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Jeff Koons

Jeffrey "Jeff" Koons (born January 21, 1955) is an American artist known for his reproductions of banal objects—such as Balloon animals produced in stainless steel with mirror-finish surfaces. He lives and works in both New York City and his hometown of York, Pennsylvania.

Reference to his work

In the past, Gaga referenced his works through her live performances.

  1. Gaga's dog purse made of hair is a reference to Koons' Balloon Dog from his Celebration series. She confirmed the reference in the Book of Gaga (2009).
  2. Exclusive bag from H&M x Koons Collection.

Gazing Ball

The blue ball is a reference to his "Gazing Ball" series.

In early November, 2013, Jeff Koons told MTV News about the meaning behind "Gazing Ball" and Lady Gaga's first visit to his gazing ball show.

"She came and she saw my gazing ball show that I had at the David Zwirner Gallery this summer. She loved the work. She got down on the floor in front of some of the sculptures, especially a sculpture of Ariadne. These pieces were all white plaster — I would take classical sculptures and have a mold of them made and I would put a gazing ball on it."
"What was beautiful about that work was the accessibility of the ball — that reflective ball that many people have in their yards as a symbol of generosity to your neighbors. But when you'd look at it you'd feel this transcendence where the ball would become everything and it would be about a mass dialogue about people not only wanting transcendence for themselves, but involved with the community discussing transcendence and what the possibilities are for humans."

National Arts Awards

In 2010, Koons designed a magnificent statuette for National Arts Awards. On October 19, 2015, Gaga received a National Arts Awards' Young Artist Award, which honors individuals who have shown accomplishments and leadership early in their career.

Work with Lady Gaga

In early November, 2013, Jeff Koons told MTV News about first meeting Lady Gaga.

"The first time that I met Lady Gaga was at the Metropolitan Museum's annual ball, the fashion ball [on May 3, 2010]. And Gaga performed and she did a fantastic performance. Afterwards, I was with Miuccia Prada and Gaga came up to say 'hello' to Miuccia and I was introduced to her and it was amazing. She just kind of grabbed ahold of me and gave me a big hug around my waist and she just said, 'You know, Jeff, I've been such a fan of yours, and when I was a kid just hanging out in Central Park I would talk to my friends about your work.' I was thrilled. I had just watched Gaga give an incredible performance and I was always a big fan. It was very meaningful. So that was the first time I met her. And that was probably about three years ago."

ARTPOP Sculpture

In early November, 2013, Jeff Koons told MTV News about the meaning behind the "ARTPOP" album cover.

"With the cover, I wanted to have Gaga there as a sculpture, as a three-dimensional type of form and with the gazing ball, because the gazing ball really does become kind of the symbol for everything — and this aspect of reflection that when you come across something like a gazing ball, it affirms you, it affirms your existence and then from that affirmation, you start to want more. There's a transcendence that takes place and eventually it really leads you to everything. So that aspect's there."

On Lady Gaga as Apollo:

"But I didn't want Gaga there just kind of isolated, so in the background there's [Gian Lorenzo] Bernini's 'Apollo and Daphne' — and that's the work where Apollo chases Daphne and she turns into a tree. And so there's just glimpses of Daphne's face and of Apollo. Apollo is the god of music and whenever Apollo would perform music he would transcend, he would change; his being would become more feminine. And that's the transcendence that you can experience through art and life. Your being can change, your possibilities can change, your perimeters can change."

On Lady Gaga as Venus:

"And also in this triangular shapes that go out is Botticelli's 'The Birth of Venus,' presenting Gaga of course in the role of Venus — of the nature of the continuation of life's energy and the pursuit and the enjoyment of aesthetics and of beauty. And of the desire to continually have transcendence."

The sculpture was designed by Jeff Koons in collaboration with Scott Eaton and crafted by Creative NYC. Scott Eaton is an artist in the field of digital sculpture and his work combines human anatomy and traditional sculpture techniques with the power of modern digital tools. It was used for ARTPOP launch party, artRave, which was held on November 10th, 2013. The event included the unveiling of an exhibition of art works by Jeff Koons. The sculpture served as the centrepiece of the event and was located inside the Brooklyn Navy Yard building at the entrance.

August 202013

Date August 20, 2013
Location United States Us
Camera Credo 60 by Leaf
8-20-13 Jeff Koons 002

Koons explained to MTV how he was asked to join the ARTPOP project: "I guess in late spring of this year we received a telephone call, my studio, from Brandon [Maxwell], a very close friend of Gaga's, her stylist that she works with. And [he] said that there was interest that I would work on the album." For ARTPOP, Jeff Koons designed the cover and the booklet along with a statue of Lady Gaga. Before the creation of the statue, Koons took photograph of Gaga in a studio with a "Gazing Ball" in different poses for the sculpture. Pictures of that day were included for the cover and the booklet for ARTPOP.

Album and Single artworks

Antiquity series

The Ode to Love, the Metallic Venus, and the Pluto and Proserpina are three mirror-polished stainless steel sculptures with transparent (bronze, blue, and gold) color coating and live flowering plants from Jeff Koons' Antiquity series. They were exhibited at the ARTPOP launch party, artRave, which was held on November 10th, 2013 in the Brooklyn Navy Yard, NYC. Sculptures were designed by Jeff Koons and crafted by Creative NYC.

Unknown series

The Pink Ballerina, a light pink marble sculpture of ballerina wearing a lace ruffled dress with puffed skirt which is adorned with live cut flowers, from Jeff Koons' unknown series was also exhibited at the artRave on November 10th, 2013.

Other

Links

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