BLOWN UP PUPPIES, HEARTS AND A LITTLE SEX

Hanging Heart 1994-2000
I haven’t actually asked around and especially those who are not interested in art of any kind (it does happen) if they know Jeff Koons. Reading or listening to interviews about him, he is apparently known by everyone - a worldwide celebrity. I may be one too if I sold a balloon heart or an inflatable animal at an auction for 112 million dollars. The word would certainly get around, would it not? The last exhibition of his work I had seen was in 2009 at the Versailles palace. THAT caused an uproar. How on earth can you put an inflatable heart at the top of the royal stair case?And how about that inflatable dog?



Balloon Dog 1994-2000

Balloon Dog 1994-2000

Michael Jackson in one of the royal salons or even a blown up mirror in another part of the palace, along with a policeman whispering to a bear…..and here they all were again.

Bear and Policeman, 1988

Bear and Policeman, 1988

Michael Jackson and Bubbles (1988)

Moon (Light Blue), 1995-2000


You like Jeff Koons or you don’t. Mr Pinault who has recently opened his own contemporary museum in Paris, must as I began to see that quite a number of the works belonged to him.

Jeff Koons, is we are told, a highly cultivated man. Very Bc Bg (bon chic bon genre), tie and suit at his openings and yet prepared to be photographed naked for one of the major American gossip magazines. His knowledge of art and his references to Greek mythology or other periods can not go unnoticed. In fact he makes sure that you are seeing everything from advertising to pornography, erotica to cartoon characters.






Made in Heaven 1989

Made in Heaven 1989


Elephant 2003

Inflatable Flower and Bunny, 1979

Ushering in Banality, 1988

Fait d'hiver 1988

another icon

Cat on a CLothelin (yellow), 1994-2001

Titi, 2004-2009

Popeye, 2009-2011

Hulk (Organ), 2004-2014

dogpool (Logs) 2003-2008





























He  definitely encapsulates the American dream of success and probably observes the world we live in. He questions its iconic objects and draws his « art » from mass culture. 

We had a lecture on him at one of the Ecole du Louvre conferences. It did give me something to think about as I had not really seen him as someone sending up commercial America. To coin a phrase, everything is full of air. Products are bought and within seconds of buying them, they are « over » - so onto the next one which will also be obsolete once you are out of the shop.

Travel Bar - 1986

Hoover Celebrity lll, 1980

The question I ask myself, does this really bring art to the masses - or to put it a little less aggressively - to all of us? Listening to the comments at the French retrospective that I have just been to, was « art » in itself. Very funny at times and not quite so funny at other moments. « I’d love to have a bunny like that to play with » - (interpret that as you like) to « how on earth can someone earn so much money with this ……. » That of course is the question.





Colporteur 1987

Louis XlV, 1986 and Rabbit, 1986

Buster Keaton, 1988


Split Rocker (Pink/blue) 1999






Self Portrait, 1991



If you know a little more about the man or try to get to know him better, you can’t help but admire him. A company of 130 people, sworn to secrecy and sculptures, paintings and whatever, which can take years to make. Extra time to put up. The puppy with flowers in front of the Bilbao Guggenheim made anyone smile. And replacing these flowers frequently is a big job for the gardeners and the cranes that go along with the work in question. Like anyone, I can smile at that.



Violet - Ice (Kama Sutra), 1991
The pornographic gallery, I couldn’t. Except perhaps this little crystal sculpture which I found quite charming. The rest - no - it wasn’t necessary and from those who walked in and out of the gallery, they felt the same. This was probably exciting for some people but there was nothing erotic about it at all for me.




So over the last 30 years he has become one of the most controversial artists of the contemporary art scene. They say he is a perceptive connoisseur of the art of his time and an enthusiastic admirer of art of the past. His later series Antiquity and Gazing Ball is setting his sights on history but whether the casual spectator understands that maybe something to be questioned. In doing this though, he is shifting the goalposts of art itself.


The Christ and the Lamb 1988


Geisha, 2007

Antiquity (Manet), 2010-2014

Pluto and Prosperine , 2010-2013

Balloon Venus (Orange), 2008-2012

Metallic Venus, 2010-2012

Gazing Ball (Mailbox), 2013

Gazing Ball ( Farnese  Hercules), 2013





Antiquity 3, 2009-2011



Popeye, 2003



























Commentaires

Michael Keane a dit…
Ce commentaire a été supprimé par l'auteur.
7/1/15 07:49
Lo a dit…
We finally got round to see it. Nothing to write home about indeed! When we saw his work at Versailles a few years ago it was exciting and the contrast between the old and the new did work but to see it at Beaubourg was a bit of let down: very kitsch and "easy" we thought. We still like the Inflatables for their surprising likeness with real ones but the test is rather "so what?". Not to mention the unnecessary sex room. I think we only stayed an hour or so...
7/2/15 21:38
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