Balloon Monkey (Orange)

Balloon Monkey (Orange), 2019, is a limited edition that transforms a simple twisted rubber balloon monkey into porcelain. Incorporating the vocabulary of his iconic Celebration sculptures, Balloon Monkey, along with two other animals, Balloon Rabbit and Balloon Swan, marked a spectacular new chapter in Jeff Koons’s oeuvre.

Jeff Koons has been interested in cultural subject matter with widespread appeal throughout his career. It is, therefore, fitting that the monkey has been a recurring motif in his body of work. Humankind’s close kinship with primates has captured artists' fascination throughout history, serving as an allegorical figure for universal themes such as the pursuit of pleasure, sexuality and innocence. Koons merges these typically contradictory concepts through the reduction of the subject to its most essential form.

“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 artwork.” —Jeff Koons