Jeff Koons with his Balloon Dog in Mexico City
Photo: Agencia EL UNIVERSAL
The ubiquitous US artist Jeff Koons gets his first major show in the Middle East this autumn as part of the Qatar-USA 2021 Year of Culture initiative. The show, entitled Jeff Koons: Lost in America (dates to be confirmed) takes place at the QM Gallery Al Riwaq in Doha, following in the footsteps of UK artist Damien Hirst who had a large-scale exhibition at the same space in 2013.
“Curated by Massimiliano Gioni [the artistic director of New York’s New Museum], Lost in America features more than 60 works drawn from Koons’s four-decades-long career, with each gallery introduced by an autobiographical text, compiled from interviews, statements, and quotes by the artist, emphasising his memories, influences and fascination with American visual culture,” says a press statement. The show is organised by the government authority, Qatar Museums.
According to the Gulf Times, the exhibition is due to include the sculptures Balloon Dog (1994–2000), Play-Doh (1994–2014) and Banality (1988). Exhibition organisers declined to comment further on the content. More explicit works such as the 1980s Made in Heaven series featuring the Italian porn star La Cicciolina will presumably not be shown in the conservative Islamic state.
Other events lined up for Qatar include Experimental…
