PS 1 is one of the oldest public school buildings in New York City, from the late 1800’s It was underutilized and became an art center in 1971, founded by Alanna Heiss. Classrooms became studios. Gradually there were exhibitions and performance art. PS 1 (public studios 1) was incorporated into the Museum of Modern Art in 2000.

Mike Kelley (1954-2012), born in Detroit, lived and worked in Los Angeles from the mid-1970’s until he died at age fifty-seven of suicide. His work is prolific, in every medium, and it resides in almost the entire museum. I found his oeuvre fascinating, humorous, beautiful, profane, obnoxious, deep, tiresome, mind boggling. In short: there is something for everyone. It is a life’s work of epic proportion.

His methods of social commentary varied throughout. Whether you are in accord with his work or not, it pulled you in.

The building, the work. Click on images to enlarge.

A “statue” of John Glenn and found objects dredged from the Detroit River made into a carpet. The mosaic quality and color is redolent of the work of Gaudi.

Multi sensory: olfactory sense comes into play. Around the walls are huge colorful sprayers that spritz away odors and maintain the clean innocence. The hanging objects are monochromatic orbs or stuffed toys.  Deodorized Central Mass with Satellites (1991–99)

Futuristic cities are retro, related to Superman. The bell jars refer to Sylvia Plath.

Portraits of famous men and their feelings about destruction.

Huge collages of found materials and costume jewelry pieces.

A most wonderful evening skyline. The Empire State Building dressed for Christmas.

From the New York Times:

★ MoMA PS1: ‘Mike Kelley’ (through Feb. 2) This retrospective of the Los Angeles artist Mike Kelley fills 40,000 feet of gallery space at PS1. And it’s that very rare thing, a huge show that should be huge. Kelley earned this blowout; his work sustains one. In a three-decade career, cut off by his suicide, at 57, last year, he did it all genrewise: performance, painting, drawing, printmaking, sculpture, video, installation, sound art and writing. And he wove together — twisted together — all of that into what amounted to a single conceptual project based on recurrent themes: class politics, popular culture, black humor, anti-formalist rigor and a moral sense, unshakably skeptical, that ran through everything like a spine. 22-25 Jackson Avenue, at 46th Avenue, Long Island City, Queens, (718) 784-2084, ps1.org. (Cotter)