The exhibition will continue until February 24, 2024.
The balloons world is the new exhibition dedicated to artist Jeff Koons that opens Jan. 25 in Rome at Galleria Deodato Arte on Via Giulia 122 and features iconic inflatable sculptures, including Balloon Animals, Balloon Dog, the series dedicated to diamonds and the seated ballerina. The exhibition offers an opportunity to see works rarely shown to the public that have made Koons one of the world’s best-known and most highly-regarded artists.
Central to the exhibition is the Celebration collection, begun in the 1990s, inspired by the inflatable decorations displayed in the backyards of homes in south-central Pennsylvania where Koons grew up. The artist has been able to transform everyday objects into an artistic series that brings cheer and optimism with inflatable animals – rabbits, dogs, monkeys and swans – reproduced in sculptures covered in a reflective metallic color coating that gives a look that is both fragile and light. The joyful Balloon Dog Blue, in chrome-plated Limoges porcelain on display in the exhibition, is certainly reminiscent of the animals that clowns give to children at birthday parties, but it also mocks the rhetoric of equestrian statues found in many cities around the world and could represent a modern Trojan horse.
Most striking are the series the Diamonds, dated 2020 and 2023 respectively, inspired by the monumental sculptures of 1994. “It’s not about glitz, it’s about the moment of creation,” Koons explains, “The hooks on either side of the diamond represent masculine energy, while the diamond is an egg.” With this edition, Koons has further refined his porcelain working technique that mimics the sharp cuts of the diamond with the characteristic mirror effect: it is not possible to see the artwork without seeing yourself.
Seated Ballerina, on the other hand, is a painted wood sculpture depicting a ballerina sitting on a stool, intent on slipping on her slippers. “The seated ballerina is like a Venus,” Koons explained. “You could see in it the Venus of Willendorf or one of the many ancient Venuses. It’s really a work about beauty and also about the sense of contemplation, of stillness.” In 2017, the colossal inflatable version-13 meters high-was displayed in front of New York’s Rockefeller Center to support the International Center for Missing and Abused Children.
Finally, Carracci Flower, a precious work with sinuous lines inspired by the erotic etchings of the 16th-century draughtsman Agostino Carracci known as Le Lascivie, depicts a nude female figure and her companion.
Also on display are some fine silkscreens from the Antiquity collection, Gazing Ball and the porcelain Coupe Plates series: Tulips, Lips and Play D’Oh.
The exhibition is organized in collaboration with Weng Contemporary, a contemporary art gallery with an online (via e-commerce platform) and offline (in the showroom located in central Switzerland) presence.