BENTONVILLE -- Internationally recognized pop artist Jeff Koons' star is on the rise. With a retrospective of his work on display at the Whitney Museum of Art in New York, Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art patrons seemed to appreciate he took the time to fly to Bentonville for a day and deliver a lecture at the museum.
Koons spoke recently to a full house in Crystal Bridges' Great Hall, preceded by an invitation-only reception in the museum's Eleven restaurant beneath Koons' stainless steel sculpture Hanging Heart (Gold/Magenta). The 3,000-pound work has been on display since Valentine's Day.
Crystal Bridges curators bought the gold-colored heart -- one of several sculptures in varying color combinations -- directly from Koons. The purchase price was not disclosed.
The soft-spoken Koons said his father was an interior decorator who taught him that if you put one color or texture next to another, "it's going to affect the way you feel." His work and creative processes are influenced by Marcel Duchamp and most recently by Pablo Picasso. He's worked in a wide range of mediums, including plastic, glass, stainless steel and "readymades," including household appliances like toasters and vacuum cleaners.
Koons' presentation walked participants through the phases of his creativity, such as his Benality series that included a gold and white porcelain Michael Jackson and Bubbles (a chimpanzee); the Celebration collection that includes his most famous colored metallic-finish Balloon Dog (and other balloon figures), Hanging Heart, Tulips and Play-doh; plaster and glass works from his Gazing Ball series; and his sexually explicit Made in Heaven series.
Last November, the artist's Balloon Dog (Orange) sold at Christie's Post-War and Contemporary Art Evening Sale in New York for $58.4 million, becoming the most expensive work by a living artist sold at auction.
Mary Ann Greenwood of Fayetteville, a Crystal Bridges supporter and sponsor of key exhibits, was one of many in the crowd grateful that Crystal Bridges was able to schedule Koons at such a high point in his career.
"Not that many [artists] are on their way somewhere and stop off. They've got to be coming to Northwest Arkansas for us to have an opportunity to hear them and talk about their work," she said.
Fan Gary Weidner of Fayetteville felt Koons explained his creative process well and kept the presentation entertaining.
"It was clear that he's got a deep analog of different interests -- like psychology and anthropology and art history -- that informs what he does," Weidner said. "I was pleased that he talked about that because generally when you're speaking to a lay audience, it can be a difficult place to go."
"I really enjoyed his comments about his work and just the little philosophical and intellectual asides about his work," Weidner said.
"He really is able to translate what he feels and what he's interested in into his art," Greenwood added.
Metro on 07/20/2014