The Sidney and Lois Eskenazi Museum of Art at Indiana University announces a conversation with Jeff Koons (American, b. 1955) on November 5.
Widely regarded as one of the most important and controversial artists of our time, Jeff Koons has pioneered new approaches to the readymade, tested the boundaries between fine art and mass culture, challenged the limits of industrial fabrication, and transformed the relationship of artists to the cult of celebrity and the global art market.
“Along with our partners at the Indiana University Luddy School of Informatics, Computing, and Engineering and the Eskenazi School of Art, Architecture + Design, I am thrilled to welcome Jeff Koons to Bloomington. IU students will have a rare opportunity to hear from this world-renowned artist, who combines art and technology to create innovative works with broad appeal. I am grateful to Jeff for his generosity in sharing his experience as an artist with IU students,” commented David A. Brenneman, Wilma E. Kelley Director, Eskenazi Museum of Art.
Born in York, Pennsylvania, in 1955, Jeff Koons studied at the Maryland Institute College of Art in Baltimore and the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. He received a BFA from the Maryland Institute College of Art in 1976. Koons lives and works in New York City.
Since his first solo exhibition in 1980, Koons’s work has been shown in major galleries and institutions throughout the world. His work was the subject of a major exhibition organized by the Whitney Museum of American Art, Jeff Koons: A Retrospective (2014), which traveled to the Centre Pompidou Paris (2014–15) and the Guggenheim Bilbao (2015).
Koons is widely known for his iconic sculptures Rabbit and Balloon Dog as well as the monumental floral sculpture Puppy (1992), shown at Rockefeller Center and permanently installed at the Guggenheim Bilbao. Another floral sculpture, Split-Rocker (2000), previously installed at the Papal Palace in Avignon, Château de Versailles, and Fondation Beyeler in Basel, was most recently on view at Rockefeller Center in 2014.
Koons has received numerous awards and honors in recognition of his cultural achievements. Notably, Koons received the Governor’s Awards for the Arts “Distinguished Arts Award” from the Pennsylvania Council on the Arts; the “Golden Plate Award” from the Academy of Achievement; President Jacques Chirac promoted Koons to Officier de la Légion d’Honneur; and Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton honored Koons with the State Department’s Medal of the Arts for his outstanding commitment to the Art in Embassies Program and international cultural exchange. In 2017, Koons was made the first Artist-in-Residence at Columbia University’s Mortimer B. Zuckerman Mind Brain Behavior Institute and, also, made an Honorary Member of the University of Oxford’s Edgar Wind Society for Outstanding Contribution for Visual Culture. Koons has been a board member of The International Centre for Missing & Exploited Children (ICMEC) since 2002 and co-founded the Koons Family International Law and Policy Institute with ICMEC for the purpose of combating global issues of child abduction and exploitation and to protect the world’s children.
“We’re grateful to Jeff Koons for his willingness to share his professional journey with our students,” said Peg Faimon, founding dean of the Eskenazi School of Art, Architecture + Design. “As an artist who has always embraced technology and been attuned to market forces, Koons’s insights will complement the spirit of innovation and professional savvy we foster among the artists, designers, and retail leaders of the future.”
Sunday, November 5, 4 p.m.
Room 015, Fine Arts Building, Eskenazi School of Art, Architecture + Design
1201 E. Seventh Street
Bloomington, IN 47405
Jeff Koons will discuss his artistic practice with David J. Crandall, Director of Luddy Artificial Intelligence Center and the Center for Machine Learning at the IU Luddy School of Informatics, Computing, and Engineering, and Caleb Weintraub, Associate Professor of Painting at the IU Eskenazi School of Art, Architecture + Design. Weintraub has incorporated generative AI as a tool in his studio practice, developed and taught an interdisciplinary course on the subject, and mounted a summit on the impact of machine learning on art and design, titled Creativity in the Age of AI.
Complimentary reservations are required for this event; space is limited. Seating will be first-come, first-served. A livestream will also be available with a link provided closer to the event. Visit the Eskenazi Museum of Art’s event calendar to register for in-person seating.
