Tuesday, November 04, 2008

Jeff Koons at Chateau de Versailles

So we took a 1/2 day trip to Chateau de Versailles. Where Sofia Coppola filmed Marie Antoinette.

Weirdest thing was that Jeff Koons was being exhibited within the palace. The first piece I saw was Balloon Dog in one of the rooms. While the others were wondering what was this giant pink metallic dog doing in the middle of a stately 17th Century palace, I immediately thought, "Jeff Koons!".

Balloon Dog

Haha! I'm no art expert but there is something serendipitous about this artwork. And to think that auntie and I were just talking about his famous Balloon Dog days before leaving for Paris. We couldn't remember how it was brought into our conversation but imagine my surprise when I saw it in one of the many halls in the palace.

Balloon Dog

There were plenty more of his works in the other rooms. But none of the raunchy "Made In Heaven" series. If you're not aware of this series, just google it and erm, be mindful that Ilona Staller, a former(?) pornstar/member of parliament (she works hard for her million dollar a month pay) is also Jeff Koons' ex-wife.

Michael Jackson and Bubbles

There were some which looks wrong on many levels. Like this piece of Michael Jackson and his pet chimp Bubbles. Whatever happened to Bubbles anyway? Bubbles is like Andrew Ridgeley (aka the other half of Wham!) during MJ's Dangerous era.

Lobster

Some were even more inane. Like the one above. But strangely, when Lobster is juxtaposed next to the crystal chandelier, it takes on a whole new meaning. Oh! I love the way I used the word "juxtaposed". So artsy.

Moon

I am not a fan of Jeff Koons. Most of his works don't go down well with me. I know pr0n when I see it and pr0n is all over in the Made In Heaven series. But some of his works are really spectacular and make really fantastic public pieces.

Balloon Flower

And pieces like Pink Panther, Ushering In Banality and Bear And Policeman, well, kids love them. In fact, TPY took a picture of Bear And Policeman because he thought that his kids will like it.

Pink Panther

Ushering Into Banality

Bear and Policeman

And who knows, you might some treasure amongst this trove.

Hanging Heart

Such luck.

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