Jeff Koons
Renowned Artist and Sculptor
Jeff Koons (b. 1955) has captured hearts—and auction records—with monumental sculpture of beloved icons from his ceramic Michael Jackson and Bubbles to the floral Puppy along with edgier images including nude self-portraits of himself and his first wife; basketballs floating in water tanks; pristine, sealed Hoover vacuum cleaner models; and soft porn versions of Popeye and his gang. He earned renown for his public sculptures such as the monumental, floral Puppy (1992), shown at Rockefeller Center and permanently installed at the Guggenheim Bilbao. Another floral sculpture, Split-Rocker (2000), was installed at the Palace of Versailles in the summer of 2008.
Most recently, the Neue Nationalgalerie in Berlin presented a solo exhibition of Koons’ large-scale Celebration sculptures, three of which were displayed on the Metropolitan Museum roof in 2008. Also in 2008, a solo show at the Museum of Contemporary Art in Chicago exhibited 60 works.
Koons’ work is in numerous public and private collections, and he has lectured at many distinguished institutions. His awards and honors include the 2009 Gold Medal for Lifetime Achievement Award from the National Arts Club, New York and the 2008 Officier de la Légion d’Honneur, nominated by French President Jacques Chirac. In 2007, the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children, along with The International Centre for Missing & Exploited Children, developed the Koons Family International Law and Policy Institute for the purpose of combating global issues of child abduction and exploitation.
