Mike Kelley
God’s Oasis

September 22 - December 21, 2018

Zürich

Hauser & Wirth is proud to present ‘Mike Kelley. God’s Oasis’, the artist’s first solo exhibition to be shown at the gallery’s Zurich location in collaboration with the Mike Kelley Foundation for the Arts. The presentation, curated by Peter Pakesch, provides a deeper understanding of Kelley’s evolving career by investigating the artist’s formative years in his hometown of Detroit, his subsequent work as an undergraduate student in Ann Arbor, Michigan and his reconsideration of this artistic output decades later.

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Events

Fri 21 Sep 2018, 6 pm – 12 am

Opening reception: ‘Mike Kelley. God’s Oasis’

Please join us for the opening reception of ‘Mike Kelley. God’s Oasis’, the artist's first solo exhibition to be shown at Hauser & Wirth Zürich in collaboration with Mike Kelly Foundation for the Arts.

In Conversation: Peter Pakesch, Diedrich Diederichsen and Albert Oehlen

Anlässlich der Ausstellung 'Mike Kelley. God’s Oasis' laden wir Sie herzlich zu einer Podiumsdiskussion mit dem Ausstellungskurator Peter Pakesch, dem Schriftsteller und Kritiker Diedrich Diederichsen und dem Künstler Albert Oehlen ein. ‘Mike Kelley. God’s Oasis’ bietet einen vertieften Einblick in Kelleys künstlerische Entwicklung, indem sie die prägenden Jahre in seiner Heimatstadt Detroit ebenso beleuchtet wie seine nachfolgenden Arbeiten als Student in Ann Arbor, Michigan, sowie sein Überdenken dieser künstlerischen Produktion Jahrzehnte später. Kelley gilt als einer der bedeutendsten Künstler der Gegenwart. Sein vielseitiges Werk stellt die sozialen und kulturellen Normen der zeitgenössischen amerikanischen Gesellschaft mithilfe von absurden, komischen und überaus postmodernen Formulierungen in Frage. In der Ausstellung werden selten gezeigte Papierarbeiten zu sehen sein, darunter eine Auswahl von studentischen Zeichnungen aus dem Archiv der Mike Kelley Foundation for the Arts. Die Konversation findet auf Deutsch statt. – On occasion of ‘Mike Kelley. God’s Oasis’, please join us for a panel discussion between the curator of the exhibition Peter Pakesch, writer and critic Diedrich Diederichsen and artist Albert Oehlen. ‘Mike Kelley. God’s Oasis’ provides a deeper understanding of Kelley’s evolving career by investigating the artist’s formative years in his hometown of Detroit, his subsequent work as an undergraduate student in Ann Arbor, Michigan and his reconsideration of this artistic output decades later. Regarded as one of the most significant artists of our time, Kelley’s multifaceted oeuvre challenged the social and cultural conventions of contemporary American society through absurd, comical and acutely postmodern formulations. The exhibition displays rarely exhibited works on paper, including a selection of student drawings from the Foundation’s archives. The talk will be conducted in German. Image: Mike Kelley, Untitled (Allegorical Drawing), 1976 © Mike Kelley Foundation for the Arts. All Rights Reserved/VAGA at Artists Rights Society (ARS), NY

In Conversation: Anne Pontégnie, Lili Reynaud-Dewar and Mathieu Malouf

On occasion of the exhibition 'Mike Kelley. God's Oasis', please join us for a panel discussion between curator and art writer Anne Pontégnie and artists Lili Reynaud-Dewar and Mathieu Malouf. The talk will be followed by a set from Zurich-based DJ PLAYLOVE. This event will be conducted in English. Image: The Destroy All Monsters Collective (Mike Kelley, Cary Loren, Jim Shaw), Mall Culture, 2000, 1 of 4 murals that comprise the installation, Strange Früt: Rock Apocrypha, 2000 Photo: Fredrik Nilsen © Mike Kelley Foundation for the Arts. All Rights Reserved/VAGA at Artists Rights Society (ARS), NY

About the artist

Mike Kelley is widely considered one of the most influential artists of our time. Originally from a suburb outside of Detroit, Kelley attended the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, before moving to Southern California in 1976 to study at California Institute of the Arts from which he received an MFA in 1978.  The city of Los Angeles became his adopted home and the site of his prolific art practice. In much of his work, Kelley drew from a wide spectrum of high and low culture, and was known to scour flea markets for America’s cast-offs and leftovers. Mining the banal objects of everyday life, Kelley elevated these materials to question and dismantle Western conceptions of contemporary art and culture.

Current Exhibitions