So, rather than having my usual Fabrique coffee this morning, I had to go to Espresso House instead. For the first time, in my experience anyway, there was a very long queue at my favourite café. I don’t like queuing. Fortunately, I don’t mind Espresso House. And it was almost empty.
I was in Stockholm to see the Mike Kelley Ghost and Spirit exhibition at the Moderna Museet. I’d never heard of him before today. I’m not sure how I feel about his work. I usually like subversive work, particularly when it subverts middle America, but Kelley’s pieces left me bewildered, bemused and generally baffled.
In fact, I didn’t find a favourite piece in the exhibition, something that has never happened before. That’s not to say that I didn’t enjoy it. Apart from Rothko, who I will never understand or like, Kelley’s work is intriguing.
From his stuffed toys to his strange films, there is something there in his assemblages, I just found it difficult to find. There was an undefinable something, sitting at the edge, mocking me for not seeing it. Which is a bit irritating.
As well as stuffed toys, he used a lot of high school yearbooks to reinterpret America from their pages. Likewise, I bought the exhibition catalogue which will, maybe, enlighten me a bit.
I had also hoped to see a second, small exhibition that is currently showing but, a sign outside the room where it was displayed, announced that it was closed because of a technical fault. That was annoying.
Still, while the art may have been baffling, the day in Stockholm certainly was not. It was beautiful. Sun, blue sky, not too many people, it was all utterly delightful, as can be seen in this photograph of the old post office building.
Poor Kelley was depressed near the end of his life. He eventually killed himself because of it. His art seems to suggest he enjoyed both making and displaying it. Perhaps he poured all his joy into it rather than use it as an escape.
