The Emperor’s New Clothes: Indie Rock Bakery Does Not Like Jeff Koons
I’ve always disliked artist Jeff Koons; his work seems to embody everything wrong with contemporary art. It’s gaudy, derivative and self-satisfied. Or, as Michael Kimmelman wrote in the NYT, “one last, pathetic gasp of the sort of self-promoting hype and sensationalism that characterized the worst of the 1980s.” Indeed.
Which is why it’s been so disconcerting to see him cropping up so much lately. First I saw him in a Warhol documentary on TV the other day. There’s obviously an implicit comparison there, as if Koons is carrying on Warhol’s legacy. Please.
Then I noticed that this month’s GQ (Barack on the cover) has a brief piece on Mr. Koons. The artist says of his work, “It’s about self-acceptance, and when you accept yourself, accept your own history, there’s no blockage, there’s just transcendence then into the acceptance of others.”
And then there’s this—news on the LACMA expansion. I’m glad to hear that it’s apparently on time and on budget, but wait: “One of the more eye-popping features of the new entry will be a suspended full size rail car by artist Jeff Koons.” Oh well, at least it’s not a giant puppy made of flowers.
