Jeff Koons is definitely one of the greatest geniuses in one of the talents the majority of us artists are devoid of: making money with art. The name itself of his one of his sculpture series "banalities" well render the content of his art.
Koons is not the first in the art world to use everyday objects and commodities as artwork. Andy Warhol himself gained fame and money from similar gestures, drawing art content from celebrities photos, everyday consumption objects. And there are even much earlier examples with dadaists or Marcel Duchamp "Readymades" which include common objects such as urinals or bicycle wheels.
Koons also shares with the Warhol's "Factory" the production of the "artwork" by others: it is a practice in a certain way opposite making the art object mass production.
Nevertheless I enjoyed strolling through this larger than life retrospective at the Whitney Museum (closing this week), a playful and engaging example of how art can be made of everyday life objects.
The other Jeff Koons extravaganza was "Split-Rocker" at the Rockefeller Center, the 37-foot tall planted "puppies" which was on view until September 18.
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