-Jeff Koons is one the most famous, important, subversive and expensive
artists in the world. Here he curates a range of works from his entire
career, many having never been shown in the UK -Accompanies at
exhibition at The Ashmolean, Oxford, from February to June, 2019 -
Includes an interview with Jeff Koons -New essay by Sir Norman Rosenthal
"I couldn't think of a better place to have a dialogue about art today
and what it can be" - Jeff Koons This is an intimate look at the career
of contemporary art's most famous and, reportedly, expensive, artists.
Jeff Koons himself curated the art which remains almost as controversial
as it was when the works first hit the art scene by storm in the 1980's.
Like the rest of the art world, Koons shocked and inspired the Brits and
this publication documents his new exhibition at the Ashmolean Museum,
one of the world's most distinguished and oldest institutions which has
also led the way in interpreting and presenting the important New in
art. There are 43 color works along with two in black-and-white - among
them his most famous - Equilibrium, Statuary, Banality, Antiquity and
the recent Gazing Ball sculptures and paintings. Koons, together with
guest curator, Norman Rosenthal, present a tableaux to provoke a unique
conversation about the creations and the history of art and ideas with
which the work engages. The publication also includes Alexander
Sturgis's interview with Koons. From his earliest works Koons has
explored the 'ready-made' and appropriated image - using unadulterated
found objects and creating painstaking replicas of ancient sculptures
and Old Master paintings which almost defy belief in their craftsmanship
and precision. Throughout his career Koons has pushed at the boundaries
of contemporary art practice, stretching the limits of what is possible.
