Jeff Koons: Now exhibition at Newport Street Gallery, London

Lacking some colour, fun and kitsch in your life? Then don't miss Jeff Koons: Now

Lobsters balancing upside down on chairs, mountains of Play-Doh and graphic pornographic images, where else could you be but at a Jeff Koon’s show?! Jeff Koons: Now spans more three decades (35 years to be exact) of Koon’s extraordinary career, providing enough art to fill the six gallery spaces in London's  Newport Street Gallery.

Lauded as one of the most significant artists to have emerged in the postwar era, Jeff Koons' diverse work has explored themes of taste, consumerism, mass culture, beauty, acceptance, and the role of the artist. Now is the first major UK exhibition to be devoted to the artist since Jeff Koons: Popeye Series at the Serpentine Gallery in 2009.  Now  features more than 30 paintings, works on paper and sculptures dating from 1979 to 2014. Drawn from Hirst’s collection, a number of these works have never before been shown in the UK.

Koons' work is ​all about the surface, which is generally oh so shiny and deceives the viewer. The largest of his works the ‘Balloon Monkey’, (a loose interpretation as I didn't see a monkey),  is a giant imitation of a few nifty twists and turns of a balloon, crafted in steel. Its sheer scale combined with its perfectly reflective surface make it a truly captivating piece. I love how Koon juxtaposes fantasy with the mundane, a theme that runs throughout his work.

Koons has a Marmite effect in the art world, often accused of being a shallow and cynical capitalist who has made his success and fortune -  on what?, many ask. He's been called everything from the ‘Donald Trump of art’ to even having a video game designed to blow up his art  (no joke, it appeared in  Berlin's KW Institute of Contemporary Art). 

I’m not getting involved in the debate as I'm not an expert on Koons. All I know is I left the exhibition with a smile on my face and it stayed with me for the rest of the day – thanks Jeff. If that doesn't demonstrate the power of art, I don't know what does.

Jeff Koons: Now is  on Until 16th October 2016. To book tickets. visit www.newportstreetgallery.com

Newport Street Gallery
Newport Street
London
SE11 6AJ
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Elinor Seath