Jeff Koons

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Jeff Koons, 2009

Jeff Koons [dʒɛf kuːnz] (born January 21, 1955 in York , Pennsylvania ) is an American artist.

Koons uses evidence of consumer culture as starting points and alienates or imitates them. He also worked on objects from everyday art and advertising, and like the latter, he repeatedly resorts to sexual and other key stimuli . Due to their ironic effect, his works of art wander between kitsch and art .

In May 2019, Christie’s Koons' sculpture Rabbit was sold for 91 million US dollars. It is considered the most expensive work by a living artist.

biography

Early years

Even as a child Koons showed a keen interest in artistic work, received weekly painting lessons and early on pursued the plan to start studying art. His father was an interior designer and owner of a furniture shop in which the young Koons helped out on weekends. According to today's statements by his son, Jeff Koons' father had a formative effect on his aesthetic perception. He exhibited his son's work in his shop, so Jeff Koons sold his first painting at the age of eleven. From 1972 Jeff Koons studied at the Maryland Institute College of Art in Baltimore , temporarily also at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago (SAIC), where he helped out at the Museum of Contemporary Art. He graduated with a Bachelor of Fine Arts in 1976 and soon moved to New York City . There he worked at the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA). He was also six years as commodity exchanges - broker at Wall Street operates, especially in the cotton trade.

1979 to 1988

His first solo exhibition took place in 1980 at the New Museum of Contemporary Art in New York. He was first known for his brand-new vacuum cleaners and polishing machines (from 1979/1980) exhibited in Plexiglas showcases illuminated by fluorescent lamps, and perceived by critics as “monuments of sterility”. His water tanks with floating basketballs (1981–1985) also caused a stir. For the technical implementation of his projects Koons already worked with scientists, among others, the physics - Nobel laureate Richard Feynman together, and artisans. The naive appeal of many of his works thus contrasts with the aura of professional manufacture. This is one of the reasons why Koons can be counted among the neo-concept artists . Others refer to him as the creator of so-called post- ironic art; In the 1980s he was also still considered a representative of the Neo-Geo style. He used almost all available media and formats of visual art: painting , installation, photography and sculpture - the latter made of wood , marble , glass or stainless steel . In 1985 the Cypriot art collector Dakis Joannou bought his first painting from Koons for $ 2,700, later he became an avid collector of his works and built up the largest Jeff Koons collection.

Further works were reflective stainless steel carafes of different representational shapes filled with alcohol. Koons worked here with bourbon whiskey producers. One of the most famous whiskey-filled works in the Luxury & Degradation series created in 1986 is the Jim Beam - JB Turner Train ; a train that consists of seven cars and was placed on a straight track. Based on the Luxury & Degradation series, Statuary was created in the same year : a series that consists of ten stainless steel objects. Each sculpture was made in an edition of three objects and an artist's proof. Templates were everyday objects and knick- knacks that you can find in souvenir shops or on living room shelves. With Statuary Koons deals with different social issues and classes. On the one hand, objects such as Mermaid Troll , Cape Codder Troll or Bob Hope represent the lower class or the broad masses. On the other hand, Louis XIV , Italian Woman and French Coach Couple can be counted as representatives of the upper class . The Statuary series also includes the famous Rabbit . When making Rabbit , Koons used an inflatable plastic bunny made of vinyl as a model. It is probably the pink bunny from Inflatable Flower and Bunny (Tall White, Pink Bunny) from the Inflatables series from 1979 . The wrinkles on the long ears and the seams, especially on the legs, and the air valve on the back of the head are still reminiscent of an inflatable object and thus suggest lightness. With stainless steel as the material, Koons transfers the light but ephemeral vinyl into a more massive, heavier and permanent object. An important aspect of Rabbit is the reflective surface of the polished stainless steel. The mirror images are either compressed or distorted by the convex curves of the head and abdomen. In addition, not only people and objects are reflected in Rabbit , but also the colors of the environment. With Koons' collaboration, the figure of the Rabbit was transferred to an oversized helium balloon in 2007 and dragged through the streets of New York at the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade . Between 2005 and 2009, Koons and British fashion designer Stella McCartney developed both a necklace and a bracelet, each with a “miniature rabbit ” hanging on it. Rabbit has already been called an "icon of later modernity". This was confirmed in early May 2019 when Christie's auctioned off this work from the collection of the publisher SI Newhouse junior, who died in 2017, for 91.1 million dollars, which far exceeds the old record of the Balloon Dog , which Christie's 2013 sold for 58.4 Million US dollars was auctioned.

One of Koons' works from this time already promised in its title the “ introduction of banality / everydayness ” - Ushering in Banality showed a decorative, kitschy pig, accompanied by little putti and driven by a little boy. With his art, Koons always strived for a large audience, obviously not entirely unsuccessfully - his works are among the most copied works of art in China.

1988 to 1999

Puppy : Jeff Koons' puppy in front of the Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao, 1992

In 1988, Koons had the porcelain sculpture Michael Jackson and Bubbles made by Italian specialists . In the same year a wood carver in South Tyrol made the 167 centimeter high wooden figure Buster Keaton , which in 2011 belonged to the Ileana Sonnabend collection .

For his series of works “ Made in Heaven ”, Jeff Koons entered into a cooperation with the Hungarian-Italian politician and porn actress Cicciolina ( Ilona Staller ) around 1990 , and in 1991 the couple's marriage became known. Porcelain busts of the two were created, as well as photo works that show intimate and explicit sex scenes. The media impact was immense. Koons also called this phase of his work "liberating"; maybe he meant saying goodbye to the “good boy” image that had stuck to him in the art scene until then. After the first published nudes, he trained more and more in fitness studios and was soon considered a “gym dandy”.

Koons had meanwhile become one of the most highly traded living artists, his stainless steel sculptures already fetching unit prices of several million dollars. In 1992, on the sidelines of Documenta IX - to which he was not officially invited as an artist - he surprised with the work "Puppy", a twelve-meter-high "dog" consisting of 17,000 flowers. The work was placed in the courtyard of the Arolsen Palace and in front of the Guggenheim Museum Bilbao .

The marriage with Ilona Staller was divorced in the same year; The connection resulted in a son, whose custody of the child developed into a legal dispute, as a result of which he established a branch of research in the child protection organization as a member of the International Center for Missing & Exploited Children with the Koons Family Institute on International Law and Policy .

Since 2000

Tulips : Jeff Koons' bouquet of tulips in the administration building of Nord / LB in Hanover, 2010

In the meantime Koons withdrew from the art business for a few years . The German Guggenheim in Berlin showed in 2000 Koons new series " Easyfun-Ethereal ": combination of magazine advertising and formed with electronic image processing collages , picturesque transferred large format and photo-realistic on canvas. According to critics, the irritating images assembled from glossy images of food and female key stimuli celebrated childish pleasures and adult sexual desire at the same time. For a collector's edition in honor of Muhammad Ali , Koons designed the sculpture Radial Champs in 2004 , which consists of a car tire, an inflatable dolphin and a wooden stool. In 2005 he was elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences . He also starred in 2008 alongside Sean Penn in the film " Milk ", in which he played the Californian politician Art Agnos.

For the 2007/2008 season in the Vienna State Opera , he designed the giant large picture (176 m²) “Geisha” as part of the “Iron Curtain” series of exhibitions conceived by museum in progress .

BMW M3 GT2 designed by Jeff Koons

In 2010 he designed the latest BMW Art Car for BMW , a BMW M3 GT2, which took part in the Le Mans 24-hour race with drivers Dirk Müller, Andy Priaulx and Dirk Werner ; the vehicle was not granted any sporting success.

In December 2012, Philippine de Rothschild announced that Koons was designing the label for the 2010 vintage of Château Mouton-Rothschild .

October 2013 Koons created the cover for the album artpop of Lady Gaga .

In the same year he began to work on his current series Gazing Ball, which consists of around 40 paintings (oil on canvas, decorative glass ball) and 20 plaster sculptures ( gypsum plaster , decorative glass ball). Koons created replicas and casts of well-known works of art of high art-historical value, changed them in color and size and added a dark blue, reflective decorative ball (English: gazing ball) that distorted both the work and the image of the viewer. Most of the works show depictions of ancient mythological themes .

In 2017, the 11 m high sculpture Bouquet of Tulips is to be built on the Place de Tokyo in Paris between the Musée d'art moderne de la Ville de Paris and the Palais de Tokyo . The work will be made of bronze , stainless steel and aluminum and is intended to commemorate the Paris terror victims of Charlie Hebdo and of November 13, 2015 .

copyright

Koons has been convicted of copyright infringement several times. In 1992 he lost in the Roger v. Koons because of a photograph that he had turned into a sculpture and in two other cases in 1993. In 2006 a US court had to rule on the legality of integrating a protected photograph into a collage by Koons. It came to the conclusion that it was fair use . In 2011 Koons lost a case in which he accused a gallery of copyright infringement for selling balloon-made dogs. A giant inflatable ballerina by Koons looks like a porcelain figure by the Ukrainian Oksana Zhnykrup from 1974. He originally stated that the source of inspiration was a porcelain figure from the 19th century. When the copying became known, he said he had a license. However, it is criticized that he did not clearly name where he copied.

Koons and the art scene

This article or the following section is not adequately provided with supporting documents ( e.g. individual evidence ). Information without sufficient evidence could be removed soon. Please help Wikipedia by researching the information and including good evidence.

In self-statements, Koons distanced himself from appropriation art , from which many of his practices and gestures clearly derive. According to Koons, this art movement uses illegal or semi-legal appropriation procedures, while he, well versed in art marketing and business, has always endeavored to professional rights management. In fact, Koons was embroiled in a rather spectacular copyright lawsuit , which he also lost.

The influences that went into Koon's artistic work are varied. They range from Baroque and Rococo to Dada and Surrealism to Pop Art and Conceptual Art. Jeff Koons made explicit positive comments about Salvador Dalí , with whom he had already sought contact as a young artist, and about Roy Lichtenstein, for example .

In 1998 Rainald Goetz published a play entitled "Jeff Koons".

Solo exhibitions (selection)

  • Jeff Koons at the Ashmolean, Ashmolean Museum , Oxford, February 7th to June 9th, 2019
  • Jeff Koons , Gagosian Gallery, Los Angeles, April 27 to August 18, 2017
  • Jeff Koons: Now , Newport Street Gallery, London, May 18 to October 16, 2016
  • Jeff Koons: A Retrospective , Whitney Museum of American Art , New York , June 27 to October 19, 2014
  • Jeff Koons. The Painter & The Sculptor , Schirn Kunsthalle Frankfurt & Liebieghaus , Frankfurt am Main, June 20 - September 23, 2012
  • Jeff Koons , Fondation Beyeler , Basel, May 13 - September 2, 2012
  • Popey Series , Serpentine Gallery , London, July 2 - September 13, 2009
  • Jeff Koons Celebration , Neue Nationalgalerie , Berlin, October 31, 2008 - February 8, 2009
  • Jeff Koons Versailles , in the Palace of Versailles , 2008
  • Retrospective , Astrup Fearnley Museet for Modern Art, Oslo, 2004
  • Jeff Koons: Highlights of Twenty-Five Years , C&M Arts, New York, 2004
  • Backyard , Galerie Max Hetzler, Berlin, 2004
  • Sonnabend Gallery, New York, 2003
  • Museo Archeologico Nazionale, Naples, 2003
  • Jeff Koons. Pictures 1980–2002 , Kunsthalle Bielefeld , Bielefeld, 2002
  • Easyfun-Ethereal , Guggenheim Museum , New York; 25th São Paulo Biennial, 2002
  • Autour du Mondial , Grimaldi Forum , Monaco; Gallery Hyunay and Chosun Ilbo Art Museum, Seoul, 2002
  • Jeff Koons , Kunsthaus Bregenz , Bregenz, 2001
  • Edinburgh, Guggenheim Museum , Bilbao, 2001
  • Easyfun-Ethereal , Fruitmarket Gallery, Edinburgh, Guggenheim Museum , Bilbao, 2001
  • New Paintings , Gagosian Gallery, Los Angeles, 2001
  • Easyfun-Ethereal , Deutsche Guggenheim , Berlin, 2000
  • Puppy , Rockefeller Center , New York, 2000
  • Sonnabend Gallery, New York, 1999
  • Guggenheim Museum , Bilbao, Spain, 1997
  • Anthony d'Offay Gallery, London, 1994
  • State Gallery Stuttgart , Stuttgart, 1993
  • Made In Heaven , Galerie Lehmann, Lausanne, Switzerland, 1992
  • Made In Heaven , Christophe Van de Weghe, Brussels, Belgium, 1992
  • Jeff Koons , San Francisco Museum of Modern Art , San Francisco, USA, 1992
  • Jeff Koons , Walker Art Center , Minneapolis, USA, 1992
  • Jeff Koons , Stedelijk Museum , Amsterdam, Netherlands, 1992
  • Made In Heaven , Sonnabend Gallery, New York, 1991
  • Made In Heaven , Galerie Max Hetzler, Cologne, 1991
  • Jeff Koons - Nieuw Werk , Galerie 'T Venster, Rotterdamse Kunststichting, Rotterdam, Netherlands, 1989
  • Jeff Koons , Museum of Contemporary Art , Chicago, USA, 1988
  • Banality , Sonnabend Gallery, New York, 1988
  • Banality , Galerie Max Hetzler, Cologne, 1988
  • Banality , Donald Young Gallery, Chicago, USA, 1988
  • The New: Encased Works 1981–1986 , Daniel Weinberg Gallery, Los Angeles, USA, 1987
  • Luxury and Degradation , International With Monument Gallery, New York, 1986
  • Luxury and Degradation , Daniel Weinberg Gallery, Los Angeles, USA, 1986
  • Equilibrium , International With Monument Gallery, New York, 1985
  • Equilibrium , Feature Gallery, Chicago, USA, 1985
  • The New (window installation) , The New Museum of Contemporary Art, New York, 1980

literature

  • Dorothea von Hantelmann : How to Do Things with Art. On the importance of the performativity of art , Zurich / Berlin: diaphanes, 2007, ISBN 978-3-03734-009-7 .
  • Hans Werner Holzwarth (eds.), Ingrid Sischy, Eckhard Schneider, Katy Siegel, Jeff Koons (texts): Jeff Koons . Taschen, Cologne 2009, ISBN 978-3-8228-5176-0 .
  • Koons, Jeff: The Jeff Koons Handbook . Thames and Hudson, London 1992, ISBN 0-947564-46-2 .
  • Lodermeyer, Peter: Rococo and Postmodernism. An interpretation of Jeff Koons' mirror object “Christ and the Lamb” (1988) with an excursus on “Rabbit” (1986), in: Wallraf-Richartz-Jahrbuch 66 (2005), pp. 191–220.
  • Muthesius, Angelika: Jeff Koons. Taschen, Cologne 1992, ISBN 3-8228-9351-X
  • Politi, Giancarlo: Luxury and Desire. An Interview with Jeff Koons, in: FlashArt, 132 (1987), pp. 71-76.
  • Rosenthal, Norman: Jeff Koons. Conversations with Norman Rosenthal . Thames and Hudson, London 2014, ISBN 978-0-500-09382-5 .
  • Rothkopf, Scott (Ed.): Jeff Koons. A Retrospective, Exhibition Catalog New York 2014, Yale University Press, New York 2014, ISBN 978-0-300-19587-3 .
  • Saltz, Jerry: The Dark Side of the Rabbit: Notes on a Sculpture by Jeff Koons, in: Arts, February 1988, pp. 26-27.
  • Varnedoe, Kirk: Jeff Koons's Rabbit, in: Artforum, April 2003, p. 90.
  • Raphael Bouvier: Jeff Koons. The Artist as Baptist, Wilhelm Fink Verlag, Munich 2012, ISBN 978-3-7705-5218-4

Web links

Commons : Jeff Koons  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Jeff Koons recovers the record In: Der Spiegel , May 16, 2019.
  2. ↑ Jeff Koons, Rabbit , 1986, polished stainless steel, 41 x 19 x 12 in. (104.1 x 48.3 x 30.5 cm.), Copy number 2/3. Result 91.0750.000 USD
  3. ↑ Rose-Maria Gropp: How do you feel about biology, Mr Koons? In: Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung , June 16, 2012 (interview).
  4. ↑ Katy Siegel: Statuary . In: Hans Werner Holzwarth (Ed.): Jeff Koons . 1st edition. Taschen, Cologne 2009, ISBN 978-3-8365-0328-0 , pp. 227 .
  5. ↑ Anthony Haden-Guest: Interview: Jeff Koons - Anthony Haden-Guest . In: Angelika Muthesius (Ed.): Jeff Koons . 1st edition. Taschen, Cologne 1992, ISBN 3-8228-9351-X , p. 20 .
  6. ↑ Katy Siegel: Luxury & Degradation . In: Hans Werner Holzwarth (Ed.): Jeff Koons . 1st edition. Taschen, Cologne 2009, ISBN 978-3-8365-0328-0 , pp. 193 .
  7. ↑ Jeff Koons Artwork: Jim Beam - JB Turner Train . In: Jeff Koons . ( jeffkoons.com [accessed March 17, 2017]).
  8. ^ Giancarlo Politi: Luxury and Desire. An interview with Jeff Koons . In: FlashArt . No. 132 , 1987, pp. 72 f .
  9. ↑ Jeff Koons Artwork: Mermaid Troll . In: Jeff Koons . ( jeffkoons.com [accessed March 17, 2017]).
  10. ↑ Jeff Koons Artwork: Cape Codder Troll . In: Jeff Koons . ( jeffkoons.com [accessed March 17, 2017]).
  11. ↑ Jeff Koons Artwork: Bob Hope . In: Jeff Koons . ( jeffkoons.com [accessed March 17, 2017]).
  12. ↑ Jeff Koons Artwork: Louis XIV . In: Jeff Koons . ( jeffkoons.com [accessed March 17, 2017]).
  13. ↑ Jeff Koons Artwork: Italian Woman . In: Jeff Koons . ( jeffkoons.com [accessed March 17, 2017]).
  14. ↑ Jeff Koons Artwork: French Coach Couple . In: Jeff Koons . ( jeffkoons.com [accessed March 17, 2017]).
  15. ↑ Jeff Koons Artwork: Rabbit . In: Jeff Koons . ( jeffkoons.com [accessed March 17, 2017]).
  16. ↑ Jeff Koons Artwork: Inflatable Flower and Bunny (Tall White, Pink Bunny) . In: Jeff Koons . ( jeffkoons.com [accessed March 17, 2017]).
  17. ↑ Peter Lodermeyer: Rococo and postmodernism. An interpretation of Jeff Koons' mirror object "Christ and the Lamb" (1988) with an excursus on "Rabbit" (1986) . In: Wallraf-Richartz-Jahrbuch . tape 66 , 2005, pp. 206 ff .
  18. ↑ Jerry Saltz: The Dark Side of the Rabbit: Notes on a Sculpture by Jeff Koons . In: Arts . February 1988, p. 26 .
  19. ↑ Jeff Koons Artwork: Rabbit - Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade Balloon . In: Jeff Koons . ( jeffkoons.com [accessed March 17, 2017]).
  20. ↑ Jeff Koons Artwork: Rabbit - Collaboration with Stella McCartney . In: Jeff Koons . ( jeffkoons.com [accessed March 17, 2017]).
  21. ↑ Katy Siegel: Statuary . In: Hans Werner Holzwarth (Ed.): Jeff Koons . 1st edition. Taschen, Cologne 2009, ISBN 978-3-8365-0328-0 , pp. 229 .
  22. ^ Rabbit by Jeff Koons - a chance to own the controversy . Christie's New York website
  23. ^ Post-War and Contemporary Evening Sale, New York, November 12, 2013 . Christie's New York website
  24. ^ Hanno Rauterberg : A million poodle . In: Die Zeit , November 14, 2013.
  25. ↑ Jeff Koons Artwork: Ushering in Banality . In: Jeff Koons . ( jeffkoons.com [accessed March 17, 2017]).
  26. ^ Artnet : Goat: A Tribute to Muhammed Ali (Champ's edition) book; with Radial Champs, 2004 , accessed April 4, 2016
  27. ↑ Interview on the publisher's website: GOAT - A Tribute to Muhammad Ali , accessed on April 4, 2016
  28. ^ BMW Art Car by Jeff Koons. In: studio5555.de , June 3, 2010.
  29. ↑ Jeff Koons after Le Mans 2010: "These racing cars are like gladiators " In: bimmertoday.de , June 14, 2010.
  30. ↑ nikos-weinwelten.de: Jeff Koons versext Mouton Rothschild , accessed on February 1, 2014
  31. ↑ JeffKoons.com ARTPOP - Lady Gaga
  32. ↑ Jeff Koons: Gazing Ball Paintings. Retrieved March 1, 2017 .
  33. ↑ Jeff Koons: Gazing Ball Sculptures. Retrieved March 1, 2017 .
  34. ^ MH Miller: 'These Are Works That I Enjoy': Jeff Koons on His Amazing Blue Balls. http://www.artnews.com/ , accessed March 1, 2017 .
  35. ↑ Jeff Koons artwork . In: Jeff Koons . ( jeffkoons.com [accessed March 17, 2017]).
  36. ↑ Kim Willsher: New Jeff Koons sculpture is tribute to victims of Paris attacks . In: The Guardian . November 22, 2016, ISSN  0261-3077 ( theguardian.com [accessed March 17, 2017]).
  37. ↑ Rogers v. Koons, 960 F.2d 301 (2nd Cir. 1992) ( Memento from March 14, 2013 in the Internet Archive )
  38. ↑ Comparison of the photo and the sculpture ( Memento from July 1, 2007 in the Internet Archive )
  39. ↑ United Features Syndicate, Inc. v. Koons , 817 F. Supp. 370, US District Court for the Southern District of New York | SDNY and Campbell v. Koons , No. 91 Civ. 6055, 1993 WL 97381 (SDNY Apr. 1, 1993)
  40. ↑ Blanch v. Koons , 467 F.3d 244 (2d Cir. 2006) ( Memento from August 19, 2007 in the Internet Archive ) (PDF; 1.2 MB)
  41. ↑ Courthouse News: Surely You Jest, Gallery Tells Jeff Koons , January 21, 2011
  42. ↑ Jeff Koons accused of copying Ukrainian artist's work . In: The Telegraph . 
  43. ^ STANDARD Verlagsgesellschaft mbH: Ukraine: Excitement about Jeff Koons inflatable ballerina . In: derStandard.at . ( derstandard.at [accessed on September 14, 2017]).
  44. ↑ Katy Siegel: Statuary . In: Hans Werner Holzwarth (Ed.): Jeff Koons . 1st edition. Taschen, Cologne 2009, ISBN 978-3-8365-0328-0 , pp. 228 .
  45. ↑ Rita Kohlmaier: An Affair - kitschy, dirty, amusing In: Spiegel Online , December 19, 1999.
  46. ^ Message from the museum on the exhibition ( Memento from June 25, 2014 in the Internet Archive ), accessed on June 29, 2014
  47. ↑ Peter Richter : Please pick up from paradise. In: Süddeutsche Zeitung , June 30, 2014.
  48. ^ Koons, Jeff, 1955-: Jeff Koons: the painter & the sculptor . Hatje Cantz, 2012, ISBN 978-3-7757-3371-7 .
personal data
SURNAME Koons, Jeff
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American artist
DATE OF BIRTH January 21, 1955
PLACE OF BIRTH York, Pennsylvania