Purple Diary
[February 3 2012]
REMEMBERING MIKE KELLEY
The artist Mike Kelley committed suicide this week in Los Angeles. I met Mike for the first time as a teenager outside a gallery in Chelsea. He said his was surprised anyone under 30 knew his name. Of course we knew his name. Mike’s blue collar anarchy shifted our view of art’s possibilities. Stuffed animals on carpet, beads and buttons on wood. The best artists don’t give you what you want right away. They get under your skin and ask you to learn something about yourself first. Photo and text Juliana Balestin
