Mike Kelley

Memory Ware Flat No. 48

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.