Mary McIntyre and Robert Anderson Reconstruct Mike Kelley at The MAC, Belfast

Key facts

• Mary McIntyre and Robert Anderson's Reconstructions: A Room for Mike Kelley is on view at The MAC, Belfast, through 18 October.
• The exhibition uses photographs of Mike Kelley's performances from the 1970s to the 1990s.
• Over the last ten years, the artists have reconstructed both the objects and spaces from these photographs in painstaking detail.
• In the Upper Gallery, versions of Kelley's 'perspectaphone' and birdhouse props are displayed on a table, with photographs of gymnasium-like spaces lining the walls.
• Downstairs, a room built entirely of plywood occupies most of the space, containing a zigzag rug and a black flag with a smiley face.
• No performances are scheduled; viewers are left to wander the rooms without a guide.
• A glass vitrine displays monographs on Kelley opened to pages relating to the referenced performances, including a black-and-white photograph of Kelley reclining under a lamp.
• The exhibition follows a slew of posthumous Kelley shows, most recently the 2023–25 touring retrospective Ghost and Spirit.