Artist - Jeff Koons

Jeff Koons is an American artist known for his reproduction of banal (commonplace, devoid of originality) objects. Koons went to school at the Maryland Institute College of Art and the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. He started to gain recognition in the 1980s and soon afterward set up a factory-like studio in his loft. The loft was staffed with over 30 assistants, each with a particular assignment in production Koons' work.

A few of his most famous pieces are titled "puppy" which was produced in 1992, "Michael Jackson and Bubbles" and "Pink Panther", both produced in 1988.







Undeniably, Puppy is cute. It’s also a good example of how monumental scale can add a sense of magic to a mundane idea. On the other hand, Puppy can emblemize gimmick and the vapidity of the artistic vanguard of the last twenty years. On the other, other hand, who criticizes a giant flower dog?

All in all I think Koons is as American as apple pie. He's taken on art, not necessarily for arts sake, but for a piece of the pie. He's built his empire off of the trash of American culture and figured out that he can make a crap load of cash doing it.

Not only has he become monumentally successful at his niche artworks, but he's been equally successful at ruffling people’s feathers, especially those "traditional" artsy-fartsy types. I personally don't care for his work... I still see it as the trash of our culture, but that doesn't discredit his (and many others) claiming that it's brilliant artwork.

To each his own I guess.