Of bunnies and balloon dogs.

I'm a fan of Pop.  I think it has something to do with the fact that I was born in the early 60s, a time when Pop art, pop culture, and pop music were taking the planet by storm.  I've grown up with Pop..

It's not surprise then, that I went out of my way to see one of the art world's biggest Pop super stars, Jeff Koons. Koons has had a number of large retrospectives but never one in the U.S. Well, until now with the opening of Jeff Koons: A Retrospective, a sprawling show at the Whitney Museum of American Art (the last show before the museum moves to its new Chelsea location).

The art world has a love/hate relationship with Jeff Koons. Museums and their curators love him for his blockbuster spectacles that generate crowds and ticket sales. But many critics love to hate him. And the reviews of this show follow the usual template suggesting that Mr. Koons' work lacks any real relevance or meaning and offers no art-historical value, just mindless fluff.  (For a round up of the review hysteria, check out this brilliant poem created by Carolina Miranda at the L. A. Times. She took the most outrageous lines from a bunch of reviews and ended up with a fine piece of poetry.) But I think those naysayers may have missed the point.  Here are three reasons why:

1. Art critics are their own worst enemies.  Art critics' second favorite thing to gripe about is current art movements.  It's happened throughout history, critics complain about anyone who is doing anything that pushes the limits more conventional, established tastes in art.  But here's the problem, Art critics' favorite thing to gripe about is how wrong previous art critics were.  Considering how much negative criticism has been written about Koons, he's destined to be a darling of future art academics.

2. The critics might actually just be wrong.  I think Jeff Koons' art is more important and meaningful than people give him credit for.  I offer a small sculpture in this show as an example. Listening to Koons and the curators of the show talk about Split Rocker (photo below) you realize this innocent, happy work is really more sinister.  Split Rocker was created when Koons was going through a difficult divorce which involved his Italian porn-star wife absconding with his son to Italy. With that in mind, the playful sculpture seems more sinister, almost violent, with heads that are cut in half and smashed together. 

3. Objects matter. Art and history celebrate and revere objects, particularly objects that are made at great cost, with great skill, and in ways that have never been done before.  And Jeff Koons' objects are spectacular. Some objects are so difficult to fabricate it can take decades to arrive at the final sculpture.  Take Play Doh which makes its debut for this show.  It has been in the works for 20 years.  All this attention to creation results in objects that are dazzling, particularly those with shiny, mirror-like surfaces. And boy, do the critics like to make fun of those shiny, mirror-like surfaces.

Of course, I'm not trained as an art critic so I doubt anyone is going to take my thoughts on Jeff Koons seriously.  But I am qualified as a contemporary art fan.  In fact, I'm about a big a fan as anyone I know.  And as a fan, Jeff Koons: A Retrospective, with its gasp-inducing galleries and works of art that seem made for selfies, is a dang good time at a museum.  So enough blathering on about critics and the meaning of art.  Let's look at some pictures.

The galleries in the show were arranged chronologically which meant starting out with vaccuum cleaners.  I think these works baffle people as much as any of Koons works.  He's channeling the "ready mades" of Duchamp.  But these seem to be doing more than just asking, "What is art?"  Instead asking questions about air and it's role in human lives, also a theme of the bronze life raft.

Jeff Koons, New Hoover Celebrity III's (1980, two vacuum cleaners, acrylic, fluorescent lights)

Jeff Koons, Lifeboat (1985, bronze)

There are more trains in Koons work than you realize including this exact, stainless steel replica of a Jim Beam collectible decanter.  It's actually filled with Jim Beam bourbon complete with official seals from the distillery.  You can see Kara and Felix trying to find all of the seven seals.

Jeff Koons, Jim Beam - J.B. Turner Train (1986, stainless steel, bourbon)

Jeff Koons, Jim Beam - J.B. Turner Train (1986, stainless steel, bourbon)

I think Rabbit was the first Koons work I ever saw in person.  It's still perfectly charming, yet a little creepy.

Jeff Koons, Rabbit (1986, stainless steel)

Jeff Koons, detail, Rabbit (1986, stainless steel)

These works, including Split Rocket from the Easy Fun series are just that.  Or are they.

Jeff Koons, Giraffe (Lilac) (1999, crystal glass, mirrored glass,
carbon fiber, foam, colored plastic interlayer, and stainless steel)

Jeff Koons, Kangaroo (Red)
(1999, crystal glass, mirrored glass, carbon fiber,
foam, colored plastic interlayer, and stainless steel)

Installation view, Jeff Koons, Split Rocker (Orange Red)
(1999, polychromed aluminum)

The weirdly photo-realistic painting mashups created by Koons' armies of assistants are strangely appealing.

Jeff Koons, Junkyard (2002, oil on canvas)

Jeff Koons, Lips (2000, oil on canvas)

Koons' Celebration series features several of his most famous works including the balloon dogs.  But fear not friends of the felines.  Koons does cats too.  Like the massive Cat on a Clothesline.  This picture really doesn't show how big that thing is. 

Jeff Koons, Cat on a Clothesline (Aqua)
(1994-2001, polyethylene, one of five unique versions)

Unbelievably, this is the first time I've seen one of Jeff Koons' balloon dogs in person.  But for a long time I've been fascinated with the way Koons has been able to take an icon as ubiquitous as the lowly balloon dog and make it his own.  You almost can't look at a balloon dog without thinking Koons.  And it's fun to see all the knock offs that have appeared including one that provoked Koons to sue an art gallery.  Although Koons seemed to quickly realize, you can't own the intellectual idea of a balloon dog. That certainly hasn't stopped him from trying. Balloon Dog (Yellow) was even more fun and intriguing than I expected.

Jeff Koons, Balloon Dog (Yellow)
(1994 - 2000, mirror-polished stainless steel with
transparent coating, one of five unique versions)

Jeff Koons, Balloon Dog (Yellow)
(1994 - 2000, mirror-polished stainless steel
with transparent coating, one of five unique versions)

Jeff Koons, Balloon Dog (Yellow)
(1994 - 2000, mirror-polished stainless steel
with transparent coating, one of five unique versions)

Play Do is based on a creation by Jeff Koons' son.  It took twenty years to finally complete the work.

Jeff Koons, Play Doh (1994 - 2014, polychromed
aluminum, one of five unique versions)

Hulk (Organ) is a functioning organ, although sound is reportedly not pleasing. When played, it sounds something like a race car.  The curators decided it was too unpleasant to play within the gallery. That's lame.

Jeff Koons, Hulk (Organ)
(2004 -14, polychromed bronze
and mixed media, edition 1/3)

This is the heaviest piece in the show weighing in at 15,000 pounds.

Jeff Koons, Gorilla (2006 - 11, granite, edition 1/3)

I find these later Koons' paintings with their art-historical references appealing.

Jeff Koons, Antiquity (Manet), (2011-14, oil on canvas)

This is what happens when balloon dogs meet ancient fertility figures.

Jeff Koons, Balloon Venus (Orange)
(2008 - 12, Mirror-polished stainless steel with
transparent color coating, one of five unique versions)

I love how some of Koons' metallic finishes create extreme, abstract imagery.

Jeff Koons, Metallic Venus
(2010 - 12, mirror-polished stainless steel with
transparent color coating and live flowering plants)

Finally, the reason my social media persona is named "Art Lobster" has to do with lobsters in art. It seems that throughout the history of art, lobsters have been a popular source of inspiration.  I don't know why, but it surprises and amuses me. There are the myriad still lifes featuring lobsters created by the great Dutch painters and others. There is the lobster weirdness dreamed up by Salvador Dali (a major influence for Koons). Roy Lichtenstein created pop-infused lobster still lifes. Not long ago John Baldessari even created an interactive lobster art work. And of course, there are the lobster works of Jeff Koons.  These works are highly influenced by Dali and Duchamp and yet deliver a fresh take on lobsters in art. 

Jeff Koons, Lobster, (2003, polychromed aluminum
and coated steel chain, artist's proof)

Jeff Koons, Moustache Lobsters, (2003, oil on canvas)

Since Art Lobster is mostly a personal review of things I see, do, and read, I've decided to start also including links to Instragram photos from the events I write about. Here are photos from the Whitney's Jeff Koons Retrospective.

• Balloon Dog Reflections
• Moon Reflections
• Art Lobster

Previous posts that include references to Jeff Koons:

• Expecting the unexpected in New York City.
• The art of the Christmas stocking, part two.
• Jeff Koons: Basketball star.

Art Lobster: Subway edition.

It's been a while since I've had an official post about Art that features lobsters.  But New York delivers again with Tony Buonagurio's Times Square: 35 Times, a permanent public art installation in the Times Square 42nd Street Subway Stop that features 35 inlaid ceramic sculptures.  These ceramic squares were made by the artist over a period of five years.  And one  includes the lobster as Art. It may not be my favorite example of lobster Art but it's still worthy of a shout out.

Sundance Film Festival 2011: Art Lobster will be there.

At last year's Sundance Film Festival, I saw a total of sixteen movies, all of which were reviewed right here at the Art Lobster. With movie reviews and other related comments, the Film Festival was responsible for 20 posts. This year's festival is less than two weeks away. My locals-only quick pass is ordered. And I'm more committed than ever to recording my festival experience.

In preparation for the 2011 Festival, I'm re-skinning Art Lobster to match the Sundance branding. You may have seen the current branding which features a fantastic snowflake created from icons that represent independent film and Sundance. That image is paired with the theme line, "be there."

In fact, if you follow the Sundance Film Festival blog, they offer regular posts calling out individual icons from the snowflake and telling the stories those icons represent. For example, the shovel icon is a nod to Joel and Ethan Cohen's 1985 Sundance film, Blood Simple:

I've ripped off the identity for my own personal amusement. But don't think that I just stole the graphic as is. No, look closely and you'll notice I've created my own graphic featuring, what else, lobsters.

Now, I just have to wait for the theater lights to dim. See you at Sundance.

Art Lobster: Make your own still life edition.

It's a dream come true. Now you can create your own Dutch still-life masterpiece (complete with lobster) thanks to American conceptual artist, John Baldessari.  How can this be possible, you ask?  Because Baldessari has created an online, interactive version of a work he originally created in 2001 for a show at LACMA.  The online version of the work titled In Still Life 2001-2010 digitally deconstructs Abraham van Breyeren's 1667 painting Banquet Still Life and invites viewers to reassemble the parts to create new works of art.

Baldessari argues that, "When someone completes their own still life In Still Life 2001-2010 it becomes their own artwork. It's not mine. It's theirs."  With that in mind, I give you my first original work of lobster art, Still Life with Levitating Lobster (2010, digital image). It feels good to carry on the traditions of other great artists like van Breyeren and Baldessari.

You too can follow in the traditions of the masters. Create your own still life here.

Book fifteen: The Secret Life of Lobsters by Trevor Corson (A.K.A Art Lobster: Literary edition).

I stumbled across this book while browsing Amazon.com.  And with a blog titled Art Lobster, and as an avid reader, how could I not buy The Secret Life of Lobsters: How Fishermen and Scientists Are Unraveling the Mysteries of Our Favorite Crustacean by Trevor Corson.  I like books like this.  Whether it's bridge, butterflies, or invented languages, I like non-fiction books that focus intently on a single, unexpected subject.

This book about lobsters didn't disappoint.  Holy cow, lobsters are weird.  And Corson delights in tracking down scientists who are trying to figure out their strange lives.  Let's start with the molting, which requires the lobster to shed the entire hard shells.  And the hard shells run down their throats and through their digestive systems.  Ouch! And Gross!  The poor lobsters are momentarily little more than vulnerable, gelatinous blobs while they wait for their new larger shells to harden.

Then there's the mating, which can only happen immediately after the female has shed her shell. And since the males are normally very aggressive, the female lobsters have to deploy a flotilla of chemicals to stay attractive and keep her partners from eating them.

The book also includes a lot of interesting information about how science is working with the lobster industry to ensure a sustainable harvest.  This story made a "tree hugger" like me question my usual, immediate assumption that the environmentalists are always right.


The book isn't perfect.  It's got lots of redundancy. In fact, sometimes I was pretty sure I was re-reading the book.  And it feels more limited that other single-subject books I've read. The books focuses almost exclusively on lobsters off the coast of Maine and on science and the lobster industry.   With so many species of lobsters around the world, with a culinary industry that seems entranced by lobsters, and with (HELLO) so many lobsters in the world of fine art, I think this book would have been better if it had expanded it's scope.  

Nonetheless, The Secret Life of Lobsters makes for a fun read and a great blog post.

Art Lobster: Chelsea gallery edition.

For all you fellow fans of lobsters in art, drop everything and run as fast as you can to the Gagosian Gallery in Chelsea. There you will find an art lobster dream come true.  The gallery is currently hosting a show featuring Roy Lichtenstein's still lifes.  And while many of the paintings and sculptures are fantastic, there are a couple of particular interest to lobster connosieurs, with two, that's right I said two, enormous still lifes featuring lobsters.  And as a bonus, there's a brilliant, small colored-pencil drawing that is a study for one of the larger paintings. It's a veritable Art Lobster feast.

I was aware that Lichenstein had created lobster art  but I thought they were smaller, editioned works. Lichtenstein lobsters have been on my art-I'd-really-like-to-see list for a long time.  And experiencing the meticulous craftsmanship of Lichtenstein's technique helped me build more of an appreciation for the artist.  It was also interesting to see how many of these works reference historical artistic movements, from the Dutch masters, to Impressionism and  Cubism.  That also gave me a greater appreciation for Lichtenstein.

Now I may be willing to sneak a forbidden photo in the Met, but I wasn't about to mess with the gallery attendtants at Gagosian.  I've met some cranky gallery goons in my museum going career, but I've seen very few who looked so ready to rip the camera from your hands and smash it to the floor.  I suppose it's understandable since there were hundreds of millions of dollars worth of art in the gallery. That means all I could muster the courage to do was take a photo of the show poster in the entryway. That's the picture above.

I'll end this post by saying that this is a major check-off on my Art Lobster bucket list.  Now, if I can just figure out a way to see Dali's lobster phone and some of Koons' lobster sculptures and paintings.  Roy Lichtenstein Still Lifes is up through July 30. 

Art Lobster: Bearthday edition.

If it's April 22, it can mean only one of two things: Either its Earth Day or it's my birthday.  No wait. It's both.  It's Bearthday!  And what better Bearthday gift than this nifty dish towel featuring not one but two lobsters, one of them particularly fancy. (I think the fancy lobster may have to appear in a future Art Lobster header.) Thanks Kara!  Now if you could just knit me a jaunty lobster cap or cross stitch an old-fashioned lobster pillow, I'd be in Art Lobster heaven.

Art Lobster: Lady Gaga edition.

In support of my theory that artists are helplessly drawn to the creative power of the lobster, I give you this.  All hail the Gaga Lobster.

 

Art Lobster: Mormon Edition.

Regular readers of the Art Lobster know that the blog takes its name from my fascination with the art world's fascination with lobsters.  From the dutch masters, right up to today with artists like Jeff Koons, lobsters seem to have a special place in the hearts of many a fine artist.  That's why I make every effort to seek out lobster art and feature it here on the screens of this blog.  So imagine my delight when on a recent visit to the Salt Lake Art center I ran into this:

Yes, that's a seagull eating a lobster. The painting (Pride, 2008, combined mediums on hand-woven, toned paper mounted on archival board) is part of a series titled Seven Deadly Sins painted by Jamie Wyeth, who just happens to be the son of famed painter Andrew Wyeth.  Why would this painting be so exciting?  It's not just because Wyeth's painting style is really interesting. Or even that it's a painting of a lobster.  It's because it's a painting of A SEAGULL EATING A LOBSTER.  And why would that matter.  Well there's at least a little humor in the fact that this (and a bunch of other seagull paintings) are hanging just a half a block from this:

Yes, that's the seagull monument on Temple Square, ground zero for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints.  The monument commemorates the flocks of seagulls that descended on the Salt Lake Valley, devouring hordes of Mormon crickets and saving the crops and the lives of the saints.  Which means this painting could be a metaphor for my relationship with the church; the divine, angelic gull sent from on high to devour the liberal, art-loving, bottom-feeding ex-member.

OK, that's probably not what this painting is about. (Although it makes for a great story and I will happily post any works of art based on the idea.)  At least we can be pretty sure that the church and Wyeth don't share the exact same sentiments when it comes to gulls. While the Mormons celebrate the seagull as a divine miracle sent in a time of extreme need, Wyeth pretty much just sees them as evil.  Here's what he has to say about the birds. "It always bothered me the way gulls have been depicted through the years. Particularly in Maine art, they're made to look like white doves, when in fact gulls are scavenger's. They're evil."

I'm refusing to take sides on the matter.

Art Lobster: Creole edition.

You can’t travel to New Orleans and not expect to find some tasty shellfish. The New Orleans Museum of Art didn’t disappoint. Continuing a long tradition of lobsters in art, here’s Still Life of Fruit with Lobster and Dead Game, an oil on canvas painted by Dutch artist Michel Simons some time in the early part of the 17th Century. Delicious!

Lobster watch: NY fashion edition.

For you regular readers of the VV, you know of my fascination with lobsters in art. The New York museums and galleries were a disappointment from the lobster perspective. But all is not lost.

It appears the lobsters have escaped the museums and headed straight for the fashionistas. We spied this crustaceous frock in the window of a Betsey Johnson boutique on Fifth Avenue.

Lobster watch: UMFA

Another lobster in art. You can see this crustacean art right here in Salt Lake City at the Utah Museum of Fine Arts (UMFA). Painted by Dutch artist Abraham Susenier sometime in the mid-seventeenth century, the painting is titled Still Life with a Lobster, Romer, Oysters, Grapes, and a Knife.

Art lobster.

Anyone who’s willing to listen to my boring musings on art knows that lobsters fascinate me because they show up in the world of fine art so often. And lobsters just seem like a strange creature to get so much canvas time. That’s given me a soft spot for the bright red crustaceans. So I’ve decided to start tracking my encounters with lobsters in art.

While I was at the Legion of Honor I ran into this massive still life complete with lobster. This is Still Life painted in 1666 by Dutch artist Abraham van Beyeren. Enjoy.