It was also around this time that his dealer, Felsen, realized the stress of his stepped-up workload might be exacerbating his agoraphobia.

WSJ: Mike Kelley: The Escape Artist

By 1982, Kelley had signed with two of the country's top young galleries, Metro Pictures in New York and Rosamund Felsen in Los Angeles.

WSJ: Mike Kelley: The Escape Artist

Felsen, his dealer, wasn't sure how collectors would react when he splayed blankets across her gallery floor and arrayed tattered animals around them in formal groupings, like they were attending a picnic without people.

WSJ: Mike Kelley: The Escape Artist