The
Fondation Beyeler is
presenting the first
exhibition ever
devoted by a Swiss
museum to the
American artist Jeff
Koons (b. 1955).
Koons, likely the
best-known living
artist, has for
decades been causing
a furore with the
combination of
popular and high
culture that informs
his art.
Our extensive
presentation focuses
on three central
series of works –
The New, Banality
and Celebration –
which represent
crucial stages in
Koons’s development
and lead to the
nucleus of his
thinking and
creative activity.
The New comprises
the ready-made-like
cleaning appli-
cances of his early
period, symbols of
newness and purity.
Banality includes
those tradition-
nally crafted
sculptures in
porcelain and wood
which have since
become (post-)
modern icons.
Finally, in the
Celebration series,
on which Koons has
been working for
almost twenty years,
appear high-gloss
steel sculptures of
unique material
perfection, and
large-format
paintings in which
the artist
celebrates childhood
in a veritably
baroque way.
Koons’s equally
spectacular and
subtle works are
repeatedly concerned
with themes such as
innocence, beauty,
sexuality and
happiness. These
reflect his
conception of an art
that is accessible
to every viewer.
In
parallel with the
exhibition, Jeff
Koons’s monumental
floral sculpture
Split-Rocker,
composed of
thousands and
thousands of real
plants and
introducing a unique
dialogue between art
and nature, will be
installed in the
Fondation Beyeler
park.
The exhibition is
curated by Sam
Keller, Director,
and Theodora
Vischer, Senior
Curator at Large, at
the Fondation
Beyeler.
The following
lenders have
contributed
materially to the
success of the
exhibition: Jeff
Koons; The Brant
Foundation,
Greenwich,
Connecticut; The
Broad Art Foundation,
Santa Monica; Des
Moines Art Center;
Kunstmuseum
Wolfsburg; The
Rachel and
Jean-Pierre Lehmann
Collection; Prada
Collection, Milan;
Rubell Family
Collection, Miami;
The Sonnabend
Collection; Tate /
National Galleries
of Scotland; Whitney
Museum of American
Art, New York.
The
catalogue, in German
and English, is
published by Hatje
Cantz Verlag,
Ostfildern. It
contains a foreword
by Sam Keller and
Theodora Vischer, an
interview with the
artist, and essays
by Raphaël Bouvier
and Günther Vogt.
212 pages, 154
illustrations, CHF
68. ISBN
978-3-906053-00-4
(German), ISBN
9878-3-906053-01-1
(English).
The exhibition
enjoys the generous
support of Mercedes
Benz and Hugo Boss.
The outdoor
sculpture Split
Rocker was made
possible by a
substantial
contribution from
JTI as principal
partner, as well as
the support of
Simone and Peter
Forcart-Staehelin
and InCentive Asset
Management AG.
|
May 27, 2012 |