L.A.-Based Artist Mike Kelley Found Dead In His Home Of Suspected Suicide
Los Angeles-based contemporary artist Mike Kelley was found dead in his South Pasadena home Tuesday. He was 57.
The L.A. Times reports police are still investigating to determine a cause of death, but Blouin ArtInfo says Kelley died of an "apparent suicide." Helene Winer of New York's Metro Pictures gallery, a longtime associate of Kelley's, told the website the artist suffered from depression.
A friend visited Kelley's home around 7:30pm Tuesday and became concerned when no one answered the door, according to San Gabriel Valley Tribune. Police entered the home and found his body in a bathtub. Investigators initially suspected suicide due to possible carbon monoxide poisoning as the cause of death. A friend told investigators the artist had recently broken up with his girlfriend; no note was found.
Kelley's studio released a statement that said the following: "Mike was an irresistible force in contemporary art.... We cannot believe he is gone. But we know his legacy will continue to touch and challenge anyone who crosses its path. We will miss him. We will keep him with us."
A Detroit native, Kelley graduated from the California Institute of the Arts (CalArts) in Valencia, CA. His "multi-media post-Conceptual" work "with a punk rocker sensibility," as described by the NY Times, won him solo exhibitions at renowned museums, including the Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA).
LACMA Senior Curator Stephanie Barron said, "Kelley’s work in the 1980s was part of how one defined the Los Angeles arts scene. He had a remarkable ability to fuse distinction between fine and popular art in ways that managed to perturb our sense of decorum," reports The Washington Post.
