The Times When An Artwork Is Remembered Is Important

a mike kelley print on white painted aluminum of a hand drawn sign with a large wonky arrow pointing to the right and the word auditions above it, all in red outlined in black, being sold in sept 2026 by la modern
Mike Kelley, Street Signs, 2004, silkscreen and enamel on aluminum, 15 x 24 in., ed. 72/100, published by CELA/LACE, selling 10 Sept 2026 at LA Modern

This sweet Mike Kelley edition at LA Modern next month reminded me of the sweet Louise Lawler edition in a two-artist show with Hans Haacke at Maxwell Graham last spring.

a crisp louise lawler edition of a red arrow printed on white on plywood, here pointing to the right, but it could point in any direction, via maxwell graham, nyc
Louise Lawler, Alizarin (Terrorists are made, not born), 2023, Dye sublimation print on plywood
Installed in any direction, 7 × 9 inches, ed. 30 + 10 AP

Which is a little deceptive, since the Lawler’s less than a quarter the size. So for scale, here’s what they’d look like if you hung them both next to a looted Chandigarh chair:

a simulated photo of a 15 x 24 inch mike kelley edition of a crudely hand drawn sign with a red arrow and the word auditions on it, on a wall above a crisply printed red arrow on white, which is only 7 x 9 inches, by louise lawler, which points toward a chandigarh wood and rattan armchair looted from government offices in india and laundered through french furniture dealers to auction houses like this one
Auditions to the right, looting to the left: image adapted from LA Modern

The Kelley is titled, Street Sign. The Lawler is titled, Alizarin (Terrorists are made, not born). When Lawler first showed Alizarin &c., in 2023, at Sprüth Magers in Los Angeles, there was an actual street sign:

a sign reading louise lawler false compensation this weekend stands in a thicket of long ornamental grass in the foreground, with a twin office building complex in white concrete and black windows in the background, a screenshot from spruth magers' video for louise lawler's 2024 show on wilshire in los angeles
Screencap from a woozy video made for Louise Lawler’s 2024 show at Sprüth Magers Los Angeles

I did not see that show in person, but based on the dimensions of Lawler’s edition, I guess the Sprüth Magers gallery in Los Angeles is three feet tall.

what looks like a partially shaded plaza between two los angeles office buildings, crossed by a second floor pedestrian bridge, and with two black street lamps on either side of a red arrow on a white sign, a screenshot of a louise lawler show at sprueth magers gallery in 2024
screencap of what I assume is Louise Lawler’s 7-inch tall edition mounted on the pedestrian bridge of a diminutive Sprüth Magers LA gallery

“The times when an artwork is made and the times when it is exhibited is important,” said an ad with the arrow that Lawler bought in Artforum between the LA and NYC shows. The statement is also in Graham’s press release. Though the times of the postcard edition is unmentioned, it is also important.

10 Sept 2026, Lot 322: Mike Kelley, Street Sign, 2004, est $800-1200 [lamodern]
Hans Haacke Louise Lawler, Mar-Apr 2026 [maxwellgraham.biz (PR pdf)]
Going Through The Motions, Louise Lawler, Nov 2023-Feb 2024 [spruethmagers]