Jeff Koons

  • passages January 2008

    Ileana Sonnabend

    I THINK ILEANA’S DEATH represents the end of an era for a type of blind support for the artist’s work and even for a type of politics. By politics I mean that she was trying to create as positive a situation for the artwork as possible, to empower it, and to keep the focus on the art itself. It wasn’t about money or the gallery; it was about the work.

    I was a young artist when I joined Sonnabend. I had produced my own artworks and was responsible for financing them, but when I began my “Statuary” series I needed a different kind of unconditional support. With Ileana, I never had to keep the

  • print February 2003

    THE HAPPY END OF KIPPENBERGER’S AMERIKA

    MARTIN KIPPENBERGER SPAWNED A WEALTH OF ART-WORLD legends in his truncated career. His practice seemed specifically designed to maintain a steady buildup of anecdotes, many of which continue to circulate today, six years after his death. On the occasion of the fiftieth anniversary of Kippenberger’s birth, this month sees the opening of a major retrospective of his entire career at the Museum für Neue Kunst ZKM in Karlsruhe, with additional stops in Vienna and Eindhoven. Though his influence in Europe will be debated and discussed for a long time to come, there is no question that he is one of

  • print February 2003

    Jeff Koons

    Whenever I’m asked about whose work influenced me, I always say Martin Kippenberger. It’s hard for me to let go of the fact that he isn’t here any longer. When I was involved with him, he was painting every day, but painting very rapidly. I love the hotel drawings. There is a certain tenderness that’s almost surprising. I had one of Martin’s large underwear paintings in my living room.

    I first met Martin in 1986 through Max Hetzler. The gallery thought it would be interesting to show some New York artists in Cologne; Bob Gober, Jon Kessler, and I were invited to be in a group show. I felt completely