Massimiliano Gioni, Il desiderio messo a nudo, 2021

A sense of euphoria and vital fullness pervades the universe of Jeff Koons, populated by works that immortalize the fascination of mass consumer goods. The use of mirroring materials amplifies the almost erotic attraction that emanates from these banal objects, and makes them as voluptuous as sirens that seduce the viewer, inviting him to participate in the same idea of success of which they become messengers. Brilliant and maniacal like his sculptures, Koons talks about himself and his work in these conversations conducted between 2018 and 2021 by Massimiliano Gioni, who with critical acumen urges the artist to retrace his most important stages, from his childhood in Pennsylvania to his meeting with Duchamp, from his trips to Italy in search of the best ceramists to his recent commissions in Paris and Qatar. This lays bare the philosophy that nourishes an artistic practice that combines avant-garde tradition with an attitude of openness and acceptance. Openness towards a typically American type of eccentricity and acceptance of one’s own history, one’s own taste, one’s own desires, too. Koons’s freedom from any division between high and low culture allows him to draw as naturally from appliance stores as from Italian Renaissance art, with which he has always maintained a dialogue as an equal. Total liberation.