Jeff Koons
"Jeff Koons: A Retrospective"
Whitney Museum Of American Art. Until October 19
Michael Redman at the Whitney.
"A retrospective review of all that is wrong and all that can be right in art today."
If Michael Jackson and Bubbles or the self-indulgent ‘Made In Heaven’ sex shots from 1989-91 in which he creates his own photographic ‘sex-tape’ don’t put you off then you may find this retrospective not as bad as you think at first glance.
Who would have thought that after the 2008 exhibition in Chicago of Jeff Koons work that we would be sitting here today at The Whitney Museum going through it all again.
2008. The banking crisis was in the headlines and the Duchamp of the excess population was in his element. Surely it would crash as fast as the economy after all, was it not the uber businesses that bought into Koon’s?
The answer is an wavering no.
Koons is the poster boy for those that denigrate modern contemporary art.
With his 100 plus assistants, his exorbitant prices and his often quoted unoriginality inspiring the ‘Is it Art?’ question around dinner tables everywhere it was in truth hard to visit this exhibition without trepidation.
Stephen Colbert called Koons the world’s most expensive birthday clown. Well who’s laughing now Stephen?
Koons has in recent times been in the Gagosian and David Zwirner galleries, ‘done’ the Louvre, been bare buttocked in Vanity Fair and was again at the Rockefeller Centre. Not bad for a guy who never seems to take life seriously.
But he does take his art seriously and that in part may be a glimpse into his success. He is said to be eternally upbeat. A perfectionist who does supervise his works and if time is the marker for great art then Koons is a modern genius. His new piece for this exhibition ‘Play-Doh’ is dated 1994-2014, a 19 year work in progress and tied to being the ‘most expensive living artist’ ($58.4 million) someone somewhere is a fan.
The exhibition is curated by associate director Scott Rothkopf, an obvious ‘fan’ of the artist and he has done a marvellous job of showcasing Koons work.
Some 150 objects spanning three decades features all that you would want and more.
This exhibition is the last to be held in the Marcel Brueur building and what a way to go.
Coming back to Michael Jackson you could believe that if Jackson had created an art gallery at Neverland then this would be it: A kitsch, over the top child’s vision of art.
The works are shown chronologically over 5 floors covering 27,000 square feet. And it is this space that allows you to look at Koon’s and attempt to understand how a man who has removed all traces of artistic input since his ridiculously pornographic 'Made In Heaven' self indulgence has become the aforementioned poster boy.
As you enter you are attacked by fluorescent-illuminated vacuum cleaners encased in Plexiglas, all lit in such a way to actually make you look away and forget you are looking at household objects. And there you have it.
Noclass, no style but a superb embodiment of what is basically a few people telling us what is 'hip' or cool'.
And this is clever.
Koons doesn't take the art world seriously. He creates for pleasure, social commentaries by one man and hey, if people want to make more of it then he'll play along as it's all good fun right? And his work does make you smile.
The hoovers allow you to reorganise your mind from your perception of Koons to the reality in an instant.
Your lobotomy has taken place, now you move in a stupor of uncomprehending happiness through the child like levels smiling knowingly at the balloon art that is aluminium to the basketballs in fish tanks to Popeye to Bear and a policeman and you realise that you are no longer in an art exhibition but a much more menacing environment filled with the pointlessness of unbounded consumerism and bragging rights.
Koons has without doubt proved that a certain part of the art world has gone as mad as Jack Nicholson in The Shining.
This exhibition should be a fitting farewell to the king of kitsch who at one time sat on the inside and with great charm and not a little skill highlighted the direction that the art market was taking. It was the ‘inside’ joke, a clever manipulation of modern society and its consumerism and 3 minute attention span.
How we marvelled at his iconic pieces that surely no one took seriously.
But they did.
Jeff Koons is a very clever man. And that happy go lucky persona is surely genuine because how can he not laugh to himself that he been the artist that after removing the artistic content he could corner the market.
I confess that as I gazed upon this collection I was lifted into a state of genuine joy at times, but it was the joy of a child with a new toy or someone who couldn't believe what they were seeing.
Koons is a genius for his generation but he is tired. It is now repetitive and even more kitsch than before.
I left humming ‘Happy’ by Pharell Williams and that is Jeff Koons.
A brilliant 3 minute interlude that stays with you but in time you get annoyed with its repetition.
My next review should be The Emporer's new clothes.
"Jeff Koons: A Retrospective"
Whitney Museum Of American Art. 945 Madison Ave. 212-570-3600 www.whitney.org Until October 19
Jeff Koons, “New Shelton Wet/Drys Tripledecker” (1981). Three vacuum cleaners, acrylic, and fluorescent lights
“Three Ball Total Equilibrium Tank (Dr. J Silver Series)” (1985). Glass, steel, distilled water, sodium chloride reagent, and three basketballs
Jeff Koons, Play-Doh (1994–2014)
Jeff Koons, Rabbit (1986).
Photo: Benjamin Sutton.
Jeff Koons, Play-Doh (1994–2014)
Jeff Koons, Michael Jackson and Bubbles (1988)