Skateboards

Artists skateboards (some produced posthumously) by Jean-Michel Basquiat, Bill Burns, Larry Clark, Nan Goldin, Keith Haring, Mike Kelley, Harmony Korine, Yayoi Kusama, Faith Ringold, and Christopher Wool. 

Mike Kelley | Little Friend

Mike Kelley

Little Friend

Melbourne, Australia/Tokyo, Japan: Perks and Mini/Medicom Toy, 2007

41 x 25 x 18 cm.

Edition of 800

Valued at around $800 US, this blue fur and felt plush toy speaks twenty random phrases when squeezed. These include "Hurt me, I don't mind!”, "Do you really love me?”, "You’re my little sissy now” and “Get it away from me, get it away”. Batteries not included. 

"He's back! Do you miss the special love that a Little Friend can give? I bet you do! If you're like most of us, there's a Little Friend from your past whose voice haunts you across space and time. Little Friend is the specter of your childhood, when you stood at puberty's door.

"No, no," whined Little Friend, "don't abandon me!" ...But you did.

Maybe it took a little longer than everyone wanted it to. Perhaps you were guilt-tripped and teased. Now Little Friend has returned. Say hello to Little Friend, the voice of your past.

Little Friend: For the sissy in all of us.”

- publisher statement

Mike Kelley | The Uncanny

Mike Kelley

The Uncanny

Arnhem, The Netherlands: Sonsbeek, 1993

152 pp., 24 x 17 cm., softcover

Edition size unknown

An influential catalogue published in conjunction with Mike Kelley’s landmark exhibition of the same name, at the Gemeentemuseum Arnhem, as part of Sonsbeek 93. 

"Mike Kelley's contribution to Sonsbeek '93, 'The Uncanny' - an exhibition within an exhibition - has since attained almost mythical status. Many know it only through the book, which sold out long ago, so its return in updated form 11 years on, in Liverpool rather than Arnheim, is itself a little uncanny. 

The book's essay, 'Playing with Dead Things', accompanied by a long and extraordinary photo-essay, is the artist's most ambitious to date. Like the best writings of Dan Graham and Robert Smithson, it is a remarkable piece of cultural synthesis that makes most academic writing on art seem pale, confined and reiterative. Without the essay the exhibition is just half the story.”

- Alex Farquharson

Mike Kelley and Tony Oursler | Poetics Country

Mike Kelley and Tony Oursler

Poetics Country

Kassel, Germany: Documenta, 1997

91 x 91 x 3 cm. 

Edition of 60 signed and numbered copies

Silkscreen on baked enamel road sign with unique bullet holes. 

Destroy All Monsters | It Melts in Your Mind, Not in Your Mouth

Destroy All Monsters

It Melts in Your Mind, Not in Your Mouth

Detroit, USA: The End is Here Productions, 1996

18 x 19 cm.

Edition size unknown

An assortment of stickers by Mike Kelley, Cary Loren, Jim Shaw, and Niagara. A second edition of 300 copies was subsequently released, which additionally included a White Panther Party lapel pin. 

Destroy All Monsters | Geisha This

Destroy All Monsters

Geisha This

Detroit, USA: Book Beat Gallery, 1995 

100 pp., 8.5 x 0.5 x 11", softcover

Edition size unknown

Destroy All Monsters was a noise-rock, performance art band formed in 1973, by University of Michigan art students Mike Kelley, Jim Shaw, Niagara, and filmmaker Cary Loren. They were influenced by Futurism, Beat Culture, Sun Ra, the Velvet Underground, and monster movies. The group took its name from a 1968 Japanese kaiju film, directed by Ishirō Honda.

The original line-up performed in the Ann Arbor area, and their only release was an hour-long cassette, which was only available through Charlton Burch's Lightworks magazine. 

Kelley and Shaw left the band in 1977 and were replaced by members who had previously performed with The Stooges and MC5, adding to the notoriety of the group. Rock critic Lester Bangs described their music as "anti-rock". Further cementing their legendary status among noise-rock fans, was a three CD collection compiled by Sonic Youth's Thurston Moore, released in 1994.

Continuing the revival of interest in their output is this compilation of Destroy All Monsters magazine, released a year later. The volume reprints seven issues of the 'zine, one previously unpublished. The title also includes a flexi-disc containing unreleased tracks. 

I believe this is the second edition. The first (published in an edition of approximately 800 copies) was reportedly hand-assembled and featured a metallic gold cover by Niagara. The third and final edition features the same graphic, but in black and white. 

In 2011, Primary Information released a comprehensive compilation of all of the DAM publications. It was released in an edition of 3000 copies and is out-of-print. 

"The images that drove us were the strange combinations of film noir, monster movies, psychedelia, thrift-shop values, and the relentless anarchy of an over-stimulated pop culture." 

- Cary Loren

Mike Kelley | Paddle for Artist's Space

Mike Kelley

Untitled [Paddle for Artist's Space]

New York City, USA: Artist's Space, 1992

59 x 15.2 x 1.9 cm.

Edition of 50 numbered copies

A Beech wood paddle with leather strap screen printed on the front with the opening line of the United States Constitution and the Bill of Rights (the first ten amendments to the Constitution) on the verso. 

The artist's initials are incised on the handle, as is the edition number. 

Produced as a benefit for Artist's Space in New York. 

Mike Kelley | Bowling Ball, Bag, Shirt and Catalog

Mike Kelley

Bowling Ball, Bag, Shirt and Catalog

Los Angeles, USA: A.R.T Press, 1991

dimensions variable

Edition of 50 signed and numbered copies

A bowling bag containing a bowling shirt, bowling ball and book. The ball - manufactured for Kelley without finger holes - is engraved with Kelley's signature and the edition number. At least 8 artist proofs were made, in addition to the fifty from the edition proper. 

The work has an estimated value of between $8000 and $12000 US.