Known for his reinterpretation of mass culture objects in a deeply personal kitsch and Neo-Pop aesthetic, Jeff Koons is nowadays among the most celebrated and valued living artists.
Born in New York in 1955, he belongs to a generation that, since the 1980s, has been exploring the meaning of art in a world dominated by media. Koons embraces the rules of advertising and marketing, abandoning the modernist idea of the artist as misunderstood visionary and preferring the awareness of market rules: he promotes his work and communicates directly with the public.
Balloon toys, vacuum cleaners and basketballs are just some of the consumer goods that appear in his works, reminding us Andy Warhol’s Pop-Art, a point of reference for Jeff Koons. Art thus becomes a new interpretation of everyday objects, allowing us to speak about a Neo-Pop movement to which even Takashi Murakami belongs.
Among the most iconic subjects, the work by Jeff Koons Balloon Dog represents a childish and commercial object like a dog-shaped balloon reproduced in monumental dimensions in stainless steel. The artist thus contradicts the original lightness and cheapness of the object with the heaviness and high cost of its reproduction, a paradox typical of Jeff Koons: works like Balloon Dog will thus have a deep influence on the next contemporary art. The kitsch taste of the sculpture is evident and we can find it also in the sculpture by Jeff Koons Michael Jackson and Bubbles, a provocative porcelain reproduction of the American singer.
In the Antiquity series, the artist instead appropriates classic subjects reworked in a digital and contemporary aesthetic. Thus in the series by Jeff Koons Gazing Ball, a reflective metal sphere stands in front of a classic painting, altering the perception and allowing the viewer to “enter” the work by reflecting himself in the sphere.
His works have repeatedly reached significant numbers at auction. Among the most valued works, the Ballon Dog (1994-2000) was sold for $58 million in 2013 at Christie’s, while the record sculpture by Jeff Koons Rabbit (1986) was sold for more than $91 million in 2019 at Christie’s, becoming the highest-paid living artist’s work ever.
