The Incredible Art of Being Jeff Koons nytimes.com/2026/09/11/t-mag… via @NYTimes Thrilled to share this profile in @tmagazine out now. Thank you to Nick Haramis for a wonderful conversation, and to Renée Cox for capturing these images in the studio — styling by Zara Mirkin. Link in bio to read the full piece.

I have always been fond of Ushering in Banality. To me, it represents my cultural history. The base is in the shape of a footprint referencing the young boy who is pushing the pig. I’ve always thought of the young boy as a self-portrait. The work represents the transcendence possible in the accessible and the divine.   “Ushering in Banality” (1988) polychromed wood, 38 x 62 x 30 inches © Jeff Koons, Photos: 1) Schaub/Höffner, Köln, © TASCHEN GmbH 2) Preparing for exhibition at Galerie Max Hetzler, Cologne, 1988, Photo by Wilhelm Schürmann 3&4) photos by Guillaume Onimus, Courtesy Christie’s 5) on view at Jeff Koons: A Retrospective at the Whitney Museum of American Art, Photo: Ronald Amstutz

“Metallic Venus” from the Antiquity series highlights desire, abstraction, and beauty along with our mortality. Even in Arcadia, life cycle is present.   “Metallic Venus” (2010-2012), mirror-polished stainless steel with transparent color coating and live flowering plant, 100 x 52 x 40 inches, 254 x 132.1 x 101.6 cm © Jeff Koons, “Jeff Koons: Shine” Exhibition Photos: Ela Bialkowska, OKNO Studio, Courtesy Palazzo Strozzi

“Caterpillar Chains” and “Titi” shown with objects from the collection of Mucem in Marseille, France. Both works engage with readymade objects that surround us in everyday life.   “Caterpillar Chains” (2003) polychromed aluminum and coated steel chain, 20 x 43 1/2 x 77 inches “Titi” (2004-2009) mirror-polished stainless steel with transparent color coating 37 7/8 x 23 13/16 x 14 7/8 inches © Jeff Koons, Photos by Laurent Lecat. Marseille, Musée des Civilisations de l'Europe et de la Méditerranée, Jeff Koons Mucem: Works from the Pinault Collection, Mucem Scenography by Pascal Rodriguez

“Play-Doh” from my Celebration series is a polychromed aluminum sculpture that captures the openness of the creative act!   Jeff Koons, Play-Doh, 1994–2014, polychromed aluminum, 124 x 152 1/4 x 137 inches, © Jeff Koons, Jeff Koons: Now exhibition photo by Prudence Cuming Associates at Newport Street Gallery, London

“Jim Beam - J.B. Turner Train” (1986) on view in the Salon of the Nobility in the Queen’s Apartments, in the Palace of Versailles during “Jeff Koons: Versailles.”   Jim Beam - J.B. Turner Train is a sculpture from the Luxury and Degradation series made from stainless steel and each car of the train is filled with a fifth of Jim Beam bourbon and sealed with a tax stamp.     Jeff Koons, Jim Beam - J.B. Turner Train (1986) stainless steel and bourbon, 11 x 114 x 6 1/2 inches © Jeff Koons, Photos by Laurent Lecat

Here’s my sculpture “Coloring Book” on view during a past Royal Academy of Arts Summer Exhibition in their courtyard, which has been held in London every year since 1769.

Here are images from the exhibition “Re-Object: Marcel Duchamp, Damien Hirst, Jeff Koons, Gerhard Merz” installed at Kunsthaus Bregenz. Artworks include my sculptures Rabbit, Tulips, Balloon Dog (Blue), Caterpillar Ladder, and my painting Hulk Elvis I. Photos: Markus Tretter Fotografie, 2007

Officially on TikTok! tiktok.com/@officialjeffkoon…

I have always enjoyed the references within Manet’s painting Luncheon on the Grass to Raimondi’s The Judgment of Paris and Titian’s Pastoral Concert. The small frog in the bottom left corner, I’ve always associated with Phryne, considered to be one of the most beautiful models of the ancient world and was called Phryne because of her pale skin color.   Jeff Koons, Gazing Ball (Manet Luncheon on the Grass), 2014-2015 oil on canvas, glass, and aluminum, 63 x 81 1/4 x 14 3/4 inches © Jeff Koons, Photo: Tom Powel Imaging

“Beach,” from my Easyfun-Ethereal series, was created from layering images, both positive and negative shapes of two-dimensional photographic images. There is a wide range of images including packaged foods, swimsuits, palm trees, strawberry cheesecake, and a magic marker gesture drawing, incorporated in the center of the painting within a negative shape, a belly button - it’s a summery painting.   “Beach” 2001, oil on canvas, 108 x 84 inches © Jeff Koons

“Titi Tire” from the Popeye series looks like an inflatable toy but it is actually cast in aluminum and appears to effortlessly pass through a rubber tire, without any distortion occurring. The transformed readymade hangs suspended from a red-colored coated steel chain. The inflatable Titi character reoccurs throughout the Popeye series as a symbol of optimism.    “Titi Tire” (2003-2010) polychromed aluminum, rubber, and coated steel chain, 42 1/16 x 37 7/16 x 25 1/2 inches © Jeff Koons

“Michael Jackson and Bubbles” for me references Egyptian pharaohs. Think King Tut and Cleopatra. Displayed here within Liebieghaus Skulpturensammlung’s Egyptian wing.   “Michael Jackson and Bubbles”1988, porcelain, 42 x 70 1/2 x 32 1/2 inches © Jeff Koons, photos courtesy Liebieghaus Skulpturensammlung

“Balloon Venus (Orange)” from the Antiquity series is based on the 29,500-year-old Venus of Willendorf. “Balloon Venus” standing in the exhibition ‘Lost in America’ in Al Riwaq Gallery, Doha, and in the rotunda of the Nautralhistorisches Museum Wien; the home of the Venus of Willendorf.   “Balloon Venus (Orange)” (2008-2012) mirror-polished stainless steel with transparent color coating, 102 x 58 3/16 x 54 1/8 inches © Jeff Koons 1) Photo by AlAl-anssari on view in Doha at Al Riwaq Gallery, Qatar Museums 2) photo of the Venus of Willendorf from the collection of the Nautralhistorisches Museum (NHM) Wien #nhmwien 3) Photo by Herbert Newbauerer at NHM

Happy Easter!   “Inflatable Flower and Bunny (Tall White, Pink Bunny)” (1979) vinyl and mirrors, 32 x 25 x 19 inches © Jeff Koons, Photo by Douglas M. Parker Studio

Bluebird Planter (2010-16) is a sculpture from the Antiquity series painted with transparent color gradations.  The live flowering plants that fill the bluebird celebrate the power of nature while the reflective surface represents consciousness. “Bluebird Planter”(2010-2016) mirror-polished stainless steel with transparent color coating and live flowering plants, 82 1/2 x 110 3/4 x 40 inches © Jeff Koons. Photo 1: Dan Bradica, Courtesy David Zwirner; Photo 2: Ela Bialkowska, OKNO Studio, Courtesy Palazzo Strozzi; Photo 3: Fredrick Nilsen, Courtesy Gagosian

Popeye Train (Birds) is a symbol of the transcendent power of art.   "Popeye Train (Birds)” (2009) oil on canvas © Jeff Koons

“Balloon Rabbit (Yellow)” is one of the few balloon animals that I have made. Monumental in its scale and through the use of form references the mother goddess.   “Balloon Rabbit (Yellow)” (2005-2010) mirror-polished stainless steel with transparent color coating, 168 x 80 3/4 x 107 inches. Installation view at Gagosian, Photos by Tom Powel Imaging

“Woman in Tub,” a porcelain sculpture from my Banality series, seen here presented with Andre della Robbia’s glazed terra cotta altarpieces in Frankfurt’s Liebieghaus Skulpturensammlung. This combination for me was a dream!   “Woman in Tub” (1988) porcelain, 23 3/4 x 36 x 27 inches © Jeff Koons, Photos: Norbert Miguletz   #JeffKoons #contemporaryart @Liebieghaus

“Party Hat (Orange)” is a monumental sculpture from the Celebration series that represents optimism and wonder. Installed at the UC San Diego Jacobs Medical Center.   “Party Hat (Orange)” 1994-2019, mirror-polished stainless steel with transparent color coating, 99 1/8 x 133 5/8 x 116 5/8 inches © Jeff Koons, Photos: ©2020 Philipp Scholz Ritterman, Jacobs Medical Center, in the Healing Arts Collection, a gift of Joan and Irwin Jacobs   #JeffKoons #PartyHat #contemporaryart #UCSanDiego