Also with a French connection, Delvoye's work consisted of pigs that he had tattoed with the Louis Vuitton logo and Disney imagery. Arguably beautiful, and emminently rejectable on any number of grounds (animal cruelty, grossness, and decadence), the work was determined to be not artistically valid, i.e., "not art." On the other hand, Koons, whose work receives many of the same criticisms (particularly related to his self-pornography with his ex-wife Italian porn star La Cicciolina (aka Ilona Staller), for which the Humane Society could justifiably pursue him for inflicting inhumanity and grossness on both Ilona and the viewing public), has been provided with the most exalted venue imaginable for the display of his kitschy, immense, and amusing sculptures, the symbol of cultural decadence that is Versailles. Press reports indicate that the some visitors to Versailles wish that a similar judgement had been rendered against Koons in order to prevent this exhibition as well.
"Ushering in Banality" by Jeff Koons at the Château de Versailles exhibition.
Ed Alcock for The New York Times
Delvoye and Koons are both multi-dimensional artists who incorporate themes related to society, aesthetics, art history, branding, and consumption into work that takes a wide variety of visual forms, media, and directions, with an emphasis on fabrication of exceptional quality in the service of questionable taste. Provocative, prolific, and never underwhelming, but occasionally annoying. What more could we ask of them than work that is "not art?"
At the Court of the Sun King, Some All American Art (NYT)
Pigs Out, But Artist Sells Tatoo Off Man's Back (NPR)
Jeff Koons Versailles Exhibit
At the Court of the Sun King, Some All American Art (NYT)
Pigs Out, But Artist Sells Tatoo Off Man's Back (NPR)
Jeff Koons Versailles Exhibit
