American artist Jeff Koons: biography, creativity and interesting facts

2024 Author: Leah Sherlock | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 05:25

Modern art. Kitsch. These words for a modern person are not an empty phrase. Jeff Koons is considered the brightest representative of this trend. Moreover, the name of this person is known and popular in the field of art. He is rich and famous. He is both open and incomprehensible, his art is flashy, outrageous, his works are annoyingly attractive. And yet he is a recognized modern genius. So, Jeff Koons.

Kitch. Briefly about the style

What is this man doing? What is his work? It all starts with kitsch. This word translated from German means "hack-work", "vulgarity", "bad taste". The first surge in popularity of this direction came in the 50s of the last century. Mass plastic products copied high aristocratic art. At that time, products of this kind enjoyed universal admiration. On theat first glance, kitsch does not cause sympathy, but the logical question arises: why is it so widespread?

If you look from the other side, you can see the irony present here. After all, all the attributes of a successful life have passed through the tenacious paws of kitsch. Perched on the pedestal of modernity are such famous things as a bottle of drink (Coca-Cola and Pepsi-Cola), jeans of popular brands, cigarettes, singers bearing the ghostly titles of kings. Yes, of course, it is convenient, beautiful, tasty, stylish, but nothing more. Jeff Koons is exactly the person who understood and saw these two sides. And based on this direction, he built his own empire.

Early work by Koons

Genius author Jeff Koons, whose work is widely recognized in contemporary art, made the world talk about himself back in 1985, when he presented his work at an exhibition of the Damien Hirst collection. Three basketballs in a filled aquarium create the impression of weightlessness and flight. This creation of Jeff Koons greatly influenced his future work. After a while, the master presented new works in a similar performance. Sheep, cows, sharks immersed in formaldehyde are presented in a series of exhibits. Koons sings only contemporary celebrities in his works. So, Michael Jackson came to replace Marilyn Monroe. The composition "Michael Jackson and Bubbles" was shown in 1998.

A few words about personal life and a series of sculptures "Made in Heaven"

The series brings fame to the artistsculptures "Made in Heaven". The attitude to the exhibits caused waves of mixed reviews in society. A series of sculptures depicts the author himself and his ex-wife during lovemaking. The name of his first wife is better known as Cicciolina, who was the Italian porn star Ilona Staller. In 1991, the couple formalized their relationship, in 1992 their son Ludwig was born, soon after that the marriage broke up.

The provocative and defiant series of sculptures caused more condemnation than recognition, but this fact did not prevent the author from taking one of the leading positions in the history of art. He was scolded, condemned, but always reacted to his work. On the other hand, it may seem that the author used the image of his ex-wife for a series of works, the result of which was many years of courts between the former spouses, and the son was deprived of his father. Although Koons himself claimed that it was true love.

Any work of Koons was of interest. The personal life of the master is also provocative. While still a college student, he fathered a daughter, Shannon Rogers, who was given up for adoption. The girl's mother, because of their young age, refused to marry him. Father and daughter met only in 1995.

The artist is currently happily married. Five children are growing up in his family, and the eldest daughter is already over twenty years old, and the youngest son was recently born. Koons is in excellent physical shape, every day at noon, regardless of any business, he attends sports. Referring to the words of the famous artist, I would like to note that the secret of his success isthis is a work with strong emotions, they will not leave indifferent any person. According to the author, we single out such concepts as power and sex. An example is the above-described sculpture by Jeff Koons from the Made in Heaven series.

Dogs and inflatable tulips

Toy dogs have become one of the artist's favorite themes. Seemingly light and transparent, covered with colored gloss, in fact, cute toys are created from the master's favorite material - stainless steel. So, the work of Jeff Koons is estimated at tens of millions of dollars. In 2013, his "Orange Dog" sold for $58.4 million at auction, making it the most expensive work by a living artist.

The sculptor's favorite subject is the 13-meter sculpture of a puppy. The whole sculpture is covered with flowers. "Puppy" is installed in Spain in the city of Bilbao near the Guggenheim Museum. There is also one of the many inflatable stainless steel tulips, which reaches a height of two meters and a width of five. It seems that tulip buds are light and airy.

In 2014, for the popular Swedish brand H&M, a modern genius created a bag with the image of the Yellow Dog sculpture. I would like to note one more not unimportant fact that more than 130 people are currently working on the creation of works under the guidance of an outrageous artist and sculptor. Jeff Koons is the President of Jeff Koons LLC. The corporate headquarters is located in New York.

Pink metal heart

The art of Jeff Koons is reflected in another series of works. The pink metal heart is similar in appearance to a candy in a bright wrapper. In 2007, the heart was sold at auction for fabulous money. The price was $23.6 million. At that time, this work set a world record for the sold price. In turquoise, ultramarine, gold, purple, there are other options for hearts. All of them resemble light balloons, but this is just an illusion, the balls and sweets are made of steel. The author used his favorite material in these works.

Modern Antiquity

The Jeff Koons exhibition, which took place in New York in 2013, at first glance does not seem like Koons' style. Snow-white human figures with blue balls on their shoulders froze in various poses. But at the same time, the presence of kitsch is palpable in these works. The plot and style belongs to the times of ancient Rome and Ancient Greece. But Jeff Koons presents sculptures in his own manner, close to pop art.

I would like to pay special attention to the sculpture of the Paleolithic Venus. The work is presented in the signature style of Koons, and if erotica is an essential attribute in the creations of this modern genius, then his interest in historical images can be predicted, in other words, this is still the same kitsch.

In recent years, he began to draw more and more on paper. Jeff Koons in his paintings combines collages of images of ancient sculptures, connecting them withbanal and unexpected strokes of the draft.

Violation of author's rights

Jeff Koons in May 2017 in New York at the exhibition presents his sculpture "Seated Ballerina". A striking similarity of this work with the work of Oksana Zhnikrup, a Ukrainian sculptor, was noticed - a miniature porcelain figurine, which was called by the sculptor "Ballerina Lenochka". However, the situation was later clarified. The heiress of the Ukrainian sculptor Oksana Zhnikrup, her daughter Lozova Leontina, gave permission to Jeff Koons to copy this figurine.

The artist has been repeatedly accused of plagiarism. In March 2017, a French court ordered Koons to pay 48,000 euros to the wife of the late photographer François Boret, from whom in 1988 Koons stole the idea for his sculpture called "Nudes". This kind of photograph was published by Bore in 1970. Nevertheless, Jeff Koons is an artist who has always followed his own interests, all the ideas of the master are brought to life by his team, he is basically the creator of the idea and works on the computer. You involuntarily wonder why this contemporary art is so highly valued and is on a par with, for example, the Renaissance.

Artist and Marketer

More than once Koons was accused of putting his art on the wave of business. He inherited the ability to trade from his ancestors. But the story of Jeff himself is a classic American dream, coupled with the genius of marketing and the unbending will of Koons. Of no small importance is the fact that Koons hashis idol is Picasso. Koons promotes a he althy lifestyle so that, like his idol, he can create until old age.

By his example, Koons showed how contemporary art can be put on a conveyor belt and turned into a multi-million dollar fortune. Americans have a proverb: he was a very good businessman - he went bankrupt only three times. Koons was not just a good businessman, but even a very good one, since his company was on the verge of bankruptcy only once in the 90s. But the outstanding genius managed to improve his business, and his business went uphill again.

Riding the wave of success

Currently, Koons is in demand and is still famous. Collaboration with Lady Gaga, BMW car painting. According to Koons, you can convey the essence of his work in these words: I focus only on what I'm really interested in. In public, he behaves simply, posturing or star fever is not characteristic of him, he tries to answer all questions with a great deal of humor, he is always dressed in a strict business suit, he answers questions thoughtfully, accurately and restrained. His time is scheduled literally by the minute.