Jeff
Koons

By the mid-’80s Koons was becoming known for his Neo-Pop work and sensational style alongside a number of artists who were also exploring what it meant to produce art at a time when television, advertising, films and celebrities permeated every facet of society. He soon established a large studio – much like Warhol’s Factory – in SoHo, where around 30 assistants would fabricate his highly technical sculptures, such as the famous Equilibrium series of basketballs suspended in distilled water.

Koons’ work can be seen in a number of international collections and public spaces, from the Guggenheim in Bilbao, where his enormous Puppy sculpture stands guard in the museum’s courtyard, to the Museum of Contemporary Art in Chicago. His work has also been the subject of a number of important retrospectives which have helped drive demand for his pieces on the art market.

With his factory-like studio and his increasing fascination with the potentials for art in the age of mechanical reproduction, Koons inevitably draws parallels with the master of Pop, Andy Warhol. Much like Warhol was, Koons is fascinated with the relationship between media and reality, consumerism and desire.

In his early career, however, Koons was also fascinated by the figure of Salvador Dali, whom he met briefly as a teenager – he even used to sport a thin moustache like the Spanish Surrealist. This mix of Pop Art and Surrealism courses through his prolific oeuvre which sees him repeat and transform everyday objects into ridiculous proportions. Creating a touch of 'Alice in Wonderland' charm, Koons' work at the same time questions our addiction to the high polish of the commercial.

While living in New York and working at MoMA, Koons began mingling with established artists at the CBGB and Mudd Club, and quickly became part of the East Village Art Scene, a movement that embraced counterculture art forms. The Neo-Expressionism, Neo-Geo, and Neo-Pop of the East Village all influenced his work, particularly his first Inflatables. His work as a stockbroker then funded his early original works, which were exhibited in Manhattan.

Koons has always set his work aside from traditional criticism, believing that there are no wrong interpretations when it comes to art. The materialist subjects and images used in his works have fuelled much of the negative criticism of his works and prevented many from fully appreciating them.

Koons continues to live and work in New York City, with a studio in Hudson Yards, working alongside a team of assistants. He considers himself the ‘ideas man’ of the massive production operation that goes on behind-the-scenes to produce his art.