Jeff Koons: The pain of inflation
Theodora Vischer, the founding director of the Schaulager (2001-10) and, as of March this year, the senior curator-at-large at the Fondation Beyeler, selects her favourite works at Art Basel
By Anny Shaw From Art Basel daily edition, 16 Jun 11
Published online 16 Jun 11
“What is really wonderful about art fairs is that you can see so many different works that you would never see together somewhere else, not even in a private collection.
"To see this Jeff Koons here at Art Basel is quite exciting; I’m not sure if his works are often shown in a fair, I haven’t seen any others so far in Basel. The work is both playful and cruel, with these inflatable cartoon-like figures wedged into the wire mesh of trash cans. It’s therefore a very ambivalent work; it’s attractive and pleasant but then also a little bit disturbing, as you are led to think about pain.
"Now that we can look back at what Koons has done over the past 30 years, I think one can clearly see how important his role is in the contemporary art scene, not least because of what he has been doing with everyday objects in sculpture as well as in painting. His attitude is quite unique.
"He began working in the 1980s and seemed to be completely part of that era, but since then Koons has continued to succeed in his own way. His work is as interesting and relevant now as it ever has been. It’s good to see him in a different context as we no longer live in a world of total excess, and his work also addresses that.”
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http://www.theartnewspaper.com/articles/Jeff-Koons-The-pain-of-inflation/24008
