A brush with... Mary Kelly

Mary Kelly talks to Ben Luke about her influences—from writers to musicians, film-makers and, of course, other artists—and the cultural experiences that have shaped her life and work. Kelly was born in Fort Dodge, Iowa, US, in 1941 and lives today in Los Angeles. She has played a fundamental role in the history and ongoing development of conceptual and feminist art, with works that have explored sexuality and women’s experience, wider issues of identity, the spectacle and trauma of war, and the nature of memory in relation to history and geopolitics. Informed by a range of thought, including critical theory, psychoanalysis and literature, her work takes diverse physical forms, but often manifests in multimedia installations, involving a rich materiality that includes text and documents, photography and printmaking, sculpture, sound and film. She reflects on her groundbreaking projects like Post-Partum Document (1973-77) and Interim (1984-89), and the way that her use of autobiography has shifted in her work over time. She discusses the dramatic shift in her life following her move to Beirut in the 1960s and the events of May 1968. She recalls the moment she encountered Franz Kline’s work aged 15 and how it confirmed a lifelong pursuit of non-figurative work. She reflects on her role within Conceptualism and her esteem for her peers in that movement. She discusses the importance of writers as diverse as Simone de Beauvoir, Jean Genet, William Carlos Williams and Jacques Lacan. Plus, she gives insight into her life in the studio and answers our usual questions, including a moving answer to the ultimate question: what is art for? Mary Kelly: We don’t want to set the world on fire, Pippy Houldsworth Gallery, London, until 17 January 2026 Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

You can listen to A brush with... Mary Kelly online on Radio and Podcast. Open the player on this page to stream the available audio.

A brush with... Mary Kelly is an episode from A brush with... by The Art Newspaper.

This episode is 59:54 long.

This episode was published on Nov 26, 2025.

Yes. Use the heart button on the episode page to add it to your favorite episodes list.

Yes. This page shows related episodes from A brush with... when more episodes are available from the podcast feed.