The Madison Avenue building is at its end and the Koons exhibit has closed now, so let’s trash it. No, we’re not doing that but I’ll bet your Instagram feed at some point over the last few months might have shown you a selfie taken at “Jeff Koons: A Retrospective”. There were LOTS of shiny reflective surfaces so it was irresistible selfie bait. I did one myself, but I didn’t tag it properly –I guess, as I’m not their demo. Plenty of #KoonsSelfies were taken by youngsters because the Whitney had been passing out cards that instruct teens exactly how to share their love of the Whitney. “KOONS IS GREAT FOR SELFIES” the boldfaced message reads. “Take a selfie and post it on Instagram! Use: @whitneymuseum and #Koons #ArtSelfie”. No doubt this will continue at new Meatpacking District location which opens next spring. Check your Instagram feed, kids.
Jeff Koons retrospective
The artist with Michael Jackson and Bubbles at The Whitney in June
KOONS-A-THON: WHITNEY WILL STAY OPEN FOR 36 HOURS
It’s been a summer of Koons-mania in NYC and now that fall is here, we’re wrapping Jeff up. Not really – but The Whitney Museum WILL stay open for 36 hours, from 11AM October 18 through 11PM October 19, to celebrate the closing of their “Jeff Koons: A Retrospective” and the Madison Avenue galleries. (Next spring the museum will reopen in its new location on The High Line in the Meatpacking District.) The New York Times reports that Koons “may make an appearance in the dead of night.” (One would imagine he’d have to drop by to say farewell to the work goes back to the the many millionaires various homes and art storage.)
Meanwhile, as his “Split Rocker” flower sculpture has left it’s Rockefeller Center home, Christie’s auction house is ready to take up the slack by displaying his “Balloon Monkey (Orange)” at its 20 Rockefeller Plaza entrance for six weeks, before its (more-than-likely record-setting) sale on November 12. Estimate: $20-30,000,000. Oh, it’s a Koons, Koons World, we just live in it.
Balloon Monkey (orange) was just shown for the first time last year at Gagosian in Chelsea