Mike Goodlett’s (b. 1958) oeuvre is composed of fantastical and suggestive arrangements, serving as totems of unknown entities and objects of hidden desire. Swollen bodies, abstracted objects, and winding architectures are composed from plaster, concrete, enamel, and spray paint. In conversation with these sculptures are Goodlett’s drawings, which employ a distinct language made up of delicate linework, anatomical forms, and playful symmetry. His world is playful yet elegant, populated yet lonely, yielding restrained imagery that blurs the line between eroticism and whimsy.
Mike Goodlett was born in 1958 in Lexington, KY and passed away in 2021 in Wilmore, KY. He earned a BFA from the Art Academy of Cincinnati in 1983. Solo exhibitions include NADA House 2021 (Governors Island, NY) and Chez Lui at MARCH (Kentucky) in 2021, Mike Goodlett: Almost Folly at Tops Gallery (Memphis, TN) and the Atlanta Biennial (Atlanta, GA) in 2019, Human Behavior at the John Michael Kohler Art Center (Sheboygan, WI) 2016, HOMEBODY at Christian Berst Art Brut (New York, NY) in 2015, and Dress Socks and Other Diversions at Institute 193 (Lexington, KY) in 2011.
Goodlett has been included in exhibitions at the University of Kentucky Art Museum (Lexington, KY), SHRINE (New York, NY), The Elaine de Kooning House (East Hampton, NY), Atlanta Contemporary Art Centre (Atlanta, GA), Museum of Contemporary Art of Georgia (Atlanta, GA), and KMAC Museum (Louisville, KY). He has been represented by MARCH since 2020.
-
Mike Goodlett
Untitled, 2020
Graphite and spray paint on paper
24 x 18 inches
-
Mike Goodlett
Untitled, 2020
Graphite and spray paint on paper
39 1/2 x 18 inches
-
Mike Goodlett
Chez Lui
Installation View
-
Mike Goodlett
Untitled, 2020
Graphite and spray paint on paper
17 x 14 inches
-
Mike Goodlett
Untitled, 2020
Graphite and spray paint on paper
23 1/2 x 18 inches
-
Mike Goodlett
Chez Lui
Installation View
-
Mike Goodlett
Untitled, 2021
Graphite and spray paint on paper
17 x 14 inches
-
Mike Goodlett
Untitled, 2019
Concrete and Hydrostone with oil-based enamel
36 x 12 x 12 inches
-
Mike Goodlett
Untitled, 2020
Concrete and Hydrostone with oil-based enamel
41 x 18 x 16 inches
-
Mike Goodlett
Untitled, 2020
Concrete with oil-based enamel
20 x 15 x 11 inches
-
Mike Goodlett
Untitled, 2020
Concrete and Hydrostone with oil-based enamel and thread
25 x 11 x 7 inches
-
Mike Goodlett
Chez Lui
Installation View