Dubbed the 'first celebrity artist' and having already seen a full retrospective at New York's Whitney Museum, one wonders what commodity-broker-turned-art pioneer Jeff Koons has left to achieve. The goal now, in the artist's own surprising words, is 'to reach a state of complete self-acceptance'.
With the inauguration of a new exhibition at close friend Almine Rech's Mayfair outpost, this philosophy is given the space to breathe and develop. The self-titled show consists of two majestic ballerina ready-mades from Koons' Antiquity series, framed by a group of technically exacting reproductions of Western masterpieces, created with the help of computer algorithms in Koons' New York studio. They include Old Master paintings such as Giotto's The Kiss of Judas, Titian’s Pastoral Concert and Tintoretto’s The Origin of the Milky Way. On how he chose these particular pieces, Koons explains that they have all profoundly influenced his work. Some of them, he feels, have moved him to the extent that they have biologically altered his DNA. Outlandish, maybe, but he says it with such passion and integrity, that it's easy to believe him.
In front of these imposing, oil-based works, Koons has placed a series of hand-blown blue globes, rendered in a similar glowing finish to the ballerinas, providing a continuity and narrative that unites the show. Within these mirrored Gazing Balls, 'the painting is reflected, and you’re reflected into it – you become part of the painting, it takes you back in time'. They're not just 'shiny' for the sake of it, and they're not arbitrarily placed – there is real, conceptual purpose to them that belies their initial, comical appearance.
The reflective Gazing Ball paintings promote Koons' idea of 'linkage' between the audience and artwork that is so central to his practice. As he's been saying throughout his career, 'the viewer completes the work'. He goes on to explain that seeing ourselves within the image helps us to understand our place within the world. It affirms our small existence in the grand scale of things. 'Really, this show celebrates giving it up to things outside yourself, things greater than yourself.'
And it works. Standing in Almine Rech's pristine new space, among these handsomely reproduced masterpieces, and standing before Koons himself, one is humbled. The artist's coveted brand of 'self-acceptance', however, might be a little way off yet. Especially when Koons reveals that the only man ever to have truly achieved it is Picasso – his artistic hero. 'I feel that when an individual is able to have self-acceptance as Picasso did in his late 80s, then you’re able to move outward, outside yourself, which eventually leads you to the acceptance of others. This is the highest state. A state that art can take you to.'
Gazing Ball picture's (Giotto The Kiss of Judas), 2015–2016
Gazing Ball (Poussin The Triumph of Pan), 2014–2016
Gazing Ball (Boucher Reclining Girl), 2014–2015
Pictured left: Gazing Ball (Bottlerack), 2016. Right: Gazing Ball (Stool), 2013–2016
INFORMATION
’Jeff Koons’ is on view until 21 January 2017. For more information, visit the Almine Rech website
ADDRESS
Almine Rech
Grosvenor Hill
Broadbent House
London, W1K 3JH
-
20 things that positively delighted us in and around Design Miami this yearFrom covetable 20th-century masterpieces to a tower made from ceramic pickles, these were the works that stood out amid the blur of Art Week
-
Montcalm Mayfair opens a new chapter for a once-overlooked London hotelA thoughtful reinvention brings craftsmanship, character and an unexpected sense of warmth to a London hotel that was never previously on the radar
-
Magniberg’s latest bedwear collaboration with Our Legacy is beautifully sun-faded and lived-inColoured using dyes derived from plants and minerals, the new bedding sets and pyjamas are meant to evoke the feeling of ‘a well-worn band T-shirt or your favourite vintage sweatshirt’, says Our Legacy co-founder Jockum Hallin
-
Each mundane object tells a story at Pace’s tribute to the everydayIn a group exhibition, ‘Monument to the Unimportant’, artists give the seemingly insignificant – from discarded clothes to weeds in cracks – a longer look
-
Out of office: The Wallpaper* editors’ picks of the weekThis week, the Wallpaper* team had its finger on the pulse of architecture, interiors and fashion – while also scooping the latest on the Radiohead reunion and London’s buzziest pizza
-
Out of office: The Wallpaper* editors’ picks of the weekIt’s been a week of escapism: daydreams of Ghana sparked by lively local projects, glimpses of Tokyo on nostalgic film rolls, and a charming foray into the heart of Christmas as the festive season kicks off in earnest
-
Wes Anderson at the Design Museum celebrates an obsessive attention to detail‘Wes Anderson: The Archives’ pays tribute to the American film director’s career – expect props and puppets aplenty in this comprehensive London retrospective
-
Meet Eva Helene Pade, the emerging artist redefining figurative paintingPade’s dreamlike figures in a crowd are currently on show at Thaddaeus Ropac London; she tells us about her need ‘to capture movements especially’
-
David Shrigley is quite literally asking for money for old rope (£1 million, to be precise)The Turner Prize-nominated artist has filled a London gallery with ten tonnes of discarded rope, priced at £1 million, slyly questioning the arbitrariness of artistic value
-
Out of office: The Wallpaper* editors’ picks of the weekThe rain is falling, the nights are closing in, and it’s still a bit too early to get excited for Christmas, but this week, the Wallpaper* team brought warmth to the gloom with cosy interiors, good books, and a Hebridean dram
-
A former leprosarium with a traumatic past makes a haunting backdrop for Jaime Welsh's photographsIn 'Convalescent,' an exhibition at Ginny on Frederick in London, Jaime Welsh is drawn to the shores of Lake Geneva and the troubled history of Villa Karma
