Jeff Koons

born 1955

Jeff Koons, ‘Made in Heaven’ 1989
Made in Heaven 1989
© Jeff Koons
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Biography

Jeffrey L. Koons (; born January 21, 1955) is an American artist recognized for his work dealing with popular culture and his sculptures depicting everyday objects, including balloon animals – produced in stainless steel with mirror-finish surfaces. He lives and works in both New York City and his hometown of York, Pennsylvania. His works have sold for substantial sums, including at least two record auction prices for a work by a living artist: $58.4 million for Balloon Dog (Orange) in 2013 and $91.1 million for Rabbit in 2019.

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 kitsch, crass, and based on cynical self-merchandising. Koons has stated that there are not hidden meanings and critiques in his works.

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Neo-geo

Artworks

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Artist as subject

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Film and audio

Features

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  • Tino Sehgal

    Tate Etc

    Welcome to his situation...: Tino Sehgal's Turbine Hall commission

    Arthur Lubow

    The work of the British-born German artist Tino Sehgal exists solely as a set of choreographed gestures and spoken instructions …

  • Jeff Koons, ‘Winter Bears’ 1988

    Look Closer

    Jeff Koons: Banality, Decadence and Easyfun

    From advertising and commerce to social-mobility and youth culture, explore some of the themes behind Jeff Koons’s art

  • Allen Jones, ‘[no title]’ 1976–7

    Essay

    Art and Pornography

    Tread the line between creativity and sex as we explore what separates these two terms

  • Jeff Koons, ‘Three Ball Total Equilibrium Tank (Two Dr J Silver Series, Spalding NBA Tip-Off)’ 1985

    Art Term

    Vitrine

    A large, glass cabinet used for displaying art objects

  • Jeff Koons, ‘New Hoover Convertibles, Green, Red, Brown, New Shelton Wet/Dry 10 Gallon Displaced Doubledecker’ 1981–7

    Art Term

    Neo-geo

    Short for neo-geometric conceptualism, the term neo-geo came into use in the early 1980s in America to describe the work …

  • Jeff Koons, ‘Winter Bears’ 1988

    Art Term

    Kitsch

    Kitsch is the German word for trash, and is used in English to describe particularly cheap, vulgar and sentimental forms …

  • Salvador Dalí, ‘Lobster Telephone’ 1936

    Art Term

    Appropriation

    Appropriation in art and art history refers to the practice of artists using pre-existing objects or images in their art …

  • Security guards at the opening of Magritte and Contemporary Art.

    Tate Etc

    In the freewheeling world of the mind: René Magritte II

    John Baldessari , Eleanor Antin , Thomas Demand and Jeff Koons

    The Belgian Surrealist remains an influential figure among contemporary artists. Tate Etc.’s Mariko Finch spoke to four admirers. One shares …

  • Tate Etc

    Who paints bread better than Dalí?: Salvador Dalí III

    Jeff Koons

    ‘God save the King!’ was one of Dalí's last, typically provocative, public pronouncements. Jeff Koons explains how meeting Dalí when …

  • Tate Etc

    Lives of the artists

    Alison M. Gingeras

    Flamboyant. Extravagant. Megalomanic. Alcoholic. Sexually obsessed. Manic-depressive. How important is persona in understanding an artist’s practice? By Alison Gingeras

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