“A Friend Gave Me a Book” is a series of 182 panels reflecting on a traumatic accident in 2002. Photo: Fred Voon for Observer

John Kelly’s artistic medium is being an artistic medium. For four decades, he has channeled the spirits of other creators, from the legendary Joni Mitchell to the imaginary Dagmar Onassis, a love child of opera legend Maria Callas and shipping tycoon Aristotle Onassis. “Performance for me remains character embodiment,” he says, “whether it’s an existing character or a character I invent.”

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In “A Friend Gave Me a Book” at PPOW in New York, Kelly switches gears to visual media and turns his gaze inward to examine the most familiar yet inscrutable figure: himself. Over 182 illustrated panels, he recounts the traumatic 2002 accident that prompted him to reconsider the meaning and direction of his practice. The work has the feel of a freeform scrapbook, rendered in Prismacolor pencils, pastel and paint, embellished with string, silver leaf and sequin fabric. Prose flows into poetry, and remembered scenes blend with recreated paintings.

As the title suggests, it all began with a book: Caravaggio by John T. Spike. Inspired by the Italian painter’s tragic demise and brutally frank depictions of humanity, Kelly developed a performance as........

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