Jeff Koons
Project
In 1988 Cesare Villari produced two pieces of work made entirely of porcelain,
commissioned by the American Pop artist Jeff Koons. One of these colossal
pieces, made in four copies, represents “S. John the Baptist”, a free interpretation
of Leonardo Da Vinci’s “S. Giovannino”. The other is a life-size statue of
“Michael Jackson and Bubbles”, painted entirely in 24 carats gold, depicting
the pop singer holding his chimpanzee. Five copies were made of the latter and,
on may 15th 2001 one copy of this work was sold by Sotheby’s – New York to
an anonymous art-collector for 5’615’000 dollars. These two works have been
exhibited in a number of famous museums, including the Guggenheim and the
MoMA in New York. At the moment one of the models is exhibited at the SF
MoMA – San Francisco Museum of Modern Art (CA).
1978 © Villari Archive
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