory or religious illustration"
(E. Sussman, MIKE KELLEY: CATHOLIC TASTES,NEW YORK,1993, p. 24).

The present lot, ESCAPE ROUTE & PIGTAIL ROAD,is comprised of two separate panels. It is self-referential, possibly alluding to American history and the period of the outlaw, linking it to the sense of paranoia felt by contemporary patriotic America, at being somehow undermined from within. These particular works are similar to the works that were created in 1984 as part of one of Kelley's projects entitled AUSTRALIANA. It was with the AUSTRALIANA project that Kelley's drawing style most akin to vernacular illustration truly begins to coalesce. PIGTAIL ROAD & ESCAPE ROUTE deftly illustrate his interest in the idea of the travelogue as well as confronting the viewer with thought provoking socio-political commentary. One also cannot help but recognize or feel the sense that there is truly sinister aspect to these works lying just below the surface of their loosely rendered illustrations that take the "banality of patriotism, religion, and popular culture" as their subjects.