Jeff Koons: Contemporary Art Phenomenon

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Academy of Achievement

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4.6 • 943 Ratings

🗓️ 12 February 2024

⏱️ 45 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Jeff Koons is one of the most successful artists of our time. For 40+ years, his iconic works have brought a sense of playfulness to museums worldwide, and sometimes a bit of controversy as well. His iconic pop art sculptures include a giant pink rabbit that looks so remarkably like a shiny mylar inflatable, it's hard to believe it is made of metal. His balloon dog, the type you'd see at a child's birthday party, likewise demands a second look. In this recent interview, Koons describes his lifelong love of gazing balls, like the ones he saw growing up in York, Pennsylvania, and how he came to incorporate them (and other reflective surfaces) into his art. He talks about his days as a young, aspiring artist, and his unlikely meeting with Salvador Dalí. And he talks about what's next, as he prepares to launch his latest pieces into space.

Transcript

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0:00.0	Hi, this is Alice. We've been on a long hiatus and it's so very nice to be back.
0:06.4	More on that later.
0:07.8	I called a wonderful artist I knew in New York recently to ask him his thoughts on Jeff Coons, the renowned pop and conceptual artist.
0:22.0	It turns out my friend is quite a Coons fan and he suggested
0:26.4	it might be useful to think about Coons work as the art world's version of an ugly Christmas sweater party.
0:34.4	Fun, sheer fun, ridiculous even, with a dose of hipster sarcasm.
0:40.4	I'm pretty sure Jeff Coons wouldn't choose those words, but I'm guessing he wouldn't mind them because he has always wanted his art to provoke a reaction, a connection,
0:53.0	often taking everyday objects or existing works of art
0:57.0	and rendering them something new.
0:59.0	I love the power of the interaction with the artwork. I loved making the work, the feelings, the sensations, and I learned that I could control my being, how I felt. I could put pink, you know, together an inflatable pink rabbit with a mirror,
1:17.6	and it would really create an intense sensation. And I'd learn that I could not only control my own feelings, but I could control other people,
1:25.7	that they would look at it and they would also be able to have these sensations.
1:30.2	For 50 years, Jeff Coons has done just that. Many of his artworks are iconic, his 40-foot-tall puppy covered in live
1:39.7	flowering plants, his balloon dogs created in colorful stainless steel, his huge metallic
1:46.8	rabbit that looks like a Mylar inflatable. That one, by the way, sold for $91 million, the most ever paid at auction for work by a living artist.
1:59.0	His pieces require technical wizardry and dozens of studio assistance.
2:05.0	Reaction to Coons' art, mind you, isn't universally positive.
2:09.0	There are those who love the childlike wonder and the way he plays with familiar objects, and those who
2:16.1	see a commentary on the tyranny of good taste. But there are also those who dismiss Coons as vacuous or overly commercial or self-promoting.
2:28.0	Whatever you think there's no denying that Jeff Coons is one of the most renowned and successful artists of our time,
2:36.2	and he is our guest today on this episode of What It Takes, a podcast about passion, vision, and perseverance from the Academy of Achievement.
2:45.0	I'm Alice Winkler.
	...

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