Mike Kelley

From October 13, 2023
to February 19, 2024
Mike Kelley, Kandors
Close Mike Kelley, Kandors

Tate Modern, London, Bourse de Commerce – Pinault Collection, Paris, K21 Kunstsammlung Nordrhein-Westfalen, Düsseldorf, and Moderna Museet, Stockholm, have joined forces to present a major retrospective of the work of Mike Kelley, a key figure on the Californian scene during the decades 1980s, 1990s, and 2000s.

This artist who defies categorization is among the most influential of the late twentieth century. His work formulates a critique of American society and its aberrations, oscillating between trashiness and a pop aesthetic, juggling between high culture, popular culture, and counter-culture. Appropriating and combining every technique: performance, music, drawing, painting, sculpture, installation, photography, and video, Mike Kelley invented and blazed his own artistic trail, one which has inspired several generations of artists. Disturbing rather than provocative, he takes on symbols, icons, and elements of individual and collective memory which he filters through his own practice, with a perspective that is at times unhinged, touching, irreverent, and melancholic.

The exhibition presents some of his most famous works, such as the Kandor cities (sculptures inspired by the Superman comic strip), which make up a spectacular installation, but also more intimate and fragile works which critique social, cultural, and family conditioning. Mike Kelley asked himself: after death, do we become a mere ghost whose memory fades, or an inspiring, commanding spirit whose influence remains alive? The visitors of this new retrospective will find their own answers to this question.

Open Monday to Sunday from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m.
Late opening Fridays until 
9 p.m. Except from 26 April to 22 May
Late opening and free access on the 
first Saturday of the month from 5 p.m. to 9 p.m.
Closed Tuesdays.

One ticket covers all exhibitions. Online booking is recommended.
Full price: €14
18-26 price and other reduced rates: €10

Free for Super Cercle members from 4 p.m. onwards

 

From 26 April to 22 May
During this period, museum entry ticket will be at reduced rate, due to certain galleries being closed.
Reduced price: €9
18-26 price and other reduced rates: €7
For Super Cercle members, free access without reservation all day long.

The exhibitions