User:Isveydi M/Jeff Koons

Work Section

Introduction:

Following his graduation from the Art Institute in Chicago in 1976, Koons made his way to New York City. There, he moved away from creating representations of his personal fantasies and began to explore objective art, commerce, and politics. He rose to prominence in the mid-1980s as a part of a generation of artists who explored the meaning of art in a newly media-saturated era with his Pre-new The New series. With recognition came the establishment of a factory-like studio located in a loft at the corner of Huston Street and Broadway in SoHo. Koons employed over 30 assistants, each assigned to a specific aspect of production, following a similar model to Andy Warhol's Factory. Until 2019, Koons operated a 1,500m2 (16,000 sq ft) studio factory near the old Huston rail yards in Chelsea, employing 90 to 120 assistants to produce his work. He now uses technology to create his artistic references on computers and color-corrects them until he is satisfied with the results. To ensure consistency, he implemented a color-by-numbers system so that each of his assistants could execute his canvases and sculptures as if they had been done by “a single hand.” Throughout his career, he has consistently explored themes such as consumerist behavior, seduction, banality, and childhood, among others.

Early Works and Inflatables

Jeff Koons first began experimenting with the use of ready-made objects and modes of display in his apartment in 1976. His fascination with the extravagant world of luxurious goods and their more affordable counterparts led him to collect items like toys, metallic finishes, leopard skin, and porcelain. Over the course of 1977 and 1979, Koons created four distinct pieces, which he later referred to as his "Early Works." In 1978, he began working on his "Inflatables" series, consisting of inflatable flowers and rabbits of various sizes and colors, displayed alongside mirrors. Koons drew inspiration from Robert Smithson's emphasis on display and connected his work to his father's furniture store displays. He documented his work through photography, using it as a means of exploring different installation techniques.

Statuary Series

In 1986, Jeff Koons introduced the Statuary series, featuring ten pieces that reimagined his earlier Inflatables series from the 1970s. The series aimed to illustrate how art often mirrors self-perception and evolves into decorative expression by presenting a panoramic view of society. The sculptures drew inspiration from historical figures like Louis XIV and Bob Hope, as well as other art historical themes and sources. Through Statuary, Koons redirected his artistic focus toward the concept of artistic taste and the societal role of art. He incorporated some readymade objects, including the inflatable rabbit, and transformed them into highly polished stainless-steel pieces. This led to the creation of one of his most iconic works, the Rabbit.

There are three identical versions of Rabbit. One version was previously part of art collector Stephan Edlis's personal collection, but it now resides as a gift at the Museum of Contemporary Art in Chicago and another in The Broad Museum in Los Angeles. In May 2019, Jeff Koons set a record for the most expensive piece of art sold by a living artist, for the sale of Rabbit. The third version of the piece was sold at Christie's Auction House for US$80 million. After including the auctioneer's fees, the final sale price of "Rabbit" was US$91,075,000.

The sculpture has been restored to its original soft form and now stands at an impressive 50 feet tall, towering over its original size. In 2009, the colossal metallic monochrome rabbit, which was featured in the 2007 Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade, was showcased at Nuit Blanche in the Eaton Centre in Toronto. Koons' other works in this series blend baroque imagery with objects he found in souvenir shops, blurring the line between high and low art.

Antiquity Series

In 2008, Jeff Koons started working on his Antiquity series, delving into themes of the portrayal of eros, fertility, and feminine beauty across the history of art. At the center of each scene in the Antiquity paintings (2009–2013) is a famous ancient or classical sculpture, meticulously rendered in oil paint and scaled to the same size as the sculptures. The equally detailed backdrops include an Arcadian vision. Koons makes use of contemporary technology, including CT scans and digital imaging, to produce the metal sculptures. He reinterprets historical figures through the creation of balloon-like sculptures, such as the Metallic Venus, and by integrating representative figures and characters from comic books.

Referring to the ancient Roman marble statue Callipygian Venus, Metallic Venus (2010–2012) was made of high chromium stainless steel with transparent color coating and live flowering plants.

In Ballerinas (2010–2014), Koons depicts figurines of dancers, derived from decorative porcelain works designed by Ukrainian artist Oksana Zhnikrup, at the imposing scale of classical sculpture.