With Malice Toward None: With Charity for All from the series Reconstructed History, 1989, by Mike Kelley, is a series of fifty prints comprising vandalized images from U.S. history textbooks. The series explores how we might reconstruct a vision of our nation’s past through defacing it, and challenges traditional American myths through the playful doodles, as seen in a schoolchild’s book.
“Gods are gods simply because they are not human. The photographs you see here are not truthful representations of the historical events they picture, nor are they meant to be.”
—Mike Kelly, from Reconstructed History iKelley’s work represents a juxtaposition of the heroic image of American history icons and its total obliteration by the quick careless scribble. The result is one of balance, whereby the original image loses the power and notions linking the depicted individual or event to history and political influence. The heroic image is humbled, de-mystified, and presented through the eyes of a child. This shift draws questions on the influence of the art object. For example, is it merely the subject matter or the gallery setting that constructs the strength both idols and artworks can possess? Kelley challenges this idea as he takes away the strength of the idol itself by augmenting it and placing as an art object on the gallery walls.
Kelley’s playful images with a meaningful message make social commentary on American culture, and prompt viewers to ask: “What is art? And what does it mean in modern America?”. His oeuvre has been impactful to the styles of other artists of the genre, marking Kelley as one of the most influential visual artists of the late 20th century.
Provenance
Metro Pictures, New York
Acquired from the above by the present owner in 1998Exhibited
New York, Skarstedt, Mike Kelley: Reconstructed History, September 11–October 25, 2014 (another example exhibited)
Literature
Patti Podesta, ed., and Mike Kelley, Reconstructed History, New York and Cologne, 1990, n.p (another example illustrated)
Elisabeth Sussman, Mikey Kelley: Catholic Tastes, New York, 1993, pp. 186–187 (another example illustrated)
John C. Welchman, ed., Minor Histories: Statements, Conversations, Proposals, Cambridge, Massachusetts and London, 2004, p. 29 (another example illustrated)
Bruno Vandermeulen and Danny Veys, eds., Imaging History: Photography After the Fact, 2012, Brussels, p. 112 (another example illustrated)
Eva Meyer-Hermann and Lisa Gabrielle Mark, eds., Mikey Kelley Munch, New York, 2013, p. 142 (another example illustrated)
Christopher Knight, "Mike Kelley’s riveting adolescent stage", The Los Angeles Times, March 2014, online
Priscilla Frank, "Everything You Need To Know About Mike Kelley Before Seeing His Blowout Retrospective", HuffPost, May 2014, online (another example illustrated)
119
With Malice Toward None: With Charity for All from the series Reconstructed History
signed and dated "M.Kelley 1989" on the reverse
gelatin silver print
11 1/4 x 9 3/8 in. (28.6 x 23.8 cm)
Executed in 1989, this work is the artist's proof from an edition of 1 plus 1 artist's proof.
Estimate
$6,000 - 8,000
Sold for $6,985
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20th Century & Contemporary Art: Online Auction
17 - 26 July 2023
