Mike Kelley

Galerie Ghislaine Hussenot, Paris
Acquired by the present owner from the above in 2007

Los Angeles, Gagosian Gallery, Sculpture, July - August 2006
Nice, Villa Arson, L’institut des archives sauvages, February - May 2012

This work is good condition overall and the electronic components are in good working order. All elements and components shows signs of significant wear and use, which is inherent to the work and the artist's method of working as well as the aggregate use of the piece since its creation. The legs of the wall panels show signs of wear and in some cases slight warping in shape, however the welds remain strong and stable.
In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective qualified opinion.
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“[Mike Kelley] is one of the most influential American artists of the past quarter century and a pungent commentator on American class, popular culture and youthful rebellion.”
Holland Cotter (quoted in “Mike Kelley, an Artist with Attitude, Dies at 57,” The New York Times, February 1, 2012)

American artist Mike Kelley is celebrated for his innovative and thought-provoking body of works conceived in a wide range of medium including drawings, paintings, sculpture, performances, music, videos, photography and assemblages. Just as diverse is the breadth of themes and social commentary that Kelley explored through his art, where subjects of American class relations, social structures, repressed memory, gender politics and religion are critiqued and presented in a dark and self-deprecating humor. Speaking of his artistic concerns at large, Mike Kelley once stated: “My entrance into the art world was through the counter-culture, where it was common practice to lift material from mass culture and ‘pervert’ it to reverse or alter its meaning… Mass culture is scrutinized to discover what is hidden, repressed, within it.” 

Working in Los Angeles from the mid-1970s until his death at the age of 57, Kelley spent the entirety of his thirty-five year career on a variety of artistic projects for different venues, many of which comprised of large-scale multimedia installations that incorporated found objects and unorthodox materials and ideas. Among the artist’s eclectic oeuvre, important examples include video projects in which Kelley collaborated with fellow artists from the California Institute of the Arts and established artists including the likes of Paul McCarthy, as well as a series of works in which crocheted blankets, fabric dolls and other rag toys, often found at thrift stores and yard sales, were strewn across canvases or combined as sculptural groups. The success and allure of these works lie in the artist’s presentation of crude, commonplace materials in more formalized environments in order to draw out social questions and investigations that are otherwise unseen. The present work is another example that is representative of such artistic approach: comprised of office furniture and supplies, a fax/scanner machine, a computer as well as additional office paraphernalia, A Fax Transmission from Oct. 21, 1986, 1.07pm. presents the cubicle space and office life in a humorous and satirical way meant to question and investigate the meaning behind all the countless office hours, paper work and machinery that seem to inundate human life in the present day. The significance of this work is highlighted by its solo exhibition on the second floor of the Gagosian Gallery in 2006–a year after the gallery started representing the artist.  

Mike Kelley’s extraordinary powers of critical reflection, relentless self-examination as well as creative approach are clearly reflected in his unique body of works. His installations, paintings, and video projects have been exhibited in notable public institutions and collections ranging from the Tate in London to the Museum Brandhorst in Munich as well as the Museum of Modern Art and the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum in New York. The artist’s largest retrospective to date was just exhibited last year at the MoMA PS1 in Brooklyn, New York.