Jeff Koons is a contemporary artist known for blending together a wide array of styles and mediums. Koons was born in 1955 in York, Pennsylvania. His love of art began at a young age. When he was just eight years old, he began painting replicas of Old Master paintings, selling them at his father’s furniture store signed “Jeffrey Koons” (The Guggenheim Museum). As a teenager, Koons idolized Salvador Dalí, traveling to New York just to visit him at the Plaza Hotel (Coskun Fine Art). To further his knowledge of art, he attended the Maryland Institute College of Art and the Art Institute of Chicago, graduating with a bachelor of fine arts degree in 1976 (The Guggenheim Museum). The next year, Koons moved to New York and began working at the Museum of Modern Art (The Guggenheim Museum). He worked behind the membership desk, but quickly gained attention for his unique clothing and his outgoing personality (The Guggenheim Museum). At this point in time, he had begun experimenting with his own art style. He worked with inflatable animals, plastic, Plexiglass, and mirrors to create unique sculptures (The Guggenheim Museum). By 1980, Koons, wanting to pursue an art career of his own, stopped working at the Museum of Modern Art (The Guggenheim Museum). In order to fund his career, he worked on Wall Street, selling stock and mutual funds at the First Investors Corporation (The Guggenheim Museum). As he produced art throughout the 1980s, he gained much recognition (Coskun Fine Art). Soon, he set up a factory-like studio in a loft at the corner of Houston and Broadway (Coskun Fine Art). He had a team of thirty people who each took on a different role in helping him to produce his work (Coskun Fine Art).
Outside of his work, Koons has faced a turbulent family life. In 1991, he married an Italian pornography star named Ilona Staller (Coskun Fine Art). This relationship was complicated from the start, as Koons only spoke about four words of Italian and Staller did not speak English; they typically communicated with each other through an interpreter (Coskun Fine Art). In 1992, they had a son name Ludwig. Shortly afterwards, they separated, with Staller taking Ludwig to Rome. Koons spent millions of dollars trying to get custody of his son, but he lost the case in Italy’s Supreme Court (Coskun Fine Art). Today he is married to Justine Wheeler, with whom he has six children. Koons currently lives in the Upper East Side of New York City, occasionally returning to his hometown of York, Pennsylvania (Coskun Fine Art).
In the 1980s, when Koons first began producing artwork, New York City was facing a rough patch. Like the 1970s, the city was plagued by unemployment, crime, drugs, and racial tension. Housing conditions had continued to deteriorate and the Subway system became dangerous, a hive for all sorts of crime. Crime in the city later declined, but employment did not increase very much, resulting in a weak economy. Between the years of 1989 and 1992, thirty-thousand jobs were lost; the next decade was not off to a good start, either (Johnson).
In his artwork, Koons often focuses on commercialism, popular culture, and familiar objects. Koons often took average objects and transformed them into something glamorous and desirable. One of his series, Made in Heaven, created during his marriage to Staller, focuses on sexuality and beauty. Thus, his work overlaps with the course themes of art and its purpose, meaningfulness, and morals and norms. Much of Koons’s artwork was created as critique of consumer culture and popular culture, exploring its impacts and importance in life. Regarding the theme of morals, Koons explored sexuality, creating both sculptures and painting of he and his ex-wife engaging in sexual activities. Unlike his other work, these pieces were not created as a critique or to make a social statement. Rather, he was expressing his own love and admiration. These pieces were very meaningful to him, a way of displauing his passion. So far, Koons has created hundreds of pieces of artwork. With the variety in his work, it is quite difficult to pinpoint his most important pieces.
One piece that stands out is New Hoover Convertible, created in 1980 for his series The New. This piece features a vacuum surrounded by an acrylic case and illuminated by florescent lights, lending the vacuum an air of importance and respectability. At the time, this model was seen as new and improved; a must-have for any household. He created several pieces like this one, featuring vacuums and other appliances. According to Koons, none of the vacuum cleaners have or will ever be used, as it will destroy his artwork (“Jeff Koons: A Retrospective”). Interestingly, these carefully preserved vacuum cleaners have become outdated, perhaps providing commentary on the fact that we live in a throw-away society.
One Ball 50/50 Tank (Spalding Dr. J Silver Series) was debuted in 1985 with his Equilibrium series, which focused on the subject of basketball. Made of glass, steel, distilled water, and a basketball, this piece could be altered as people walked around the gallery. While the ball continued to float, it would shift due to vibrations from footsteps. Koons viewed basketball as being a dangerous temptation, luring young people in in hopes of gaining social mobility from the sport and shoes (“Jeff Koons: A Retrospective”). Koons felt that basketball was an unpredictable path, as represented by the uncertain motion of the basketball. It could lead young people to riches, but it could also lead them to crime.
Micheal Jackson and Bubbles is a piece created by Koons in 1988 as part of his Banality series. Koons produced three editions of this porcelain sculpture. In his depiction of the popular icon, Koons used gold coloring and triangular configurations reminiscent of those used in Michelangelo’s work (“Jeff Koons: A Retrospective”). Through these details, Koons depicts Jackson and his pet as being saintly, worshiped by the people around them. This piece serves as critique for the way celebrities are idolized and exalted by society; they, too, are human.
After marrying Ilona Staller, Koons began working on his Made in Heaven series, which contained paintings, sculptures, and photographs. Many of these pieces depicted the couple engaged in sexual acts. In, Kiss With Diamonds, an oil ink silkscreen on canvas piece created in 1991, we see Koons and Staller sharing a kiss. Both are dressed in white, flowing garments, making them seems pure and divine, even godlike. Another piece from this collection is Cat, a marble sculpture created in 1991. Aside from depictions of himself and his wife, Koons included several sculptures of cats and dogs, mostly puppies, in this collection. These animals show the love and tenderness he felt at the time. Like a cat or dog, he felt that he served as a companion for his wife.
Jeff Koons is possibly best known for his five editions of Balloon Dog, mirror-polished stainless steel sculptures created between 1994 and 2000. These sculptures were made as part of his Celebration series. While they may appear simple, it took over sixty pieces to craft each of these one ton-balloon dogs due to their lifelike twists and puckers (“Jeff Koons: A Retrospective”). This sculpture elevates a balloon dog from being a mere party prop into an object of beauty, something to be desired. He transformed a mundane object into a magical being. It makes the simple, annual birthday into even more of an important event, something absolutely worth celebrating. These sculptures carry the message that life if joyful and glorious. It is important to note that the orange version of Balloon Dog was sold for $58.4 million in 2013, setting the record for the most expensive piece of art sold by a living artist (“Jeff Koons: A Retrospective”).
With his extensive, varied portfolio and his seemingly limitless imagination, Jeff Koons is an artist who should be known by every New Yorker. Throughout the 1980s, he used his art as a way of critiquing commercialism and popular culture. In the 1990s, he used his artwork as a way of expressing his own passions and feelings, whether it be through portraits or simple items made glorious. Koons continues to produce art today, making his fans wonder what he will think of next.
Powerpoint Presentation: jeff-koons-presentation
Bibliography
“Jeff Koons.” Coskun Fine Art, http://www.coskunfineart.com/biography.asp?artistID=14.
Accessed 20 Nov. 2016.
“Jeff Koons.” The Guggenheim Museum, https://www.guggenheim.org/artwork/artist/jeff-koons.
Accessed 20 Nov. 2016.
“Jeff Koons: A Retrospective.” The Whitney Museum of American Art,
http://whitney.org/Education/ForTeachers/TeacherGuides/JeffKoons. Accessed 20 Nov. 2016.
Johnson, Kirk. “New York City Has Sharp Rise In Jobless Rate.” The New York Times,
http://www.nytimes.com/1997/03/06/nyregion/new-york-city-has-sharp-rise-in-jobless-rate.html. Accessed 20 Nov. 2016.
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