Jeff Koons emerged as a prominent artist in the mid-1980s, part of a generation exploring the intersection of art, spectacle, and mass media. Known for his aim to “communicate with the masses,” Koons combines conceptual constructs from the ancient to the everyday, creating luxurious icons that provoke a metaphysical dialogue with cultural history.
Born in York, Pennsylvania, in 1955, Koons studied at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago and the Maryland Institute College of Art, receiving a BFA in 1976. Since his first solo exhibition in 1980, Koons’ work has evolved from small-scale assemblages of toys and found objects to his now-iconic monumental sculptures, such as his famous balloon animals in mirror-polished stainless steel and topiary creations like Puppy (1992), permanently displayed at the Guggenheim Museum Bilbao.
Koons often blends art history with pop culture, drawing attention to the continuity of imagery through time. His early works, like Inflatables (1978-79), embraced the readymade concept, leading to a series of groundbreaking collections, including Pre-New (1979-80), The New (1980-87), and Luxury & Degradation (1986). Koons became internationally recognized with his Banality series (1988), which featured sculptures of popular figures like Michael Jackson and Bubbles (1988), as well as his controversial Made in Heaven series (1989-91).
In the mid-1990s, Koons expanded his Pop sensibility with the Celebration series (1994–), which features hyperrealistic sculptures and paintings of everyday objects like Play-Doh and jewelry, transforming them into symbols of transcendence. His Easyfun-Ethereal series (2000), which debuted at the Deutsche Guggenheim, showcases vibrant, collage-like paintings that mix packaged foods, landscapes, and women’s images, exemplifying his interest in visual culture’s simple pleasures.
Koons continued his dialogue with American pop culture in the Popeye (2002–13) and Hulk Elvis (2004–) series, featuring inflatable characters in playful, often surreal compositions. His recent Gazing Ball series (2012–) reflects a more philosophical inquiry, incorporating mirrored glass spheres into reproductions of iconic artworks, merging painting, sculpture, and architecture to engage viewers in a sensory and reflective experience.
Koons’ work consistently pushes boundaries, blending the readymade, popular culture, and fine art into visually striking pieces that provoke thought and inspire cultural reflection.
14 February 2018 • Mark Westall
“Easyfun-Ethereal,” will consist of seven large-scale paintings by Jeff Koons, which were first presented together at the Deutsche Guggenheim Berlin in 2000; and Woman Reclining (2010–14), a granite sculpture from the Antiquity series.
23 January 2018 • Mark Westall
A year after the terror attacks that struck Paris in November 2015, Jeff Koons has offered to give the city a monumental sculpture in honour the victims.
11 June 2017 • Mark Westall
Marina Abramovic, Jeff Koons and Olafur Eliasson are premiering new artwork on the world’s most ambitious virtual reality art platform, Acute Art.
21 April 2017 • Mark Westall
Gagosian is presenting an exhibition of recent and new work by Jeff Koons.
9 January 2017 • Tabish Khan
Jihad, Jeff Koons, animal furniture, drawings, sulphur and ash.
24 November 2016 • Mark Westall
For Art Basel Miami Beach, Jeffrey Deitch and Larry Gagosian are hooking up to present “Desire,” an exhibition curated by Diana Widmaier-Picasso, at the Moore Building in the Miami Design District.
23 November 2016 • Mark Westall
Bouquet of Tulips, currently being built, is to be installed on the plaza outside the Museum of Modern Art next year
3 August 2016 • Paul Carey-Kent
Two interesting shows are not so much a case of the cliché-critique ‘my child could have done that!’ as the parental pride of ‘my child did that!
11 May 2016 • Mark Westall
Jeff Koons and Google are collaborating #KoonsxGoogle. For $40 you can now own a limited-edition piece for Google’s Nexus phone… Read More
23 March 2016 • Mark Westall
“Now,” is Jeff Koons’s first major show in the United Kingdom since his exhibition at Serpentine Gallery in 2009
4 March 2016 • Staff
The exhibition ‘Performing for the Camera’ at Tate Modern boasts many artistic names, including Yves Klein, Ai Weiwei, Francesca Woodman, Cindy Sherman and Erwin Wurm. However, the show is not simply a collection of famous works and artists. The way in which the exhibition is curated sensitively displays both well-known and unfamiliar works.
16 December 2015 • Mark Westall
The Koons mystery deepens as another charge of plagiarism has been lobbed at the artist. But the latest claims are truly shocking
11 December 2015 • daniel barnes
In his latest exhibition, Gazing Ball Paintings, at Gagosian New York, Koons oversteps the mark of decency and demonstrates that the most horrifying thing about his art is its sincerity.
11 November 2015 • Mark Westall
The artist’s new show presents repainted versions of masterpieces, from Titian’s Venus and Mars to the Mona Lisa, with a shiny blue sphere placed in front of each
2 November 2015 • Mark Westall
Gagosian Gallery is pleased to present a new series of paintings by Jeff Koons entitled Gazing Ball.In this series, Koons… Read More
28 May 2015 • Mark Westall
Jeff Koons created an 18.5ft sculpture titled “Coloring Book” that has just been auctioned at a charity event near Cannes… Read More
7 April 2015 • daniel barnes
In January this year, a Belgian court found Luc Tuymans guilty of plagiarism for using a photograph as the source of a painting.
20 March 2015 • daniel barnes
Sam Taylor-Johnson’s video of David Beckham sleeping is the perfect portrait: it captures a man in the most natural, compromising position of unconsciousness, where there is no scope for posing but only the unadulterated swell of humanity, warts and all…
19 March 2015 • Staff
AR aka Augmented Reality aka when you point your phone (with a running app) at something that something comes to life on your phone/tablet. AR makes things come to life.
10 February 2015 • Mark Westall
Artsper, having already triumphed in France with their online sales platform, has now raised funds for international expansion, and we can see why the investors were persuaded.
30 January 2015 • Eric Thorp
Hey! Ever wondered what it would be like to own the junk of rich, famous, creative and successful, people? Well now you can thanks to Garage Magazine.
9 January 2015 • Mark Westall
The ‘1 in 11’ campaign will raise funds through individual donations and a major art auction at Sotheby’s in London on Thursday 12th February, featuring donated works by renowned artists including Takashi Murakami, Damien Hirst, Jeff Koons, Richard Serra and Shirin Neshat.
9 January 2015 • daniel barnes
A spectre is haunting the artworld. In the foyer of Christie’s New York, at over twelve feet tall and made of painted steel, Jeff Koons’ Balloon Monkey (Orange) (2006-2013) presides over daily business.
