Artist Rooms: Jeff Koons
The new Jeff Koons exhibition at the Castle is stirring up a completely different conversation about art.
The Castle Museum’s gallery, most recently filled with the lilac and lace of Manet’s Impressionist paintings have now got some hoovers in glass cases and two giant porcelain bears. The new Jeff Koons exhibition is stirring up a completely different conversation about art here in Norwich.
Compared to the likes of Andy Warhol and Damien Hirst, this exhibition illustrated for me that Jeff Koons is without doubt one of the most original, important and thought-provoking artists of our time. It takes us through an extremely diverse selection of Koons’ art from some of his most famous collections. Featuring some of the earlier works from The New to the bolder and more controversial pieces from Made in Heaven, they create a beautiful and colourful array that just wets your appetite if you haven’t seen any of Koons’ work before.
As the documentary that plays throughout the rooms tells us, Koons’ use of everyday, commercial objects makes his art accessible and lifts up the rope between the art world and those who may feel intimidated by art. Each of the works exhorted a completely new reaction from me and Koons’ intention of making the art happen inside us was strikingly clear. A highlight of the exhibition is the physical engagement that Koons provokes with his art; the second room in the exhibition holds large, animal shaped, coloured mirrors from his collection Easyfun, intended to evoke a ‘childlike sense of self discovery’. Watching myself looking at art was definitely an interesting if not slightly uncomfortable way of making me question how I was reacting to it. My colour distorted reflection became a part of the piece, creating a more intimate and engaged relationship with the art itself.
As an exhibition that made me hungry for more inflatable caterpillars on chains, the Castle has done an excellent job at providing Norwich with a fresh perspective on art. Although the selections of art from each of his collections were small, it was an excellent taster of his work and, as the only chance to see his art in the UK this year, it’s definitely worth a wander round before it ends on the 6th September.
