Passage 1
Many artists have been vital to Los Angeles, but for some the city‘s seminal son is Mike Kelley, who committed suicide in 2012, aged 57. More famous names have spawned greater legions of imitators or improved the business side of art in LA. Kelley put down roots here, tapping into the underbelly of America‘s shiny exterior. Now a sprawling retrospective opens at two Museum of Contemporary Art (MOCA) locations. It shows more clearly than either of its previous incarnations (at the Stedelijk Museum in Amsterdam and PS1 in New York) just how productive Kelley was, spilling forth ideas that continue to inform not just LA and the art world, but mainstream American culture.
Kelley arrived in 1976 to study at the California Institute of the Arts (CalArts),north-west of the city. He quickly found that he hated driving, a perverse characteristic of someone born in Detroit (America‘s "Motor City") who then chose to work in a place where cars play such a central role. He also felt trapped by rival factions at CalArts, flanked by followers of traditional painting on one side and on the other by those who preferred the more conceptual art that was in vogue during the 1970s. So he looked for a way out.
Kelley found this first in music-or more accurately, in noise-and then through performance. He also created props for his acts, some of which are in the show. When his Mid-Western parents asked about his profession, he told them he was a stand-up comedian. It was easier than trying to explain his art. Kelley was not fashionable and he never expected his art would sell. He had grown up in a blue-collar family and worked in his 20s to support his passion. "I wasn‘t pretty enough to be a waiter," he told friends. "I had to moonlight as a night guard on movie sets."
Kelley came to LA just as video was becoming the new canvas for the avant-garde. The MOCA show provides multiple opportunities to experience Kelley‘s first video work, "The Banana Man". It is a profane, Dadaist parody of a children‘s show, but one can see in it the seeds of his breakthrough piece, "More Love Hours Than Can Ever Be Repaid". Kelley became known for his melancholic work with toys and dolls. The MOCA exhibit is being called "The First Comprehensive Retrospective", and it rightly emphasizes the importance of his video work.
Kelley was included in MOCA‘s first show back in 1983, so the museum used the opening of this retrospective to host a gala evening celebrating its history. After the well-heeled guests filed out of the galleries to the opulent dining tent, the night guards in the museum stayed at their posts. As the evening wore on, they gathered together to take photos of Kelley‘s art, some of them posing alongside it.
The MOCA show cannot really be called a homecoming. Kelley never left LA, despite his hatred of driving and a growing distrust of the burgeoning art scene here. But seeing this retrospective in the artist‘s adopted city provides a strong sense of why he stayed. Kelley loved the other artists, young and old, who chose not to go to New York, but rather made Los Angeles home for the same reasons he did.
How has Kelley contributed to the art culture in LA?
文章第一段最后一句提到"...how productive Kelley was, spilling forth ideas that continue to inform not just LA and the art world, but mainstream American culture." 从中可知Kelley提出的想法不仅会影响到洛杉矶和艺术世界， 还会影响到美国主流文化。 D选项符合原文表达， 故答案选D。
As a person born in Detroit, what was Kelly found to be uncharacteristic of?
文章第二段第二句提到"He quickly found that he hated driving, a perverse characteristic of someone born in Detroit (America‘s "Motor City") who then chose to work in a place where cars play such a central role"， Kelley出生在美国的"汽车之城"底特律， 而他却讨厌开车， 是有些不合乎常理的。 选项B表述的特点与原文相符，故答案选B。
Why did Kelly tell his parents he was a stand-up comedian?
文章第三段第四句提到"It was easier than trying to explain his art." 可知是因为很难让父母理解他的创作艺术， 他才告诉父母说自己是个喜剧演员。 选项C描述的原因正确， 因此答案选C。
What does the author think of "The Banana Man"?
文章倒数第三段提到"It is a profane, Dadaist parody of a children‘s show,but one can see in it the seeds of his breakthrough piece"， 表明"The Banana Man"为他以后的突破性作品埋下了种子， 预示着未来的成功。 因此正确答案选A。
What can be inferred from the guards posing alongside Kelly‘s art?
文章倒数第二段提到"As the evening wore on, they gathered together to take photos of Kelley‘s art, some of them posing alongside it." 展览馆的保安也在Kelley的作品旁摆姿势拍照， 这说明他的作品十分受欢迎。 A选项的推测符合原文表达， 故答案选A。