Mike Kelley: The Fine Art of Dropping Out
by Anthony Strain
Mike Kelley is ten years gone. He was a known Catholic apostate, and sometimes his jovial irreverence carried the shy sting of the once-bitten. This falling out of faith is relevant to his practice only because Kelley found it hard to stay between the lines, no matter which way they were drawn. From this, transgression became habit; memory and conspiracy became material spaces to render. Focusing on Kelley's "Educational Complex," and on the artist's preoccupation with the McMartin Preschool child abuse scandal, Anthony Strain examines the Kelley style of eclecticism and how it relates to leaving expectations behind, and finding the taboo in the ordinary.