Jeff Koons

My fascination with contemporary sculpture has led me to this absolute genius. Quirky, fearless and devoted to his craft, here is my favourite selection of Koons’ work and story…

He rose to fame in the mid 1980s in a media saturated art scene. He became known for his choice of banal objects as subjects, often working in stainless steel with highly polished mirror finishes, at monumental scales. He approached his work with concerns and methods of pop, conceptual and appropriation art together with pop culture and unique iconography. He holds the records for exorbitant auction prices for a living artist, reaching $58.4 million for Balloon Dog (Orange).

Koons’ Celebration Series (1994) references the commercialisation of celebrated holidays and festivities- birthdays and children’s party favours, Valentine’s Day, Easter etc. There were twenty sculptures in the series, with five versions of each. His works have been criticised for being kitsch and crass and while he admits to having no deeper meaning to his art, I feel that it breaks down the barrier of art for the rich and snooty alone- it’s accessible with loved and recognisable subjects, it’s playful (especially “Colouring Book” above) and engaging. Below are some images from the Celebration series: Balloon Dog (Blue), Diamond, Baroque Egg with Bow, Cracked Egg, Sacred Heart and Tulips

Balloon Dog

High chromium stainless steel with transparent colour coating.

307.3 x 363.2 x 114.3 cm

5 unique versions (Blue, Magenta, Yellow, Orange, Red)

1994-2000

Diamond

High chromium stainless steel with transparent colour coating.

198.1 x 221 x 221 cm

5 unique versions (Green, Pink, Blue, Yellow, Red)

1994-2005

Baroque Egg with Bow

High chromium stainless steel with transparent colour coating

212.1 x 196.9 x 152.4 cm

5 unique versions (Turquoise/Magenta, Blue/Turquoise, Blue/Gold, Orange/Magenta, Pink/Gold)

1994 – 2008

Cracked Egg

High chromium stainless steel with transparent colour coating

Approximately 198.1 x 157.5 x 304.8 cm

5 unique versions (Blue, Red, Magenta, Violet, Yellow)

1994-2006

Sacred Heart

High chromium stainless steel with transparent colour coating

356.9 x 218.4 x 120.9 cm

1 of 5 unique versions (Red/Gold, Violet/Gold, Gold/Red, Magenta/Gold, Blue/Magenta)

1994–2007

Tulips

High chromium stainless steel with transparent colour coating

203.2 x 457.2 x 520.7 cm

5 unique versions

1995-2004

In his Popeye Series (2002) he plays with imagery of cartoons, everyday objects and kid’s toys with a particular interest in casting inflatable objects. Steve Wynn, a billionaire casino owner bought the Popeye statue below for $28.2 million, in mirror polished stainless steel in kaleidoscope colours.

A collaboration with Dom Perignon allows us to enjoy a bit of Jeff Koons in a more accessible, but still ultra indulgent level. This venture speaks of the power of creation and collaboration, the sacredness of tradition and adventure of innovation.The Balloon Venus was designed by Koons as a special holder for the Vintage 2003 Rose, and was inspired by the Venus of Willendorf, found in Austria in 23 000 BC. She represents a modern day goddess of love, her curved exterior finished in the signature highly polished material, reflects the observer and so, is an engaging experience. It’s really interesting to watch this interview via the Dom Perignon website where the concept and vision is discussed with Jeff Koons and Dom Perignon’s Chef de Cave- Richard Geoffrey- http://www.domperignon.com/image/2-5-creators-jeff-koons/

If Lady Gaga is involved, there’s always a level of cool, add our man Jeff Koons and it’s bound to be epic! And so it was… Acting as art director for Gaga’s Art Pop album, Koons brought in the element of the gazing ball from his Antiquity series which Gaga loved. The gazing ball allows for accessibility, reflecting and thus including the spectator with a sense of mysticism, it symbolises the element of transcendence explained perfectly in Gaga’s song Applause : “One second I'm a Koons, then suddenly the Koons is me Pop culture was in art, now art's in pop culture in me”. Here is a quote from Koons about the concept of the cover via Brenna Ehrlich’s interview with MTV News:

“With the cover, I wanted to have Gaga there as a sculpture, as a three-dimensional type of form and with the gazing ball, because the gazing ball really does become kind of the symbol for everything — and this aspect of reflection that when you come across something like a gazing ball, it affirms you, it affirms your existence and then from that affirmation, you start to want more. There’s a transcendence that takes place and eventually it really leads you to everything. So that aspect’s there.”