Jeff Koons's First New York Show in Seven Years Is Dreadfully Dull

"Jeff Koons's "Banality" sculptures of the late 1980s are anything but ordinary: few can easily forget the sight of the Pink Panther embracing a partially naked woman, for one. But there's nothing quite so out of the ordinary about the artist's recent creations such as his 2016-21 sculpture Aphrodite, an eight-and-half-foot-tall nude that made its public debut at Gagosian gallery in New York last week."

"A stainless-steel goddess based on a porcelain figurine by the Royal Dux company, Aphrodite has an unnaturally smooth surface and a towering scale, putting it less in line with Botticelli's Birth of Venus than the alien at the end of the 2018 film Annihilation. In theory, Aphrodite should succeed in awing viewers by making them feel small or seduced. But the sculpture, and all the others in this show, can't even accomplish this basic task."

Jeff Koons produced earlier provocative, memorable works in the late 1980s that relied on kitsch and shock. Recent works such as the stainless-steel Aphrodite are based on porcelain figurines and emphasize scale and surface polish. The monumental, unnaturally smooth finish recalls sci-fi imagery more than classical inspirations and aims to inspire awe or seduction. The new sculptures often feel emotionally flat despite vast resources and technical skill. Koons achieved major market success, became the most expensive living artist, moved between major galleries, and faced legal disputes while continuing to attract committed collectors.

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