Mike Kelley - Contemporary Art Part I New York Thursday, November 16, 2006 | Phillips

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  • Provenance

    Galerie Ghislaine Hussenot, Paris

  • Exhibited

    Paris, Galerie Ghislaine Hussenot, Mike Kelley, Memory Ware, 2000
    Cologne, Jablonka Galerie, Mike Kelley: Memory Ware, June 1-September 14, 2001, p. 10 (illustrated)

  • Literature

    M. Kelly and Jablonka Galerie, eds., Mike Kelley: Memory Ware, Cologne, pp. 10 (illustrated) and p. 74

  • Catalogue Essay

    Since it's inception in 2000, Mike Kelley's Memory Ware Flat series has continually explored the concepts of re-examination and re-use. The series is ongoing with the most recent works being created as recently as 2003. The present lot Memory Ware Flat #3, represents the very beginnings of Kelley's embarkation on his journey. The surface of the work is a colorful, highly charged energetic composition, that seems to shimmer when light is reflected off of the countless buttons, pins, and other baubles embedded in the muted gray epoxy medium. The uneven application of the epoxy medium creates subtle ripples that reverberate throughout the surface instilling in the work a sense of motion.

    Memory War Flat #3, is exemplary of the entire series with respect to the way that Kelley has created a seamless synthesis between concept and form. The idea of recycling the various ephemera typically relegated to "junk drawers", trinket shops or the "five and dime" stores of days gone by, and elevating them to the level of high art is quite adeptly executed in this work. But when coupled with the obvious visual allure of the colorful array of miscellany the work becomes a formidable hypnotizing force to be reckoned with.

21

Memory Ware Flat #3

2000
Paper pulp, tile grout, acrylic, miscellaneous beads, buttons and jewelry on wooden panel in artist’s wooden frame.
70 1/2 x 46 1/2 in. (179.1 x 118.1 cm).
Signed and dated “M. Kelley 2000” on the reverse.


Estimate
$400,000 - 600,000 

Sold for $576,000

Contemporary Art Part I

16 Nov 2006, 7pm
New York