Mary Reid Kelley, ‘The thong of Dionysus’, 2015. HD video (still), made with Patrick Kelley. Courtesy of the artist and Pilar Corrias Gallery, London.

Our MTalks series meets Monash University Museum of Art (MUMA)’s Boiler Room series as MUMA presents a lecture by artists Mary Reid Kelley and Patrick Kelley, coinciding with their participation in the international exhibition The humours at MUMA from 7 October to 16 December 2017.

Mary Reid Kelley combines painting, performance and distinctive wordplay-rich poetry in graphically stylised black-and-white videos. Made in collaboration with her partner Patrick Kelley, her videos playfully jumble historical periods such as World War One and France’s Second Empire to trace the ways in which present concerns are rooted in the past. In particular Mary presents her take on the clash between utopian ideologies and the realities of women’s lives in the struggle for liberation.

This event has now concluded. Head to our library to hear the audio in full.