Jeff Koons' World
By Ingrid Sischy
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Easyfun-Ethereal, which takes collage, pop, and surrealism on quite an adventure in Koonsian eroticism
Often Koons has explained his concern with surface as being about not wanting to let the viewer down. He says he does not want them to lose faith in art. But the person who really believes in art is Koons himself. When the Easyfun exhibition opened, I remember thinking that it was striking how much Koons cared that other artists showed up to see it. It wasn`t because he wanted to lord his achievements over them. No, it was something much more primal—as if, in addition to his own immediate family, he needed the presence of an extended family that was big and reassuring. Family — nuclear and otherwise — which has always mattered to Koons, took on renewed importance around this time. It`s when he began his new family with Justine Koons, which now includes Sean, age 5, Kurt, age 3, and Blake, age nearly 1. (In addition to Ludwig, Koons has another child, his daughter Shannon, who was born in the early 1970s.) And the first years of the new century have also been a period in which his interest in, and affection for, artists and the art world in general has only gotten stronger. One sees this as a through line in the art that he has made in the 21st century so far. One also witnesses a body of work that could not have happened without the constant advances in computers—yet the work is not at all technocratic. After Easyfun he went to town with Easyfun-Ethereal, which takes collage, pop, and surrealism on quite an adventure in Koonsian eroticism. The series of works, which combines found imagery with personal iconography, is rich in references to art history. Take Blue Poles, which features a snapshot of Ludwig taken by Justine at an amusement park and references Jackson Pollock`s famous work. At the top of Koons` painting there are stacks of pancakes covered in syrupy abandon. "It`s like Jackson Pollock`s bourbon flowing," says Koons.
The Hulk is not exactly a retiring type, but a symbol of pure testosterone,
a gesture of power
It was perhaps inevitable that he would focus on painting when he first reemerged from the Celebration gridlock. He is frank about the reasons. He says: "In rebuilding confidence with everybody I worked on paintings a lot because basically there`s a low overhead. It doesn`t have the same economic magnitude as sculpture. As I regained my basic support, then of course I started to work a lot with sculpture, too." With the Popeye series he also returned to the readymade again—this time choosing objects which resonate with a sense of interior life. Duchamp, Magritte, Dalí, Warhol, Lichtenstein, and another of Koons` favorite artists, H.C.Westermann, get many tips of the hat from Koons in this dynamic explosion of works. While we were looking at it all, and talking about it for this book, I asked him flat out why he refers so much to other artists. His answer: "It gives me a sense of community. Art about art is really about community. It`s a dialogue about people accepting their own community and interacting with their own community. That`s what is important. Not art history, but the artists for their own humanity, their own being as a people has relevance."
Page [1] [2] [3] [4]
Page [1] [2] [3] [4]
Easyfun-Ethereal, which takes collage, pop, and surrealism on quite an adventure in Koonsian eroticism
Often Koons has explained his concern with surface as being about not wanting to let the viewer down. He says he does not want them to lose faith in art. But the person who really believes in art is Koons himself. When the Easyfun exhibition opened, I remember thinking that it was striking how much Koons cared that other artists showed up to see it. It wasn`t because he wanted to lord his achievements over them. No, it was something much more primal—as if, in addition to his own immediate family, he needed the presence of an extended family that was big and reassuring. Family — nuclear and otherwise — which has always mattered to Koons, took on renewed importance around this time. It`s when he began his new family with Justine Koons, which now includes Sean, age 5, Kurt, age 3, and Blake, age nearly 1. (In addition to Ludwig, Koons has another child, his daughter Shannon, who was born in the early 1970s.) And the first years of the new century have also been a period in which his interest in, and affection for, artists and the art world in general has only gotten stronger. One sees this as a through line in the art that he has made in the 21st century so far. One also witnesses a body of work that could not have happened without the constant advances in computers—yet the work is not at all technocratic. After Easyfun he went to town with Easyfun-Ethereal, which takes collage, pop, and surrealism on quite an adventure in Koonsian eroticism. The series of works, which combines found imagery with personal iconography, is rich in references to art history. Take Blue Poles, which features a snapshot of Ludwig taken by Justine at an amusement park and references Jackson Pollock`s famous work. At the top of Koons` painting there are stacks of pancakes covered in syrupy abandon. "It`s like Jackson Pollock`s bourbon flowing," says Koons.
The Hulk is not exactly a retiring type, but a symbol of pure testosterone,
a gesture of power
It was perhaps inevitable that he would focus on painting when he first reemerged from the Celebration gridlock. He is frank about the reasons. He says: "In rebuilding confidence with everybody I worked on paintings a lot because basically there`s a low overhead. It doesn`t have the same economic magnitude as sculpture. As I regained my basic support, then of course I started to work a lot with sculpture, too." With the Popeye series he also returned to the readymade again—this time choosing objects which resonate with a sense of interior life. Duchamp, Magritte, Dalí, Warhol, Lichtenstein, and another of Koons` favorite artists, H.C.Westermann, get many tips of the hat from Koons in this dynamic explosion of works. While we were looking at it all, and talking about it for this book, I asked him flat out why he refers so much to other artists. His answer: "It gives me a sense of community. Art about art is really about community. It`s a dialogue about people accepting their own community and interacting with their own community. That`s what is important. Not art history, but the artists for their own humanity, their own being as a people has relevance."
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Jeff Koons
Hardcover + Box, 33 x 44 cm (13 x 17.3 in.), 606 pages
$ 4500.00
$ 4500.00
The Post-Pop superstar: An in-depth study of Jeff Koons's entire oeuvre to date. Limited to 1,500 copies, each numbered and signed by the artist.
Hanging Heart (Red/Gold), 1995–2004, from the series Celebration. High chromium stainless steel with transparent color coating, 106 x 85 x 40 inches / 269,2 x 215,9 x 101,6 cm. Installation view, Palazzo Grassi, Venice 2006. Credit: Santi Caleca s.a.s.