Contemporary Art, 1960s–present

Postmodernism and Art

Who is Jeff Koons?

Jeff Koons (1955–) is a controversial, highly successful contemporary artist known for monumental, brightly colored sculpture and art produced by large teams of assistants. A former commodities broker who trained at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago and the Maryland Institute College of Art, Koons creates art that critiques commercialism. For example, he displayed vacuum cleaners in clear, Perspex boxes, in a series called The New (1979) and later began making enormous, highly polished balloon animal sculptures that were praised for their technical virtuosity, and criticized for their over-the-top decadence. Koons is also famous for his large topiary sculpture, Puppy (1992) and his rococo-esque sculpture, Michael Jackson and Bubbles (1988), a golden, ceramic sculpture of the King of Pop with his pet monkey. Koons’ art is polarizing because it blurs the line between high art and spectacle, which some say is exactly the point.



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