5 things to know about Mike Kelley

Ahead of the first major exhibition of Mike Kelley's work in the UK opening at Tate Modern, we explore what made this contemporary American artist so unique.

1. He worked across all mediums and styles

Mike Kelley made all kinds of art. He created sculptures and installations, performances, films, drawings, music, paintings, photos, textile works – pretty much everything an artist can make! Inspired by things from everyday life and popular culture, he used found objects like stuffed toys, comic books, and school yearbooks to explore how people think and live through fictional creations, social structures and belief systems. Kelley liked to explore unusual ideas, often using humour. He didn’t follow what was popular or accepted by the art world and instead challenged what art could be and what it meant to be an artist.

2. He loved Halloween

Halloween was Mike Kelley’s favourite holiday. Kelley was fascinated by the theatrical and rebellious nature of this yearly celebration, where people could step outside their normal behaviour and pretend to be someone, or something else. He was curious about the popularity of dressing up as fictional characters or mysterious beings like ghosts and spirits, and the chance to perform rituals not usually accepted in society. He often played different characters in his work, the most famous being The Banana Man, which was based on a character from the American kids TV show Captain Kangaroo. Kelley had never seen this character, so he created his Banana Man costume from stories told by his friends.

3. He was fascinated by memory

Many of Kelley’s artworks explore how imperfect and unreliable our memories can be. Influenced by our imagination and collective beliefs, he highlighted the way truth often blends with fiction when we remember the past. He made works that explored the gaps in his own memory, leaving audiences guessing about his own life story.

4. He was a musician

Kelley was inspired by many types of music and performance, from pop, folk, and jazz to musical theatre, religious ceremonies, and even slapstick comedy. While studying art at different universities in the 1970s, Kelley was in the bands Destroy All Monsters, and The Poetics. He would return to work with these bands and many others throughout his life. He collaborated with the rock band Sonic Youth on different projects, including the cover art for their 1992 album Dirty, which featured his well-known artwork Ahh…Youth!. Although Kelley didn’t have formal music training, he loved experimenting with noise and sound in his work. A unique sound to look out for in many of his sound pieces is the sharp, high-pitched squeak made by toys.

5. He inspired the next generation of artists

Since the 1980s, Kelley’s ideas about identity, culture, and memory continue to resonate with both audiences and other artists. He worked with every possible art medium, often collaborating with others, and drew inspiration from everything around him, from popular culture to philosophy. This unique and innovative approach changed how people thought about art and what artists could do. Over a decade since his passing, contemporary artists like Mark Leckey, Anne Imhof, Pablo Bronstein and Grace Ndiritu say that Kelley’s diverse, bold, and surprising style has greatly influenced their work.

Mike Kelley: Ghost and Spirit is on at Tate Modern 3 October 2024 – 9 March 2025.