Koons retrospective opens in Switzerland

BASEL - Reuters

U.S. pop artist Jeff Koons is seeking to fire up your emotions at a retrospective show of his work in Switzerland.

Although some critics regard his work as empty kitsch, Koons has put 30 years of sculpture - including his famous Balloon Dog - into his first museum show in Switzerland along with the admission that his art is in eye of the beholder.

Visitors to the Fondation Beyeler in Basel are met by a giant globe-like sculpture made of thousands of flowers. The work, called “Split-Rocker”, consists of the reassembled parts of a dinosaur and a pony, and was previously on display at the Papal Palace in Avignon (2000) and at Versailles (2008).

Also on show is the sculpture of a blonde pin-up in a revealing green dress clasping a pink panther and golden Michael Jackson with a pet chimpanzee, both part of Koons’ Banality (1988) series.

Koons, born in 1955, has been dubbed “king of kitsch” for colorful pop culture imagery, including Popeye.
Like Damien Hirst, Koons embraces the role of the celebrity artist, with some dismissing his work as superficial. Yet his creations have been shown in some of the world’s best-known museums, including the Museum of Modern Art in New York and London’s Tate Gallery.