My friend Mike Kelley died last week, it came just as my big survey show at the Walker so it was a pretty intense conflict for me very keen sense of the bi-polar nature of life. I felt the loss more than I expected I really felt like a comrade had a bias they say in the city of lost angels. I knew Kelley for many years and he was a square dealer no bullshit like a cowboy. He was one of the people in my life who I most enjoyed talking with and seeing his art. He was a very intense man and his art is often very difficult. He was not unlike a rapper where each piece had a can't top this feel to it, he was smart very sharp and he didn't suffer fools at all. One of the things I appreciated about Mike was his generosity and his modesty, he could help you quietly and make you feel ok about his assistance . And Mike was very loyal, he came from that hopeless place Rihanna sings about. Last I saw Mike at Walker he said he figured Artpolice was over because he didn't get it in the mail anymore. He was looking for the trace of the scene he saw 2 decades before when he was the performance dept. James Hayward the abstract painter from Ventura County pushed to create a performance art course and programme at the Minneapolis College of Art and Design. We worked together at that time Mike Kelley James Hayward Ken Feingold myself it was a riot. Kelley was the youngster the next inevitable step. the uber kunst. I don't remember the extact times and what(it was a while ago ) . I knew Kelley was into music , I was a big Sonic Youth fan and I know Kelley was with them tight. Kim Gordon being a man magnet and a great bassman. So all these students study performance with Mike Kelley - Sonic Youth was really embedded in certain works of Kelley the cd cover with his sonic youth hairdo (Mullet hawk a bit hirsuit ). Anyway Mike I can't write you about this show which I think is my best effort at summing up. You and Sigmar Polke inspired me in the past years. < time shift)> Walking in Kelley's neighborhood asking him about Sherrie Levine who was a student when he was at calarts. I a big Sherrie Levine fanboy. Mike was very guarded in his comments. He knew I was under Sherrie Levine's spell ( see I ask one genius about another genius they went to school with) this is why I sometimes feel I lived near the giants. I don't recall if Kelley said Sherrie Levine was well fed? It's like writing sit coms art writing is what I try to do though art is a slippery thing.
I'll miss Mr Kelley the world is not same. The Big Sleep too soon. Destroy All Monsters fan klub TC