PERRY RUBENSTEIN GALLERY
Announces
MIKE KELLEY
DEODORIZED CENTRAL MASS WITH SATELLITES
NOVEMBER 2 – December 15, 2012
“Mike Kelley’s artistic practice is without question one of the most influential to have emanated from Los Angeles. The arc of his trajectory is immeasurable, his concepts and iconography are living history. To bring this work home to Los Angeles, to share it with those who knew him, worked with him, and were inspired by him, is a privilege.”
Los Angeles, September 25, 2012 — Perry Rubenstein Gallery announces Mike Kelley: Deodorized Central Mass with Satellites, the second autumn exhibition in the new Los Angeles gallery. One of Kelley’s most significant works, this room-sized installation
has never before been exhibited in
Los Angeles.
Mike Kelley (1954 – 2012) was a central figure and beloved colleague and mentor in Los Angeles’ vibrant visual art community for decades. In keeping with Perry Rubenstein Gallery’s programmatic imperative to present the Los Angeles community with thoughtful historic exhibitions alongside projects by notable younger artists, the gallery is thrilled to present
Deodorized Central Mass with Satellites at a time when Kelley’s work and influence are receiving renewed attention.
Early in his career, Kelley began incorporating found thrift-store stuffed animals and household cleaning products into large installations which challenged viewers with contrasting feelings of delight and repulsion, empathy and confusion. Consisting of a thirteen-part hanging plush sculpture surrounded by slick, geometric wall reliefs which fill the room with a subtle chemical pine-scent, Deodorized Central Mass with Satellites embodies the fullest and most dynamic iteration of this significant component of the artist’s practice.
Perry Rubenstein Gallery’s presentation of Deodorized Central Mass with Satellites marks the first time the work has been presented as a fully realized exhibition in a museum or gallery since 1999. Following the presentation of an early version in 1991 at the Jablonka Galerie in Cologne, the work went through an eight-year evolution before taking on its current form. A large multi-colored central cluster is surrounded by twelve satellites, each composed of bright, monochromatic stuffed animals facing inward. The spheres hang via a carefully balanced system of pulleys, offsetting one another’s masses. Sharply angled wall sculptures surround the orbs, subtly filling the room with scent and injecting the entire installation with an element of emotional sterilization.
Kelley’s work has been shown extensively internationally, and is held in many prominent international public and private collections.
Mike Kelley, Deodorized Central Mass with Satellites, 1991-1999, Mixed media installation comprised of: one central mass and twelve satellites consisting of found stuffed animals sewn over wooden and wire mesh frames with Styrofoam packing material; ten deodorizers consisting of fiberglass, car lacquer, electronic device with distilled water and spruce needle sauna infusion; metal hardware, nylon rope, and pulleys, Installation dimensions variable
Perry Rubenstein Gallery
1215 N. Highland Avenue
Los Angeles, CA 90038
T: (323) 464–1097
F: (323) 464–1098
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Gallery Contact
Jenni Edwards
Perry Rubenstein Gallery
T: (323) 464–1097
E: jenniedwards@perryrubenstein.com
Media Contact
Justin Conner
FITZ & CO
-Perry Rubenstein
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