Jeff Koons: Versailles | Art21 "Exclusive"

Episode #080: From his studio in New York City, Jeff Koons discusses his 2008 exhibition at the Château de Versailles in France. Koons explores the power and sensuality of the grounds at Versailles, citing Louis Quatorze (Louis XIV) as an inspriation for his 1992 piece, "Puppy," a large floral sculpture made out of 60,000 large flowers.

Jeff Koons plucks images and objects from popular culture, framing questions about taste and pleasure. His contextual sleight-of-hand, which transforms banal items into sumptuous icons, takes on a psychological dimension through dramatic shifts in scale, spectacularly engineered surfaces, and subliminal allegories of animals, humans, and anthropomorphized objects. The subject of art history is a constant undercurrent, whether Koons elevates kitsch to the level of Classical art, produces photos in the manner of Baroque paintings, or develops public works that borrow techniques and elements of seventeenth-century French garden design. Organizing his own studio production in a manner that rivals a Renaissance workshop, Koons makes computer-assisted, handcrafted works that communicate through their meticulous attention to detail.

Learn more about Jeff Koons: http://www.art21.org/artists/jeff-koons

VIDEO | Producer: Wesley Miller & Nick Ravich. Interview: Susan Sollins. Camera: Martial Barrault & Joel Shapiro. Sound: Mark Mandler. Editor: Paulo Padilha & Mark Sutton. Artwork Courtesy: Jeff Koons. Special Thanks: L'Etablissement Public du musée et du domaine national de Versailles.

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[ANDPRY]

Such junk - the warm, pukey platitudes spoken so falsely- and the junk "art" which has no place in Versailles...

[MBro88]

All a load of high pressure inflated aluminium to me!

[theotherbabies]

keep paying for trash art

[boodspuppy]

I wonder how far men's madness will go...art? Where is it?

[kreitzberg09]

They should not be compared on a aesthetic level but rather for the time period for which they were developed and the progression for what art as become. Also just because it is in a building known as versailles doesn't make it a master piece. Geographical context should be taken with a grain of salt. Think for yourself why do I think this is a master piece and that isn't? Because I read about it in a art history text book? Watch "The ways of seeing" By John Berger.

[signsquare]

que lastima que su trabajo sea light

[patrimatsumoto]

un lugar tan arsitocrata como versailles esta claro que tendria que tener una estatua de el rey Michael Jackson

[t7g6s8]

yes it is micheal jackson playing with his "monkey".

[noxvet]

Yes. That's MJ's pet monkey-- his name is Bubbles.