Magnet - Jeff Koons, Venus

Digitally printed with epoxy coating
Dimensions: 5 x 10cm

With a stated intention to ‘communicate with the masses’, Jeff Koons is one of the most influential and popular artists of his generation. Venus 2016–20 is part of Koons’ ongoing Porcelain series which juxtaposes classical ideals of beauty with sophisticated contemporary production technologies. The over life-size, mirror-polished stainless-steel sculpture is based on an 18th century porcelain figurine of the same name by Wilhelm Christian Meyer. Mirrors and reflection have long been a hallmark of Koons’s work, and he has cited his love for the intoxicating quality of the reflection and its resulting distortion, as well as its ability to implicate the viewer within the work.

Jeff Koons
Venus
2016–20
Mirror-polished stainless steel with transparent colour coating 254.0 x 144.5 x 158.4 cm Edition 1/3 + 1 AP National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne
Purchased with funds donated by Loti & Victor Smorgon Fund, Leigh Clifford AO & Sue Clifford, John Higgins AO & Jodie Maunder, Paula Fox AO & Fox Family Foundation, Professor AGL Shaw AO Bequest and NGV Foundation, 2020. © Jeff Koons