During a recent trip to Paris in December, I attended this year's blockbuster exhibition- Jeff Koons: A Retrospective, at the Centre Georges-Pompidou (Musée National d'Art Moderne).
The Pompidou presents the first major retrospective in Europe devoted to the work of the iconic American artist Jeff Koons: the gallery is the first to show the full extent of the artist’s oeuvre from 1979 to the present day.
But is it art? Is it Pompidou Centre worthy? Always good for a controversy, the American has divided the art world ever since he rose to prominence in the 1980s. Derided by many as frivolous, crass and banal, he’s nonetheless one of the most iconic artists of his generation.
All of his most iconic pieces were on show. There’s the Michael Jackson porcelain statue. There’s the balloon dogs. And there’s Cicciolina, in all of her – very graphic – splendour. It’s kitsch, it’s controversial and it all makes for a great Instagram selfie backdrop. Once you've got all those Likes coming, who cares whether it’s art.
The retrospective curated by Scott Rothkopf is comprised of almost 150 sculptures and paintings arranged in a loosely chronological circuit that highlights the various cycles in the artist's work, from early pieces conceived in a vein inherited from Pop Art to present-day works. Together with a preview presentation of new works by the artist, the exhibition also features his best known works – now some of the most celebrated "icons" of modern art, including Rabbit (1986),Michael Jackson and Bubbles (1988), Balloon Dog (1994-2000)and the series of aquariums in Equilibrium (1985). For 35 years, Koons has been exploring new approaches to the "readymade", with his distinctly kitsch and colourful sculptures, his work explores themes of mass culture, our reliance on the ready-made, and the cult of celebrity .By reconstituting all of his most iconic works and significant series, the exhibition allows visitors to appreciate Koons’s remarkably diverse and 'multifaceted oeuvre' in its entirety.
As with all shows at the Pompidou,
the Koons retrospective is essentially open-plan. A few party walls have been
erected to impose a basic chronology to the room, but most of the display is
visible all at once on entering the exhibition. The result of which, makes for
a rather chaotic atmosphere, more evocative of a circus ring than a contemporary art space. The exhibition design certainly sets the tone for this
retrospective. Visitors are immediately bombarded by paintings of Play-Doh and
Popeye, porn sculptures in purple glass, a polychrome wooden “Poodle” and a
porcelain Pietà, “Michael Jackson and Bubbles”.
Before I was fortunate enough to
experience Koons’ work first hand, I was curious as to what made his the most recognisable and expensive art in the world today. However, after having
attended the pompidou’s retrospective, I felt my curiosity somewhat satiated- Koons’s
defiantly vacuous works of monumental mirrored artifice from the past two
decades scream out questions to the viewer about consumerism, class roles, and distinctions between popular taste and
high art, in this judiciously curated exhibition by Scott Rothkopf.
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