Jeff Koons - The restrospective

This retrospective is designed to take stock of an unquestionably great body of work, now inseparable from the man who created it. Because the work of Jeff Koons is undeniably an American story, an American dream. A pragmatic, resolutely positive body of work; a joyous challenge in a world full of ups and downs; a vision that is certainly playful but more subversive than it seems - an aspect its creator avoids mentioning. Intimately linked with the work he has built up, Jeff Koons has been in the news more than once during the last 35 years. From his first deliberately childish objects to the archetypal polychrome steel figures standing proudly in public institutions and the private foundations of the great and the good; from the advertising images transformed into paintings to the corporate gifts that have become trophies in the top public sales, and from advertisements for masterclasses awarded to attentive children in art magazines to pornographic images embodying what the artist calls "love and spirituality", the work of Koons has constantly defied good judgement and taste, stimulating desire in a quest to assert its iconic and symbolic value. **This first retrospective in Europe was essential for a decision on the actual evidence. Visitors will thus see that the artist, all through his obsessional work, has constantly called on artisans and manufacturers to produce pieces of increasing technical ambition.**
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