Before entering the art world, he was a Wall Street broker: Jeff Koons
We wrote about what you need to know about Jeff Koons, who became famous for his animals and toy figures created from stainless steel and mirror-surfaced balloons.
American Jeff Koons, born in 1955, is one of the most important names in the art world. The artist, who studied at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago and Maryland Institute College of Art, was influenced by Marcel Duchamp, one of the greatest representatives of Conceptual Art, and the surrealist painter Salvador Dali. A plastic and sculpture artist, Koons became famous for his animal and toy figures created from stainless steel and mirror-surfaced balloons. Presenting popular phenomena as pop art figures and creating entertaining works, the inspiration of the artist is 7 children and “ordinariness”…
The artist, whose artworks were sold at affordable prices in the early stages of his career, later created a critical debate and became one of the most important names in Pop Art, selling his works at record prices. Before stepping into the art world, Jeff Koons, who was a Wall Street broker, had a lot of promotional and marketing knowledge, and there were many gallerists and collectors around him.
The artist has managed to sell his works to great numbers thanks to the witnesses of collectors and gallerists. For example; In 2013, "Balloon Dog" was sold for $58.4, and in 2014, "Popeye the Sailor Man" was sold for $28 million. And the sale that earned him the title of the world's most expensive living artist took place on May 15, 2019. The Rabbit work, which was sold at Christie's Auction House for 91 million 75 thousand dollars, was among the most expensive works sold. The artist had previously won this title in 1995 when his work "Balloon Flower" was sold for 25 million 752 thousand dollars.
Jeff Koons in April 2019; He declared that he was saying goodbye to the world of art by saying, “I am proud of my achievements, but the impulse inside me that pushed me to art now tells me to stop”. Could there be a better farewell gift?
Throughout his career, the artist created his works by ascribing different meanings to the most ordinary figures in life. For example; He emphasized the energy of human beings by giving the impression that they would take off at any moment to the bright mirror-like animal figures. Inspired by the surrealist artist Dali, the lobster suspended in the air, the dolphin sculpture suspended in the air with caterpillars and chains on the ladder, although it looks like a toy, tells the evil of physical violence.
When we look at Jeff Koons' career, Brancusi's mythology, Duchamp's philosophy and Andy Warhol's inspirations are encountered. However, with his success in Pop Art, especially since the 90s, he has been engraved with his own style.
Jeff Koons was not an artist who made his works 100 percent by hand. He was working with students who were devoted to art in his workshop. David Hockney, who lost the title of the world's most expensive artist to Jeff Koons, compared this workshop logic to Hollywood movie studios in an interview. However, Koons' concern was to somehow attract the attention of the audience, as you can see from his words above.
The beginning of Jeff Koons' popularity was with his series of porcelain sculptures called "Banality", which he exhibited in 1988. One of the most notable works of this work was the life-size porcelain statue of Michael Jackson and the famous musician's pet chimpanzee Bubbles.
Jeff Koons, who frequently includes popular culture in his works, designed the cover of the "Artpop" album for Lady Gaga in 2013. This work became one of his works that made a sound in the art world.