"Jeff Koons is a hit-or-miss artist whose sculptures always give viewers something to talk about. The same isn't true of his paintings, none of which have ever become memorable because there is nothing particularly arresting about them. This doesn't mean that painting is dead, just that his are. A lot of the discourse around his sculptures gets unnecessarily heated, with (often White) critics arguing over whether or not they critique capitalism or celebrate consumerism,"
"which seems beside the point when fabricating one of his "Balloon Dogs" costs more money than the majority of Americans make in a year. Then there are the hilarious narratives circling his work, such as yet-to-be-built's deadpan, tongue-in-cheek assertion in a 2020 New Yorker article that Koons is "a very light-skinned Black guy passing for white,""
Jeff Koons's sculptures provoke conversation and expose extreme art-market wealth while his paintings remain largely unmemorable. The Porcelain Series at Gagosian Gallery features mirror-polished stainless steel surfaces with transparent color coatings and depicts curvaceous figures such as Aphrodite, Three Graces, and Kissing Lovers. Fabrication costs for signature works can exceed typical American annual incomes, complicating debates about whether the work critiques or celebrates consumer culture. Some observers apply racialized interpretations to motifs like Equilibrium basketballs. The visual presence of the objects often contrasts with surrounding commentary and interpretation.
Read at Hyperallergic
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