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Mary Kelly (b. 1941, Fort Dodge, Iowa) lives and works in Los Angeles. One of the most important figures associated with second wave feminism, Kelly has had a continued influence on postmodernism and cultural politics, as well as the development and critique of conceptual art. She came to prominence with Post-Partum Document (1973-79), a sociological study of the relationship between mother and child, first exhibited at the ICA, London in 1976.

Kelly’s work has been the subject of major exhibitions at ICA, London (1976 and 1993); Museum of Modern Art, Oxford (1977); Kettle’s Yard, Cambridge (1986); New Museum of Contemporary Art, NY (1990); Vancouver Art Gallery (1991); Generali Foundation, Vienna (1998); Santa Monica Museum of Art, CA (2001); Center for Contemporary Art, Warsaw (2008); Moderna Museet, Stockholm (2010); and the Whitworth, Manchester (2011). Kelly was represented in the 1991, 2004, and 2024 Whitney Biennials, NY; Documenta 12, Kassel, 2007; and 2008 Biennale of Sydney.

Kelly’s work is included in numerous public collections, including Tate, London; The Museum of Modern Art, NY; Centre Pompidou, Paris; Hammer Museum, Los Angeles Moderna Museet, Stockholm; LACMA; Arts Council England; MOCA, Los Angeles; amongst many others.

Further Reading

Apter, Emily, “Out of the Closet: Mary’s Kelly’s Corpus (1984–85),” Art Journal 54, no. 1: Clothing as Subject (1995): 66-70.

Tobin, Amy. Women Artist’s Together: Art in the Age of Women’s Liberation. Yale University Press, 2023.

Kelly, Mary. Interim. Edinburgh: Fruitmarket Gallery, Kettle’s Yard, and Riverside Studios, 1986.

Selected Collections

Arts Council Collection

Whitworth Gallery, Manchester

Victoria and Albert Museum