Renowned Artist Found Dead in South Pasadena Home

Internationally renowned artist Mike Kelley, 57, was found dead in his South Pasadena home Tuesday, reports L.A. Times.

Police are still investigating the cause of death, the article says. A family friend who was concerned about Kelley called 911, South Pasadena Police Sgt. Robert Bartl told the Associated Press.

While studying at the University of Michigan, Kelley formed the influential punk rock band Destroy All Monsters. But his career really took off in the early 1990s, with solo shows at the Whitney, LACMA, and other international venues, according to Blouin ArtInfo.

He was well-known for his arrangements of stuffed-animal sculptures, among other great works of art like wall-size drawings and multi-room installations.

"Kelley's style isn't so much a look as it is a feel, a groove that combines roots in conceptual art and an unashamed intellectuality with a sensibility steeped in funk," Glenn O'Brien wrote in an Interview article.

"I visited Kelley in his studio compound in the Highland Park area—it's a kind of anonymous, unpretentious place, in a neighborhood that's a rich mix of ethnicities," O'Brien continued.

Kelley's work will be included in the upcoming Whitney Biennial in New York, which opens March 1.

View the attached video and PDF to learn more about his work.