Richard PrinceNurse Elsa
Art Bridges Collection
Mike KelleyMemory Ware Flat No. 48
About
Mike Kelley’s Memory Ware Flat series was inspired by a largely unresearched folk tradition of jug decorating from the American South. Known as “memory jugs,” these vessels are possibly funerary, and adorned with beads, buttons, or china fragments belonging to a deceased loved one. The memorial nature of these objects aligns with Kelley’s artistic practice, which addresses themes of bereavement, mortality, and nostalgia.
Additionally, Memory Ware Flat No. 48 attempts to deconstruct the biased hierarchy that privileges abstract painting above folk art, by presenting a non-representational form, intended for the fine art market, crafted from inexpensive thrift store jewelry.
Artist
Mike Kelley
Dimensions
96 1/2 × 72 1/2 × 2 in. (245.1 × 184.2 × 5.1 cm)
Credit Line
Art Bridges
Date
2008
Medium
Costume jewelry and synthetic resin on panel
Object Number
AB.2019.3
Signed
verso, in black marker: M. Kelley / #48 / 2008
Provenance
(Gagosian Gallery, New York, NY); Private Collection, London, England; (Sotheby’s, New York, NY), February 10, 2010, lot 74; Private Collection, Belgium; (Hauser & Wirth, New York, NY); to Private Collection; to (Sotheby’s, New York, NY); purchased by Art Bridges, TX, 2019
