I Don’t Like This About Jeff Koons

There are plenty of reasons people give for not liking Jeff Koons, but this is the one that really doesn’t sit well with me. I’ve been to his warehouse in NYC, and I know from people I have spoken to how low the wages are. xoxo Prof Lieu

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Clara Lieu was an Adjunct Professor at the Rhode Island School of Design from 2007-2020. Her artwork has been exhibited at the International Print Center NY, the Currier Museum, Childs Gallery, the Davis Museum, and more. Lieu received an artist fellowship from the MA Cultural Council, has written for the NY Times, and lectured at Brown University, the NAEA conference, and in Vancouver & China. She has been profiled in Artsy, Hyperallergic, KPCC, & WBUR.

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[nyuh]

the aesthetics might be subjective. but the underpayment of the actual artists is definitely not subjective qwq
ive never heard of that. i thougt he made those

[GoldenAstroCat]

I agree. He's basically a concept artist. He creates an idea. Other artists/crafts people make it. It begs the question, what defines an "artist"? The one who has the idea? Or the one who makes it?

[zachbirch]

Agreed! Besides his work being garish. It’s also gone from art to commercialism, just with a customer base that is Uber rich. Once the artists hand is removed it ceases to be art imo

[MelanaC]

Uuuggghhh this is the same reason I don’t like Damian Hirst! He’s another one who treats his many, many staff appallingly yet gets paid millions for his work 🤦🏻‍♀️

[daydreamideas]

Agreed. Got to have hands on in my opinion. Working as a team on a large scale piece is fair but you have to get your hands dirty so to speak and muck in. Sounds like he's taking the role of creative director.
Having ideas is great, being able to execute them is a skill.

[sharpartstudio]

Koons is like the director of a blockbuster Hollywood movie. The vision is his, but he has a crew that makes it happen. At the end of the day, what the audience takes away is that it was a "Steven Spielberg" film. It's helpful for me to think of Koons and Hirst in this way. I can appreciate what they do when I define what they do/what they are appropriately.

[amberdavis]

Facts tho girl, and reproductions of his mini sculpters are in 5 Below and dollar tree - i secretly hope its from the people who actually made the peices

[leodrawingsos]

Koons is arguably a good businessman, decent manager, mediocre designer, and not an artist at all.

[rosaphx]

I hate that his art is on the moon. The moon doesn’t need anymore trash.

[lastdays]

It could be about the ego(probably is) but I'm going to comment about the process.
Conceptual art in my opinion doesn't need to be made by the mind that thought it up. This is a form of ready mades and he was one of the first to explore this idea, creating a ready made and magnifying it.
With that said, he started making the giant balloons and toys after his son was abducted. To me, they were more about sending a smoke signal to his child rather than magnifying something from his youth. To me, they were a way to "play" father and son, without having your son in your life. They are giant and exaggerated and complicated because he's trying to have an interaction that was impossible for him at the time i.e. raising his child. This body of work to me, was the equivalent of keeping your childs bedroom years after they've moved house or even passed on.

[laurewinkelmans]

I agree with you. He's having others do the work, but making millions. That's not very fair to me.

[amynordbytheartist]

Totally agree!! Funny, on one of my first pieces I created in high school. Concept was my own. Worked on tirelessly… teacher came along and “corrected” my clouds by adding a little color. LOST MY MIND! Not because of the error I made but rather because he had added something to my painting. In my mind and soul, at that moment, the painting wasn’t truly mine. Couldn’t say in all honesty that I created it. My feelings on this haven’t changed much since. And I am turning 53 tomorrow. So you can probably guess my thoughts on Koons.

[MichaelKrasowitz]

It's not his ego that matters..it's the ego of his clients. His appeal is that people with wealth identify with him..huge ceo's accumulating vast wealth

[NeptunesHorses]

Agreed. It's at a much larger fabrication degree than Warhol's Factory reproduced pop art themes, and very different from a bronze artist working with a foundry and designing or applying the patina themself.

[Avi_ZAnu]

Like Mr. Tiffany getting credit for all those lamps. 😂

[ragdollrose]

One of my current teachers keeps showing us work from Jeff Koons and other artists with similar "artistic process", it annoys me so much. He showed us a medium scale painting with repeating dots making optical illusions and said that the artist hired to get it done cause "it takes so much time to do all the little dots". Like what do you mean?!? That's the whole point! And he defends it saying famous Renaissance painters always had assistants and apprentices under them doing the work for them. First, it's not exactly the same circumstances. Second, yeah it sucks that assistants aren't recognized for their work! Even worse when you're extra wealthy Jeff Koons or the other one who can't be bothered to make his own little circles. Do your own art or credit the people who helped you, it's not that hard.
It's insanity to me, they live in a different reality it seems

[Stiivun]

This is why I don’t like Tom Sachs anymore.

[gateauxq]

Then you gotta ask-does he even design them himself? Several are ‘thing but bigger’ but even the more artistic ones aren’t exceedingly unique.

[dianaahakim]

Art is the act of creating. To me at least, from conception, to the making of to the final product, it’s all about creating something out of nothing/something. If you take that part away, it’s not really art. This ain’t art. This is commercialism. At its finest.

[coupertinoananda]

Yes, so true. He is just a free rider on the journey of art