No to the "gift " of Koons. organized by an American ambassador to France who does not even speak French.
What is the meaning ? In the garden of the Petit Palais ?
Faux kitsch .
https://www.liberation.fr/debats/2018/01/21/non-au-cadeau-de-jeff-koons_1624159
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knee jerk responses to art is no longer something the world needs. appreciate the gesture filled with colour and one wrist.
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I think the tulips look like cough drops or throat lozengers but that do I know. Very tacky.
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It certainly does not look like Tulips - more like soggy balloons.
Is the white sheet part of the "installation"? The whole thing sure would make a great Paul-Bunyon-sized coat rack, but ... is it Art ?
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How can you not love the chutzpah of “donating” only the idea of this sculpture. (How much of a tax deduction?)
I actually like some of Koon’s work when he plays in the space between different expectations. However, with a victims monument we have a pretty straight forward dynamic. Koons’ strengths cannot be put to use. Sorry, but this is a flop. One where French criticism of American cynicism rings true.
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It’s so kitsch, it’s so American.
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Jeff Koons is a joke. And he’s been playing a big one on the “art”” world for decades.
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Haven't the poor people of Paris suffered enough? Now, this?
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Tasteless oligarchs swoon...and Jeff Koons laughs all the way to the bank.
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It is inappropriate for what it's meant to represent.
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Uber hack Koons should be relegated to where he belongs - dollar stores. Hopefully by the time I return to Paris his latest lazy piece of gargantuan kitsch will have been removed. The only noteworthy thing about his latest hunk of junk is that no one would put in the completion money so he had to pay his workers himself a million dollars.
Tough times! After the poorly received collab with LV he should go for the real prize, his true calling, Wal-Mart children’s attire. Leave Paris alone.
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Looks like Lady Liberty’s Torch.
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Not a fan of Jeff Koons - especially since he refers to himself as a modern day Marcel Duchamp.
What a laugh!
Look at his works and the people who collect his works. Then you can see why he should not be revered, reviewed, or collected by museums.
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Not a fan of Jeff Koons and especially not this sculpture, but even if I were, I agree with whoever said the commission should have gone to a French artist.
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@K Absolutely! What a (free) publicity stunt for Koons.
The two main memorials of the 22/3 attacks in Brussels are by Belgian artists. One is in the city, near the EU HQ (https://www.reuters.com/article/us-europe-attacks-brussels-anniversary-idUSKBN16M2WF). The other is on the outskirts, in the heart of the Forêt de Soignes, in a peaceful clearing (https://www.publicspace.org/works/-/project/k194-memorial-22-3).
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I think it's cool and original, on first look. I live here and know people that died in those attacks. Why not have a joyful memorial ? We already have stones engraved with the names of the dead at the cemetery. After all they were mostly fun people who died, out having a drink with friends, enjoying ife.
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It certainly pays homage to Mr Koons.
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Disgusting. In this day and age, no opportunity to build one's own personal brand is too crass.
This sculpture is clearly a monument to the artist himself, not to the victims. It does not invite the viewer up close to meet the victims, but advertises from afar the artist's commercial style and brand.
One should see Maya Lin's Vietnam War Memorial to see how a memorial monument can (and should) provide a solemn, formal, yet intimate space for grief, contemplation, and remembrance.
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A gift that is not a gift since the city of Paris had to raise money for production cost. I have been outraged by this idea of Koons memorializing the victims of the terror attacks with his kitsch tasteless bouquet and alas, the officials in Paris and the very opportunistic Christophe Girard gave in and paid for Koon's act of self promotion. When Koons released his latest collection of bags for Louis Vuitton, the dinner for the launch was hosted in the Louvre itself! The guy is good at courting and manipulating the French official and business elite...
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If this is art, I'm so, so saddened.
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@ajny
It is art. But it is trashy. Some people have good taste and are discreet showing a high level of human intelligence and progress, and some people just want to show off because they need to stand out by any means when they know they don't have any kind of talent or excellence. These untalented individuals are just interested in money.
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My condolences to the loved ones of the victims supposedly referenced by this work. If I were in their shoes, I would be offended.
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Wow. To me, this is no way evokes the hand of the Statue of Liberty holding a torch aloft. Instead, it evokes the hand of Mickey holding a clutch of brightly-colored high fructose corn syrup inside the Magic Kingdom.
Truly awful.
My apologies to our friends in France.
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Why is this a "Jeff Koons sculpture". Did he even touch it with his own two hands? Can we see some of his preliminary sketches; how he developed the idea into its final form? Koons has an army of anonymous artists and artisans working for him to conceive and execute the artworks which net him millions; he is just a smirking self-promoter. Calling him an artist is an insult to all artists who put their souls into their work.
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I’ll go ahead and say it ; Koon’s is Not an artist.
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I think Koons is very good but this particular work is, um, awful.
Thank goodness NYers don't have to look at that every day.
18
The hand holding marshmallow flowers emerging from the ground evokes that of a giant "pushing up daisies". Perhaps that's an unfortunate an unfortunate connotation. Still, the contrast with the staid monochrome late 19th century Petit Palais in the background works aesthetically.
Critics say that Koons is self-aggrandizing. Many creative people are and that does not necessarily detract from the value of their work. Paris has, after all, the Tour Eiffel which was the private residence of its creator during the final phase of its construction.
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@Steve M
Your comment caused me to consider the sculpture a bit more. It could represent the victims reaching out to remind us to embrace joie de vivre as they did.
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Lots of criticism out-the-gates, I see. Art is of that nature so perhaps all is good in and for Paris!
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It's a gift. Everybody's taste is different. We had a Franz West sculpture 'Lips' at the Philadelphia Museum of Art I originally wasn't too sure about. It was removed from the sculpture garden a year or so ago and now I kind of miss it.
Sometimes these things grow on you. Think of the Jeff Koons piece as a gesture, a remembrance. We have lots of other stuff to fight about, yes?
(If anyone from the Philadelphia museum is reading this, I'm really sick about the Jacob Epstein sculpture 'Social Consciousness' having been removed. If I'd seen that coming, I think I might have chained myself to it.)
17
I do so weary of overplayed artists trying to be relevant. It would have been much more meaningful if the money, space and opportunity would have been given to a French artist, known, unknown or as yet to be discovered. Koon's cartoon is nothing more than an homage to himself and his outdated art.
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@itsizzi Yes, I also don't think much of his work. It's neither beautiful nor very intellectually challenging. This piece is far too whimsical to be a memorial to a tragedy, and that puts me off even more from his work.
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