Jeff Koons
A Retrospective
June 9–September 27, 2015
Guggenheim Bilbao
Abandoibarra et.2
Bilbao 48001
Spain
Curators: Scott Rothkopf, Nancy and Steve Crown Family Curator and Associate Director of Programs at the Whitney Museum of American Art and Lucía Agirre, Curator at the Guggenheim Museum Bilbao
The Guggenheim Bilbao presents Jeff Koons: A Retrospective, an exhibition that looks back at the work of one of the most eminent figures in the art of our time, the unmistakable Jeff Koons. This chronological, coherent retrospective of Koons’s artistic output was organized by New York’s Whitney Museum of American Art, in collaboration with the Guggenheim Museum Bilbao and the Centre National d’Art et de Culture Georges Pompidou, Paris. The exhibition in Bilbao was made possible by the remarkable sponsorship of Fundación BBVA.
Over almost four decades, Jeff Koons has developed a singular, distinctive, innovative oeuvre, becoming one of contemporary art’s most prominent figures. Critics and audiences alike have been surprised by the unexpected concepts that Koons has presented at different exhibitions throughout his career.
At this exhibition’s Spanish debut, the public will be able to enjoy a comprehensive survey of the artist’s work, which speaks to us of self-acceptance, appreciation of the world around us, and the affirmation of being through art. It is an exhortation to live in this world as though it were our first day on the earth.
Art as wake-up call
Rejecting the aura of inaccessibility that surrounds other contemporary works of art, his instantly recognizable creations appeal to the general public and draw on countless art historical sources, such as Surrealism, Pop Art and Dadaism.
Koons has a unique style that allows seemingly contradictory concepts to coexist harmoniously in his work. Life and death, past and present, sexuality and innocence, luxury and austerity, eternal and new, public and private, industrial and handcrafted, feminine and masculine are fused through the iconography and materials used in his creations, whose painstaking finishes are achieved with the help of his studio Koons uses art as a wake-up call, a driving force of social change. The false luxury of some of his pieces—achieved by using industrial materials that are made to look deceptively lavish—and his references to well-known archetypes make viewers feel comfortable with their own history. In the artist’s own words: “I feel incredibly strong when I make my artwork. And so art for me is about increasing my own perimeters in life. And hopefully my work gives viewers a sense of possibilities for their own futures as much as it does for mine.”
Media relations
Dept. of Communications and Marketing
T +34 944 35 90 08 / F +34 94 435 90 59 / media [at] guggenheim-bilbao.es
jeffkoons.guggenheim-bilbao.es
Sponsored by Fundación BBVA
