Balloon Dog (Magenta)

Balloon Dog is an iconic work within the highly acclaimed Celebration series, which Jeff Koons began in the mid-1990s. The Celebration artworks reference certain times of year (holidays and birthdays) but also the celebration of the cycle of life. What else could suggest the cheer of children’s parties more eloquently than a colorful balloon, twisted into the instantly recognizable form of a dog? According to the artist, “It is about celebration and childhood and color and simplicity – but it’s also a Trojan horse. It’s a Trojan horse to the whole body of art work.”

Balloon Dog has the profoundness of an archaic sculpture. The monumental Balloon Dog sculptures were made from precision engineered mirror polished stainless steel and finished with a transparent coating of either blue, magenta, orange, red, and yellow. Despite its ten-foot and one ton metal, no detail was spared in the rendering of the Balloon Dog’s form. The artist’s exacting standards are one of the most captivating aspects of Koons’s art as captured in the porcelain Balloon Dog, which simulates the mirror-polished stainless steel of the monumental sculpture with its metallic finish and then attached to a reflective porcelain plate.

“Balloon Dog is a very optimistic piece, it is a balloon that a clown would have maybe twist for you at a birthday party.” —Jeff Koons