Anyone would think that the almost seventy-year-old who now walks ‘epiphanically’ through the rooms of the Museum of Fine Arts of Granada (based in the Alhambra), with a dark suit and a ‘gentleman’ manner, was the ‘énfant terrible’ of contemporary art in the 90s and 2000s. Jeff Koons enters this overwhelming monument invited by Picasso (actually the Picasso-Málaga Museum), in a desire of the art gallery to make rotate its funds through the Andalusian provinces. And its first chapter is ‘Reflections’, five works by both artists that dialogue with the History of Spanish Art treasured there and that reinforce their idea of art as a DNA that is transmitted from one author to another. Related news standard Yes Picasso and Jeff Koons : appointment in the Alhambra Nativity Standard polishing No Picasso in the Alhambra: these are the works by the artist and Jeff Koons that will be housed in the Palace of Charles V Paul Marinetto—Jeff Koons, Picasso and The Alhambra. What can we expect from something like this?—I think it is a magical experience, and for me, it has been an ideal experience because it allows me to show the connectivity that is experienced in art. I have always said that Picasso was enveloped in a certain timelessness, which is a metaphysical quality of art. That’s why it always attracted me. And, for the same reason, I got involved in my own way in the most physical aspects of art, in the past, present and future. Here, in the Alhambra, being able to bring together five works like those summoned is something very special, since these are connected with works from the History of Spanish Art from the Collection of the Museum of Fine Arts, so that everything feels alive, it feels certain. interconnectivity. A kind of community that is based on the joy of all aspects of life: birth, transformation, decline… The feeling that occurs when experiencing all this, life itself, is one of joy. That is the narrative that emanates from these works.—Picasso is no stranger to it. He acknowledges that, at a certain point, he replaced Duchamp with Picasso as a reference. What happened?—Since the beginning of my career, both artists have been staples. And they are because of the transformations they have brought about for art since the beginning of the 20th century. But if we look at Picasso, his involvement with the readymade opens the discipline to a whole new world. With it, the tablecloth with which we eat can be incorporated into the pictorial work. Duchamp’s work, his approach to the ready-made was also very revealing, but the gesture, his desire to control the object too much, weighed too much. Embracing Picasso’s work in a different way, fully, which happened to me about 25 years ago, helped me reinvigorate my work, and opened me to a whole series of new possibilities. —In what sense?—I think I learned to connect my work more. One of the most important things that we actually celebrate here, in Granada, is a certain openness to human History. And treat that History as something that happens simultaneously, despite the passage of time. —Has it ever been your intention to break with tradition or are you a misunderstood continuityist?—I produce my work with the idea of being as generous as possible within the very evolution of Art History. I have tried to open myself to all kinds of experiences and change or evolve as an individual from those experiences of opening myself to the world. And I think this is what all Humanities disciplines propose: teaching us to project ourselves outward, towards the outside world, to communicate, and also bring the real world towards ourselves. That changes how we are and, therefore, our interaction with the world becomes different.Shining of the reflection. From top to bottom, ‘The Three Graces’ by Koons, in the Palace of Charles V; ‘Gazing Ball (The Intervention of the Sabine Women)’, by the American; and ‘The Three Graces’ by Picasso, from a century before ABC And we transcend. I try to transcend as an individual, as an artist, and, automatically, I want to share that information with the viewer. So mine is a personal journey but one that wants to connect with the DNA, with the bloodline or the inheritance of everything I do and everything I have already done. This exercise is basic to understanding the freedoms we enjoy as human beings, as individuals who can transcend and become something more. Picasso fought for this throughout his life and I also try to achieve it as an artist, to be as generous as possible. I hope to become a symbol of transcendence. —What do you think of the ‘cancel culture’, which in 2023, the Picasso Year, affected the Spanish painter in some way?—One of the interesting things about this project is that we can see many different events in the world, different periods , different dialogues, aspects that have occurred and, likewise, the consequences of the destruction. This is the human experience of the universe: constant change; a transformation. And we are all part of that. I think one of the symbols of this exhibition is that there are things we can believe in and hold on to lovingly and others we can’t. And Picasso’s work, for me, is one of the first. What he communicates, his message for society, his energy, his way of facing Classicism, the arrival of Cubism, his realism… Until in his old age he creates his most powerful work. The issue of cancellation is on the biological agenda, in daily life. But what is really strong, survives. And Picasso is and will survive his cancellations.—With you, on the other hand, there is no middle ground: he is an artist who is loved or hated. It is evident that the market recognizes his worth, but do he feel recognized by critics? When an artist begins a career, his goal is to do the best possible, to share his progress with others. You consider what you want to communicate, what you want to do. And pain appears if it seems that someone does not accept your intentions. But what balances these swings are exhibitions like the one we celebrate here, full of poetic and sensitive aspects, and people who are more interested in History, also in the future. In the abstraction of what we can experience in life. That interests me more. Bernard Picasso, for example, represents that. Absolutely. As a friend, it has allowed me to share with him moments that are much more poetic and profound than what always remains on the surface. In the foreground, ‘Head with helmet’, by Picasso ABC—He has good words for one of the architects of this project…—The reason I mention it is that the idea or seed of this project is his. Which is born from his desire to get involved with other museums, other institutions in Andalusia, beyond the Picasso-Málaga Museum. It is at a moment like that that you feel an epiphany, and you connect with the beauty and joy of life.—What do you say to those who believe that you are a brand, or a product on the market?—The only thing that I hope that, over time, people can sincerely relate to my work and reflect on it without prejudice. I do know what my life is, what my work is, and the relationship between the two. The first was never more profound and full than in my youth, when everything was pure, it was excitement, emotional and physical, chemical secretions responding to stimuli in a virulent way. But with time comes wisdom and a sense of openness that allows you to get involved with things. I will never change this moment that I am living here now for any other. So we all have a personal life experience and we can only hope that this becomes a role model that can serve others, beyond children, family or friends. —Perfection and beauty was an obsession of the classical world to which the works presented in the Alhambra allude. Is perfection an obsession for you?—I think not. My father was an interior decorator. Someone who did care about perfection. He taught me that details are important, or that if you want something to be a certain size, measurement or shape, you have to control that process. But trying to be a perfectionist is like a dog chasing its tail: the energy that is lost in that is what has to be reverted to making the best work of art. So your thing is to achieve a balance between the highest point you can reach by originally proposing something but never giving up or trying to get more than you can. —A few years ago he declared that the Guggeheim in Bilbao had been one of his best exhibitions in Spain because of the play that the building provides. And The Alhambra?—It is true that the Guggenheim space is more modern, immersive and contemporary, which I enjoyed a lot. It is also home to a work, the ‘Puppy’, permanently exhibited. But Andalusia is the region where Picasso was born, here his genius and the tradition and work that affected him as an individual were born. If we analyze the history of Modernism we see that it comes from artists who established a relationship with tremendous, magnificent Spanish art. And being able to see that my work is related to his and to artists like those housed in the Museum of Fine Arts of Granada is tremendous, because aspects already emanate that we will also see in Dalí, that were in Sánchez Cotán or in Velázquez, throughout the Spanish painting, Goya, El Greco… Koons, on the right, with Bernard Ruiz-Picasso Picasso Museum MálagaAll these painters are the basis for understanding the depth or dialogue that we can have with art. The darkness that emanates from many works, their darkest pigments, are the result of a dialogue with an outside world that enters fully inside (and there are few things that are white inside our bodies). For me it is a symbol of a certain dialogue with what comes before and what comes after. And how we continue to be transcendental, how we change in interaction. —In 2015 he faced Michelangelo in Florence. Do you prefer the relationship with the artists of Art History than with your contemporaries?—I insist that I develop in a specific contemporaneity, I know at what moment and in what political context I am living. I pay attention to the news that happens around the planet. And I am drawn to the lives of other people who lived through different moments because these qualities, which are universal, continue to mark the dialogue of what is still relevant today and bring them back to the fore. And organically I aim for this to reflect in my work. I try to engage in dialogue with issues that go beyond this moment, that are more universal. We thus connect with a vocabulary in which time and space are important. This exhibition is made up of only five works, but in the galleries that are arranged the influence of time and space are transcendental. —At what point are you today: is Jeff Koons a neo-baroque artist or a neo-pop artist, as critics considered him at the time?—I couldn’t say which term would be the best to apply to what I do. I am clear that I am a contemporary artist. I am here, in this moment. But I like to get involved in holding a dialogue and asking myself what it is to be human and isolating the tremendous opportunities that life gives us as people. We have to get strongly involved in the dialogue we establish with life, with the moment. It’s about understanding that art is much more than an object, much more than what is in front of you. Art is within that physical reality because it is a potentiality in itself. As artists, we have the opportunity to have an effect on the lives of others.’Reflections. Picasso /Koons in The Alhambra’ The Alhambra. Grenade. Organized by: Picasso Museum-Málaga and FABA. Commissioners: M. López-Remiro and R. Tenorio. Sponsor: Unicaja. Until March 16, 2025—You are also a collector of classical art, you have things by Picasso. What interests you about this facet?—There was a moment in my life when I could allow myself to collect. Art is my life and collecting is another type of dialogue that I really enjoy and that I share with my wife. It is that feeling of protecting certain authors and ensuring that their work remains protected for the future.
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