Jeff Koons is one of the highest-paid artists of our time. Fans consider him a successor of Andy Warhol's ideas and detractors - a kitschy artisan who turned the basic principles of fine art in favor of commerce. But no matter what, the work of Jeff Koons always attracts the attention of critics and admirers of beauty. It excites, provokes, and causes a lot of vivid emotions. Koons' work is believed to belong to the neo-pop art style.
The path to success
The future artist was born in York, Pennsylvania. As a teenager, he got acquainted with the works of Salvador Dali and Andy Warhol, and they determined his further fate. Even in his student years, the artist was distinguished by eccentricity not only in his views but also in how he presented himself: red hair and a small mustache made him stand out from the crowd. After graduating from the Maryland College of Art, Koons worked as a broker on Wall Street for some time. According to the master himself, it helped him study people's psychology and look at his creative work from a different angle. Critics suggest that his experience as a broker turned Koons into a money-making machine. In support of these words, the artist states that his life philosophy is "believe in yourself and follow your interests."
"Bouquet of Tulips" Jeff Koons. Photos © connaissancedesarts.com
Like Salvador Dali, Jeff Koons regularly finds himself in the center of scandals and often uses the topic of his personal life for PR. For example, he was in a relationship for several years and then married Italian porn star Anna Ilona Staller, better known by her stage name Cicciolina. Koons used this story to attract the attention of reporters and critics at the Venice Biennale, where he brought a series of works called "Made in Heaven." They all contain direct allusions to the artist's sexual relationship with a porn star. The series of works caused a flurry of criticism in Europe and America, but it only fueled interest in the artist's work. Later in an interview, Koons said that he flirts with viewers' emotions related to the themes of sex and power.
Koons and his team
Following Andy Warhol, Koons founded his own "dream factory." It is an enterprise with several workshops where over hundreds of designers, artists, and representatives of other creative professions create works by Jeff Koons. Today it is known as Jeff Koons LLC. Thanks to this work format, Koons implements large-scale projects, such as his signature statues several meters high. Focusing on this specificity of the creation of works, critics rightly argue that Koons established the production of original art objects, but not works of art. Factory and commercial expediency contradict the spirit of true art. With this work format, it isn't easy to establish the authorship of the work and the fact of creative activity. But this does not prevent Koons from presenting commercially successful results to the public and earning fabulous money.
The most famous works of Jeff Koons
The artist's work belongs to the style of neo-pop art. It emerged in the 80s against the background of viewer fatigue from the restrained in terms of artistic expressiveness of the works of minimalists. Neo-pop art is characterized by brightness, color saturation, semantic simplicity of images, emphasis on emotions, and connection with mass culture. Jeff Koons skillfully uses in his work the request of modern society for accessible art which does not require long reflections and theoretical training from the viewer. Perhaps this is the secret of his success.
Made in Heaven
A series of statues and photographs of the artist with his girlfriend Cicciolina, stylized as posters, shocked visitors to the Venice Biennale in 1990. Both the frankness of the images and the immodesty of the artist, who made himself the object of an artistic narrative, were criticized. Responding to criticism, Koons assured the public that he considered himself and Cicciolina universal vessels for materializing primordial images. The artist also claimed that he did not know the model before the photo shoot, and their relationship began to develop only after completing the series. After the scandal, Koons married his girlfriend, and she gave him a son. But family life did not work out, so later, they separated, and the artist sued his ex-wife for the right to see the child for many years.
Gazing Ball Paintings
The artist started working on a series of paintings in 2014. They are all exact reproductions of works by famous masters of the past with some innovations: Koons changed their scale and fixed shiny blue spheres in front, in which viewers could see the reflection of themselves and the paintings.
"Tintoretto the origin of the Milky Way" Jeff Koons Gazing Ball Painting. Photos © alminerech.com
According to the author's idea, the viewer had to feel his involvement in the art of the past and the culture it represented. In 2017, a series of works were presented at an exhibition at the Almine Rech Gallery in London. The series was a success. After that, the famous manufacturer of premium goods, Louis Vuitton, offered him cooperation. A collection of bags with reproductions of paintings was released but without blue balls. Koons took an active part in the creation of their design.
Balloon Dog
This sculpture is the hallmark of Koons' work and the most famous piece of neo-pop art. At first glance, it may seem that Balloon Dog is a giant inflatable balloon twisted into the shape of a dog. It is made of stainless steel with polished surfaces. The orange 3-meter version of the sculpture was sold for $58.4 million at Christie's in 2013. Earlier this year, a message appeared on the network about the artist's intention to send one of his dogs to the moon. A digital copy of the statue (NFT), installed on the surface of the Earth's satellite, will be sold at auction.
Puppy
The vast 12.4 m high puppy statue consists of 60 thousand flower plants growing on 55 tons of soil. It is hard to believe, but the prototype of the terrier statue was just over half a meter high. The art object was presented to the public in 1992. At first, it was exhibited in Germany and then went on tour worldwide. Today it flaunts the territory of the Spanish Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao.
"Puppy" Jeff Koons. Photos © guggenheim.org
It was here that Spanish terrorists tried to mine the flower pots. Fortunately, law enforcement officers managed to prevent this.
Balloon Venus
The art object is a case for vintage Dom Pérignon wine. The unusual shape appeared due to the stylization of the famous statuettes of Venus of Willendorf of the Paleolithic era. Balloon Venus is both a case and a stand for demonstrating wine. Each piece was sold for 15 thousand euros and was created to order.
Rabbit
The stainless steel statue of a toy rabbit about 1 m high was created in 1986. One of the oldest works of the master within the series of toys from inflatable balls became one of the most expensive works of Koons. In 1992, it was purchased by Samuel Irving Newhouse Jr. for the equivalent of $ 1 million, and after 27 years, its value has increased tenfold.
"Rabbit" Jeff Koons. Photos © elledecor.com
In May 2019, it was sold to an unknown buyer at Christie's for a record $ 91.07 million for Koons.
Bouquet of Tulips
The sculpture consists of 11 stylized tulips gathered in a bouquet. It was commissioned by the US Ambassador to France, Jane Hartley, in memory of the victims of the terrorist attacks in France in 2015. It was initially planned to install it near the Palais de Tokyo in Paris, but due to protests from residents, it was decided to move the project to a location near the Petit Palais. The project did not bring Koons a single dollar, as the artist chose to redirect all the proceeds to the fund to help victims of the terrorist attacks in Paris. The Paris City Hall said that such disputes over the installation of monuments in the French capital have not been since the construction of the Eiffel Tower.
Balloon Monkey
The monkey statue is made in the traditional manner of the artist. In June 2022, it was reported that the Victor Pinchuk Foundation plans to sell the art object at Christie's to support humanitarian initiatives in Ukraine in connection with the Russian aggression.
"Balloon Monkey" Jeff Koons. Photos © abc.es
The auction is expected to bring from 6 to 10 million pounds. Jeff Koons expressed his support for the people of Ukraine and the initiative of the Foundation.
No time to rest on laurels
Koons is not only rich but also in demand: exhibitions in the most famous museums of our time (Centre Pompidou, Whitney, Al Riwaq) are scheduled for several years ahead. He also constantly receives orders from well-known brands for the design of champagne packages, tuning of elite sports cars, music album covers, and logos. Even in his seventh decade, Koons continues to get into various scandals. Koons had to pay the widow of Jean-François Bore 40 thousand euros for using a photo of his ballerina while working on the statue in 1988. Fans of his work in 2017 were unpleasantly surprised by the news of a lawsuit against the artist for plagiarism.
KyivGallery art critic