About this artwork
As a former stockbroker, Jeff Koons is used to engaging with the commercial world. The 'Art Magazine Ads' were used to publicise the exhibition of his 'Banality Series' in 1988. Koons used standard advertising techniques to promote his works in art magazines and to pre-empt a negative backlash against the show. Like the exhibition itself, these photographs were deliberately provocative, questioning the merits of 'high art', whilst also endorsing popular culture. With slogans such as "Exploit the Masses / Banality as Saviour", the ads reflected Koons desire to "remove bourgeois guilt and shame in responding to banality".
Updated before 2020
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artist:Jeff Koons (born 1955) American
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title:Art Magazine Ads (Flash Art)
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date created:1988 - 1989
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materials:Lithograph on paper
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measurements:9.15 x 7.12 cm
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object type:
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credit line:ARTIST ROOMS National Galleries of Scotland and Tate. Acquired jointly through The d'Offay Donation with assistance from the National Heritage Memorial Fund and Art Fund, 2008
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accession number:AR01130
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gallery:
Jeff Koons
Jeff Koons
Koons was born in Pennsylvania. Before becoming an artist he worked as a successful commodities broker on Wall Street. In Koons's early work he displayed everyday items such as vacuum cleaners and basketballs in glass cases, making them both aesthetic objects and social icons. In so doing, the...