Jeff Koons Retrospective at The Whitney + FOOD Shrimp Rémoulade

Michael Jackson and Bubbles (1988)

Koons often focuses on the kitsch, garish and sentimental objects, transforming them into aesthetic sculptures. This piece was based on a publicity photo of Michael Jackson and his pet chimpanzee, Bubbles, Koon’s hired German and Italian craftsmen (usually employed to design religious idols and objects) to create this porcelain sculpture. It belongs to the artist’s popular series from the ‘80s, "Banality" which includes sculptures of 

the pink panther and Buster Keaton.

ART
Jeff Koons
at the Whitney

Jeff Koons is widely regarded as one of the most important, influential, popular, and controversial artists of the postwar era. Throughout his career, he has pioneered new approaches to the readymade, tested the boundaries between advanced art and mass culture, challenged the limits of industrial fabrication, and transformed the relationship of artists to the cult of celebrity and the global market. Yet despite these achievements, Koons has never been the subject of a retrospective surveying the full scope of his career. Comprising almost 150 objects dating from 1978 to the present, this exhibition will be the most comprehensive ever devoted to the artist’s groundbreaking oeuvre. By reconstituting all of his most iconic works and significant series in a chronological narrative, the retrospective will allow visitors to understand Koons’s remarkably diverse output as a multifaceted whole.

This exhibition will be the artist’s first major museum presentation in New York, and the first to fill nearly the entirety of the Whitney’s Marcel Breuer building with a single artist’s work. It will also be the final exhibition to take place there before the Museum opens its new building in the Meatpacking District in 2015. 

http://whitney.org/Exhibitions/JeffKoons

(Scource: http://www.hulu.com/watch/666791)

Tulips, 1995–98
Oil on canvas
111 3⁄8 × 131 in. (282.9 × 332.7cm). (Photo courtesy of the Whitney Museum)
Private collection. © Jeff Koons

Liberty Bell, 2006–14
Bronze, wood, wrought iron, and cast iron
 102 × 72 1⁄4 x 56 1⁄4 in. (259 × 183.4 × 143 cm).
(Photo courtesy of the Whitney Museum)
Private collection. © Jeff Koons

"Easyfun"

One Ball Total Equilibrium Tank (1985)

You can gaze at this mesmerizing sculpture for a long time, only later realizing that you have been transfixed by a mere basketball floating in a glass tank full of water. It took vigorous scientific investigations and a consultation with Nobel Prize–winning physicist Richard P. Feynman for Koons to put this seemingly simple sculpture together. To get the ball to float in the tank he filled both the ball and the tank with a solution of highly refined 

salt and distilled water.

Antiquity 3 (2009–11)
Koons's studio also produces oil-on-canvas painting. His Antiquity series superimposes classical art works with modern ideals of beauty. Antiquity 3, 2009–11 is a massive 8-by-11 foot canvas depicting ‘50s pinup star Bettie Page straddling a dolphin, which overlaps an image of Aphrodite, the goddess of love. The painting shows how beauty has evolved over time.

Balloon Dog (Yellow) (1994–2000)

Balloon Dog is by far Koons’ most easily recognizable work, the ten foot, one ton shiny stainless steel sculptures demonstrate Koons’ classic use of sentimentality, taking us back to the innocence of childhood mixed with unsettling sexual undertones – evinced in the dog’s phallic tale or suggestive snout. To achieve the weightlessness of a balloon dog the sculpture went through an extensive engineering process that involved joining sixty separate precision-engineered, stainless steel parts.

Play-Doh (1994-2014)

The showstopper of the entire exhibition is a ten-foot tall, super realistic, aluminum sculpture of a pile of play-doh. The piece took 20 years to make and is a replica of a mound of play-doh the artist’s then-young son, Ludwig, bought home from school one day. It follows Koons’ aesthetic philosophy of elevating banality (everyday objects and materials) 

into spectacular works of art.

(Source: Photos coutesy of the Whitney Museum, some information captions came from http://flavorpill.com/nyc/article/art/last-call-for-jeff-koons-at-the-whitney)

(Source for 9 Above: Photographer Hrag Vartanian,
link:< http://hyperallergic.com/155078/guarding-jeff-koons/ > 
the Whitney Museum, Jeff Koons exhibition.)

(Source for 4 Above: Photographer Thomas Micchelli.
link:< http://hyperallergic.com/135040/have-a-nice-day-jeff-koons-and-the-end-of-art/ >
the Whitney Museum, Jeff Koons exhibition.)

(Source: Photos coutesy of the Whitney Museum of American Art, http://whitney.org/Exhibitions/JeffKoons. The editorial information in this issue is intended to promote and inform readers about the Whitney Museum Exhibition: "Jeff Koons a Retrospective". All art images in this article are © Copyright Jeff Koons, The Whiney Museum of American Art, the individual photographers, fabricators, or respective owners or assignees - images are for editorial use only and not intended to be republished. The Jeff Koons © Copyright is reserved under all International intellectual property and copyright laws.)

FOOD

Shrimp Rémoulade

from Galatoire’s, a Bourbon Street institution since 1905

From their website: Shrimp Rémoulade is in every New Orleans girl’s arsenal of favored dishes for relaxed entertaining. Serve this simple dish on elegant china and it’s fit for a king- Mardi Gras or otherwise. This is our most popular dish and most frequently requested recipe. Bonus for the home cook: The sauce is definitely best made a day in advance and refrigerated, then all that’s left to do is toss in the shrimp and plate and serve. It’s a snap to make, yet it’s always impressive.

• ¾ cup chopped celery
• ¾ cup chopped scallions (white and green parts)
• ½ cup chopped curly parsley
• 1 cup chopped yellow onion
• ½ cup ketchup
• ½ cup tomato purée
• ½ cup Creole mustard or any coarse, grainy brown mustard
• 2 tablespoons prepared horseradish, or to taste
• ¼ cup red wine vinegar
• 2 tablespoons Spanish hot paprika
• 1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
• ½ cup salad oil
• 4 dozen jumbo (15 count) shrimp, peeled, boiled, and chilled
• 1 small head of iceberg lettuce, washed, dried and cut into thin ribbons

Mince the celery, scallions, parsley, and onions in a food processor. Add the ketchup, tomato puree, Creole mustard, horseradish, red wine vinegar, paprika, and Worcestershire. Begin processing again and add the oil in a slow drizzle to emulsify. Stop when the dressing is smooth. Chill for 6 to 8 hours or overnight. Correct the seasoning with additional horseradish, if desired after the ingredients have had the opportunity to marry.

In a large mixing bowl, add the sauce to the shrimp and toss gently to coat. Divide the lettuce among 6 chilled salad plates. Divide the shrimp evenly atop the lettuce and serve.

Serves 6

(Source: Galatoire’s)

Until later,

Jack

ARTSnFOOD, is an online publication dedicated to "The Pursuit of Happiness through the Arts and Food." ™ All rights reserved for all content. Concept, Original Art, Original Text & "Original or Assigned Photography" are © Copyright 2014 Jack A. Atkinson under all International intellectual property and copyright laws. All photographs were taken and/or used with permission. Artworks © individual artists, fabricators, respective owners or assignees