{"id":61474,"date":"2025-04-29T23:46:15","date_gmt":"2025-04-29T23:46:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/61474\/"},"modified":"2025-04-29T23:46:15","modified_gmt":"2025-04-29T23:46:15","slug":"after-pace-exit-jeff-koons-reunites-with-gagosian-for-frieze-solo-show","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/61474\/","title":{"rendered":"After Pace Exit, Jeff Koons Reunites with Gagosian for Frieze Solo Show"},"content":{"rendered":"

\n\tJeff Koons<\/a> will reunite with Gagosian<\/a> for a solo presentation at this year\u2019s edition of Frieze New York, less than four years after his closely watched departure from the gallery. <\/p>\n

\n\tThe booth will feature three sculptures<\/a> from his\u00a0Hulk Elvis\u00a0series\u2014Hulk (Organ)\u00a0(2004\u201314),\u00a0Hulk (Tubas)\u00a0(2004\u201318), and\u00a0Hulk (Dragon and Turtle)\u00a0(2004\u201321)\u2014staged against a custom vinyl backdrop derived from his 2007 painting\u00a0Triple Hulk Elvis III.<\/p>\n

\n\tAll three works come from Koons\u2019s personal collection. While the gallery declined to share pricing information\u2014as is the norm for Gagosian\u2014one can assume the booth, along with any sales, will be the talk of the fair. Koons, long known for orchestrating the details of his exhibitions with precision, supervised every aspect of the Frieze presentation, from selection to booth design, the gallery said.<\/p>\n

\t\tRelated Articles<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\"A<\/p>\n

\n\tBegun in 2004, the\u00a0Hulk Elvis\u00a0series fuses Cold War pop imagery and spiritual symbolism, reimagining the green rage monster as a hybrid protector and threat. The sculptures\u2019 gleaming surfaces mimic inflatables but are rendered in bronze and mixed media. Two works\u2014Hulk (Organ)\u00a0and\u00a0Hulk (Tubas)\u2014are fully functional musical instruments, literalizing Koons\u2019s talent for maximalist spectacle.<\/p>\n

\n\tThe reunion with Gagosian comes after a turbulent chapter. In 2021, Koons left both Gagosian and David Zwirner<\/a> to join Pace<\/a> Gallery exclusively, citing a desire for a \u201cchange in environment<\/a>.\u201d That switch lasted just three years. Behind the scenes, as Artnet News\u2018s Kenny Schachter reported last year<\/a>, the split with Pace was less philosophical than financial. Pace had enlisted investors to pre-fund a new series of Meissen-inspired sculptures, sinking between $50 million and $100 million into the venture. When additional fabrication demands came up, the financiers balked\u2014and so did Koons, walking away from Pace before the project could fully materialize.<\/p>\n

\n\tPerhaps Koons\u2019s next series will be called \u201cThe Prodigal Son.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tEven before the Pace saga, signs of strain had surfaced. Amid lawsuits<\/a>, delayed commissions<\/a>, and market softening<\/a>, Koons has, of late, recieved a public reception that has swung between awe and eye-rolling. Still, Koons\u2019s\u00a0Rabbit\u00a0(1986) remains the most expensive work sold at auction by a living artist, fetching $91.1 million in 2019.<\/p>\n

\n\tWhether the Frieze presentation signals a substantive new phase\u2014or simply the latest pivot in a career built on managing both acclaim and controversy\u2014remains to be seen. For now, Gagosian appears willing to bet that Koons\u2019s Hulk can still pack a punch.<\/p>\n

\n\tFrieze New York<\/a> runs from May 7-11 at The Shed.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Jeff Koons will reunite with Gagosian for a solo presentation at this year\u2019s edition of Frieze New York,…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":61475,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3939],"tags":[4021,4020,31757,4022,77,31758,31759,31760,31761,16,15],"class_list":{"0":"post-61474","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-arts-and-design","8":"tag-arts","9":"tag-arts-and-design","10":"tag-david-zwirner","11":"tag-design","12":"tag-entertainment","13":"tag-frieze-new-york-2025","14":"tag-gagosian","15":"tag-jeff-koons","16":"tag-pace","17":"tag-uk","18":"tag-united-kingdom"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/114423921636330220","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/61474","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=61474"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/61474\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/61475"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=61474"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=61474"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=61474"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}