Michael John Kelly – Language. Berlin - L.A Trilogie II
This exhibition: “Language”, by painter Michael John Kelly, is the second part of our Berlin-L.A. trilogy and the artist’s first solo exhibition in Europe. Michael John Kelly’s work is characterized by many different influences and “languages”: his images combine painting, print, photography, drawing and collage. In terms of content, they contain elements from new media and abstract expressionism, graffiti and cartoons, and science fiction movies and the world of hip-hop and punk rock. Kelly, however, continually emphasizes the equal importance of all of his materials and sources of inspiration.
I’m always making pictures with a smartphone. Imagery comes in through its camera or Internet connection; they’re manipulated with its intuitive interface. Sharing and feedback are immediate. It was important to find a way to integrate this tool into my painting practice.The work is printed digital imagery and paint. I find conversations of “digital vs. analog” redundant, so I’m collapsing these different strategies into a single unified image.
— Michael John Kelly
We are very pleased to announce the exhibition “Language” by painter Michael John Kelly, the second part of our Berlin–L.A. Trilogy, and the artist’s first solo exhibition in Europe. Following an invitation by 68projects, Kelly—who normally lives and works in Los Angeles—spent three months in Berlin during the summer of 2015. There he created a series of vibrant, large-scale drawings and paintings that compellingly reflect his experience of the different (sub)cultures of Berlin and Los Angeles.
Michael John Kelly’s work is characterized by a multitude of influences and “languages.” His images combine painting, printmaking, photography, drawing and collage. In terms of content, they draw on new media and abstract expressionism, graffiti and cartoons, as well as science-fiction films and the worlds of hip-hop and punk rock. Kelly consistently emphasizes the equal importance of all his materials and sources of inspiration. When titling his latest works, he experimented with English, Spanish and German, reflecting his own origins somewhere between Berlin, Austria and Los Angeles.
While the large-scale drawings—regarded by Kelly as preliminary studies for his paintings—possess a fragile and delicate aura, the paintings themselves demonstrate a broader approach. They are characterized by varied processes of gathering, production, reproduction and re-utilization of digital and analogue materials. Kelly frequently posts his works on digital image-sharing platforms such as Tumblr and Instagram before reproducing the digital images analogically and reintegrating them into new works.
For the Berlin series, he brought prints of abstract colour tables—so-called colour grids—of earlier works, combined them with flyers and advertising posters found in Berlin, and finally painted over these collages with spray and oil paint. A kind of “circle game” emerged, in which web-based content, fragments of Kelly’s own paintings and found materials merge into a single work.
Michael John Kelly studied painting at Brigham Young University in Provo, Utah, and at UCLA in Los Angeles, California. His works have been exhibited widely in the United States and are held in notable collections including the Susan and Michael Hort Collection in New York, the Gayle and Stanley Hollander Collection in Los Angeles, and the Carole Server and Oliver Frankel Collection in New York.
Michael John Kelly will be present at the opening. On Friday, January 29 at 6 pm, an artist talk will take place in the exhibition space featuring Michael John Kelly and art historian Julia Rosenbaum. The talk will be held in English.
The Berlin–L.A. Trilogy concludes in March/April 2016 with a group exhibition featuring artists who participated in residency programs in Los Angeles, including Villa Aurora, and whose work engages intensively with the Californian metropolis.
