Jeff Koons is the ex-Wall Street broker come wildly successful kitsch artist that critics around the world hate to love.
Previously married to Ilona “Cicciolina” Staller, a Hungarian pornstar who became a member of Italian parliament (true story), Koons is likely best known for his Statuary, Kiepenkerl series in which he cast several different inflatable toys in immaculate stainless steel. Pieces from this series are included in a current survey of his work at the Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago—his first solo US exhibition in 16 years.
This book, on which Koons collaborated extensively, documents the exhibition as well as nearly thirty years of his work. Koons’ work is easily enjoyable, and his all-we-need-is-art zeal is contagious.
His work also is quizzically endearing, despite aspects that would normally come off as exploitative—like using a factory of 30 employees to create all of your work, or making inflatable lobsters and photos of you having sex for a living. The book includes an interesting Q&A between Koons and Lynne Warren, a curator at the MCA.
Hardcover, 136 pages, $45, Yale University Press
