aixcentric

Koons with one of his balloon dogs

Next year’s MuCEM blockbuster will be a show devised by and dedicated to US artist Jeff Koons.  His sculptures depict everyday objects, including stainless-steel balloon animals which sell for stratospheric prices: ‘Rabbit’ sold for $91.1m.  Curators at the Marseille museum have invited Kooms to ‘dialogue’ with their collection of thousands of items. He will choose 200 of them to exhibit and produce 20 works inspired by them.  The artist has already been to Marseille twice to plan the show.

Says Wikipedia, “Critics are sharply divided in their views of Koons. Some view his work as pioneering and of major art-historical importance. Others dismiss his work as kitch, crass, and based on cynical self-merchandising.’

His work is undoubtedly popular – crowds visited his exhibition in Oxford last year, and this review gives a taste of what to expect: https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2019/feb/10/jeff-koons-ashmolean-museum-oxford-review-master-of-deflection.

We’ll have our chance to decide next year.

MuCEM, Marseille, from May-Oct, 2021.