Jeff Koons is an American artist, designer, sculptor, photographer and painter who was born in 1955 in Pennsylvania. Starting his career as a trader on the Wall Street Stock Exchange, he quickly turned to art. A versatile artist, Jeff Koons hardly lets anything escape from the world around him. He uses different types of materials such as wood, plexiglass, glass, marble and stainless steel. He draws inspiration from everyday life, such as vacuum cleaners exposed in plexiglass showcases or basketballs hanging in aquariums. His aim is to make his art accessible to the viewers and create a link with them. He often surprises visitors to his exhibitions by reclaiming popular culture icons such Popeye, The Hulk, Michael Jackson and the Pink Panther.
In the centre of his work is a perpetual homage to childhood, as evidence from ‘Bear and Policemen’ (1988), or ‘Puppy’ (1992). In 1991, he married Italian pornographic actress Ilona Anna Staller, better known as Cicciolina. For this union, he was inspired to create ‘Made in Heaven’ (1992), where his wife is represented in various sexual postures.
In continuity with Andy Warhol‘s pop art revolution and Marcel Duchamp’s ready-made concepts and installations, Jeff Koons creates his own vision of art. He was exhibited his work in the most prestigious museums and art galleries around the work such as the Guggenheim Museum in New York in 2000. In 2008, he was invited by the Palace of Versailles to exhibit seventeen of his most iconic installations.
