City 5 (Blue City)
2008
Wood and acrylic resin
City: height 29.8 x diameter 45.1cm (height 11 3/4 x diameter 17 3/4 in.) Overall dimensions: height 144.1 x diameter 55.9 cm (height 56 3/4 x diameter 22 in.)
Mike Kelley's sculpture City 5 (Blue City), which is in the Pinault Collection, is part of an installation about Kandor, the mythical city on the planet Krypton that originated in the Superman comic books. With acid-blue resin illuminated by artificial light, he appropriates this world reduced to miniature by the evil Brainiac and bottled by Superman, who has never been there. The artist evokes the magic of a microcosm and homesickness for a "lost country".
A figure in California freak and grotesque art, since the 1980s Kelley has made assemblages offering a critical reflection on American society and its myths by playing with tales from popular culture. His radical, poetic and ironic works explore the themes of childhood, education, sexuality and the interface between personal and collective memory.
City 5 (Blue City) was presented by the Pinault Collection in 2009 during the "Qui a peur des artistes ?" (“Who’s Afraid of Artists?”) show at the Palais des Arts in Dinard.
A figure in California freak and grotesque art, since the 1980s Kelley has made assemblages offering a critical reflection on American society and its myths by playing with tales from popular culture. His radical, poetic and ironic works explore the themes of childhood, education, sexuality and the interface between personal and collective memory.
City 5 (Blue City) was presented by the Pinault Collection in 2009 during the "Qui a peur des artistes ?" (“Who’s Afraid of Artists?”) show at the Palais des Arts in Dinard.
Exhibitions
Mike KELLEY © Adagp, Paris.
Courtesy West of Rome, Inc.
Photo : Fredrik Nilsen
Mike KELLEY © Adagp, Paris.
Courtesy West of Rome, Inc.
Photo : Fredrik Nilsen
Mike KELLEY © Adagp, Paris.
Courtesy West of Rome, Inc.
Photo : Fredrik Nilsen
Mike KELLEY © Adagp, Paris.
Courtesy West of Rome, Inc.
Photo : Fredrik Nilsen
