Central to Jeff Koons’s practice is its irreverent interventions of the canon of art history, from the ancient statues of Praxiteles to the Surrealist dreamscapes of Salvador Dalí. A signature example of the artist’s balloon sculptures, Balloon Venus Dolni Vestonice (Magenta), 2013–2017, stands as Koons’s interpretation of one of earliest known pieces of figurative art. The work is from the artist’s Antiquity series, which includes four sculptures that take as inspiration Venus figurines from the Upper Paleolithic period. Enlarged to nearly 35 times the height of the prehistoric icon on which it is based, this towering stainless-steel sculpture invites the viewer to experience the figure on entirely different terms. Its pristine mirror-polished magenta surface, reflecting the space around it, functions as an incisive commentary on postmillennial commodification that extends the Pop tradition. “The Balloon Venus Dolni Vestonice… is an evident attempt to re-introduce and re-invent ancient figurines in a modern context,” the critic Natalia Gierowska illuminated. “The reflections make us feel included, ourselves an integral part of the art and thus absorb us as a part of the history of our civilization.”ⁱ 

 

 

Appearing directly in the artist’s work since the late 1970s, the figure of Venus—the goddess of love, beauty, and fertility—has long influenced Koons’s practice. From antiquity to the present day, she has functioned as an ever-evolving symbol of sex and desire, vital themes that thread together much of Koons’s corpus. The Dolni Venus ivory, from which the present work takes its name, is a prehistoric carving that was excavated from the Dolní Věstonice archaeological site (today located in the Czech Republic) and dates from approximately 25,000 BCE. A heavily stylized rod with two breast-shaped knobs, this enigmatic object has been interpreted by archaeologists as representing both male and female sexuality. The slender figurine marks a stark contrast with the bulbous, almost spherical proportions of Koons’s other three Balloon Venus compositions. 

 

Koons’s Balloon Venus

A reflection of Koons’s engagement with the breadth of art history as well as its interrogations of the human condition, Balloon Venus Dolni Vestonice also alludes to the dramatic compositions and themes of Renaissance sculpture. According to Koons, Balloon Venus Dolni Vestonice “captures the essence of the different stages of a woman’s life,” directly referencing the Vanitas Group, a 15^th century wooden sculpture by the late Gothic artist Michel Erhart, which is housed in the Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna.ⁱⁱ  Suggesting the transience of beauty and youth, the Vanitas Group depicts three figures—a young man, young woman, and elderly woman—standing shoulder-to-shoulder. The nudes are rendered in a striking realism that represents the two distinct phases of aging and their physical manifestations: vitality and decay. Though Balloon Venus Dolni Vestonice most conspicuously resembles the Dolni Venus ivory, upon closer inspection a third breast that Koons has added to the central rod comes into view. The three breasts are unequally sized, appearing as if they are in progressive stages of deflation that evoke Erhart’s unnerving sculpture.

 

Perhaps this optical illusion acts as Koons’s memento mori, warning the viewer that we will all grow old and pass. “One of the reasons that I have always worked with balloons is that that the membrane is a reference to our skin; it’s about both internal and external life,” the artist expressed.ⁱⁱⁱ Like skin, balloons are composed of a thin, fragile barrier that with time naturally begins to deflate and sag. This membrane separates outer appearance from a hidden interior, its pristine surface mimicking the deceptive image of perfection that societal standards of beauty encourage us to maintain. On the other hand, the steel that actually forms Balloon Venus Dolni Vestonice lends the work a sense of immortality—gesturing towards the oscillation between fragility and strength that underpins the cycle of life.

 

The gravity of these themes is counterposed by the present sculpture’s bright magenta hue and childlike imagery. In addition to the present example, the artist produced unique versions of the form in red, violet, yellow and orange—fitting color choices for a balloon creation you might find at a child’s birthday party. This playfulness is furthered by the work’s anatomical humor, with the flaccid tops and lips of the balloons imitating nipples. Coalescing his interests in art history, desire, and play, Balloon Venus Dolni Vestonice embodies Koons’s mission to explore the collective meanings of timeless signifiers and symbols. “For me,” the artist articulated, “the [Balloon Venus] sculptures engage with human history and the connectivity of art that spans the history of humankind.”^iv

 

 

ⁱ Natalia Gierowska, “Jeff Koons: Shine,” The Brooklyn Rail, Nov. 2021, online.

ⁱⁱ Jeff Koons, post on X (formerly known as Twitter), Mar. 12, 2020, online.

ⁱⁱⁱ Koons, quoted in Sarah Cascone, “Billionaire Victor Pinchuk’s Jeff Koons Balloon Sculpture Could Fetch Over $10 Million at Auction to Benefit Ukraine,” Artnet News, Jul. 20, 2022, online.

^iv Ibid.