Educational Complex Onwards, 1995 – 2008 is composed of a large selection of recent works — installations, videos, photographs, sculptures and paintings — on loan from some of the most prestigious international collections. The exhibition is conceived as a history, in which every work forms a chapter. Its unfurling allows to understand how and why Mike Kelley has, since 1995, made use of the notion autobiograhy to explore, in a poetic way, the forms of power and the power of forms.  

Mike Kelley’s work is characterised by the way it integrates popular culture in an artistic practice, nourished by philosophy, literature and art history, and by the exuberance of his visual style which is opposed to the smooth surfaces  of minimalism as well as to the neutrality of pop art and abstraction. With elements from his personal story as well as from a broader cultural history, Mike Kelley pursues a poetic deconstruction of the structures surrounding us. 

Mike Kelley, born in Detroit in 1954, lives and works in Los Angeles. He has worked together with numerous artists notably Paul McCarthy, Jim Shaw and Tony Oursler and musicians such as Sonic Youth. Since the mid-80’s, his work has been exhibited in the largest museums (Whitney Museum, Centre Pompidou, Van Abbemuseum, Le Louvre, Wiener Secession, MOCA in Los Angeles...) and prestigious international events (Documenta, Venice Biennial, Lyon Biennial...).

Educational Complex Onwards, 1995 – 2008  will occupy the three exhibition floors of Wiels and will be accompanied by a complementary program and a catalogue, publication date June 2008. Curator, Anne Pontégnie.

Read the Artforum Review

Link to the documentary of Klara