Jeff Koons

Jeff Koons, a promi­nent contem­po­rary artist in America, is cele­brated for his Neo-Pop aesthet­ics and playful appro­pri­a­tions of consumer objects. His works express a deep rever­ence for popular culture, partic­u­larly through his over­sized sculp­tures of kitschy souvenirs, toys, and orna­ments. The series ​“Cele­bra­tion” (1994 – 2011) exem­pli­fies this, featur­ing bright and shiny items. Koons’s choice of mate­ri­als imbues these ephemeral objects with a sense of heft and permanence.

Born on January 21, 1955, in York, Penn­syl­va­nia, Koons’s artis­tic journey began at the Mary­land Insti­tute College of Art and the School of the Art Insti­tute of Chicago. However, it was his move to New York in the late 1970s that marked a turning point. Initially, he made a living as a stock­bro­ker on Wall Street. However, his true break­through came in the 1980s when he devel­oped iconic works such as ​“Michael Jackson” (1988), ​“Bubbles” (1988), the ​“Made in Heaven” (1990 – 1991) series, and ​“Puppy” (1992). ​“Puppy” has gained global recog­ni­tion, having been installed in pres­ti­gious loca­tions like Sydney Harbour, Bilbao, and the Palace of Versailles.

Koon’s works are now housed in esteemed collec­tions world­wide, includ­ing the Art Insti­tute of Chicago, the Whitney Museum of Amer­i­can Art in New York, the Tate Modern in London, and the Stedelijk Museum of Modern Art in Amster­dam. Since his first solo show in 1980, Koons has been widely exhib­ited inter­na­tion­ally in solo and group exhi­bi­tions. His exhi­bi­tion history includes solo shows at the National Galleries of Scot­land in Edin­burgh, the Serpen­tine Gallery in London, the Neue Nation­al­ga­lerie in Berlin, the Metro­pol­i­tan Museum of Art in New York, and the Château de Versailles in France. Koons’s 2014 retro­spec­tive at the Whitney Museum of Amer­i­can Art will mark the final exhi­bi­tion held in the Marcel Breuer build­ing on Manhattan’s Upper East Side. Currently resid­ing and working in New York, NY, Koons will be the last artist to show­case his work in this iconic space.