In co-organization with the Gennadius Library of the American School of Classical Studies at Athens
The Museum of Cycladic Art welcomes Jeff Koons, one of the most influential figures in the contemporary art scene, for a public conversation on the occasion of the exhibition Jeff Koons: Venus of Lespugue, opening on 20 March.
The talk will take place on Wednesday, 18 March, at 19:00, at the Cotsen Hall Auditorium of the American School of Classical Studies at Athens (9 Souidias Street), and is co-organized with the Gennadius Library of the American School of Classical Studies at Athens.
During the discussion with the Museum’s Scientific Director and curator of the exhibition, Professor Panagiotis Iossif, Koons will reflect on his long creative journey, from the iconic works that brought the aesthetics of everyday culture to the forefront, to his current engagement with forms that draw from the “deep history” of human creativity.
At the center of the conversation will be Balloon Venus Lespugue, a work inspired by the prehistoric figurine of the same name. The sculpture is presented in the exhibition in dialogue with ten museum replicas of Venus figurines from the Upper Paleolithic period.
The discussion will explore the creative paradoxes at the heart of Koons’ work: lightness and permanence, primordial form and contemporary industrial surface, as well as the role of reflection, which incorporates the viewer into the sculpture itself.
This special encounter highlights how contemporary technologies and materials of the 21st century can reinterpret ancient aesthetic codes, while remaining connected to timeless questions surrounding form, desire and artistic creation.
The talk will be held in English, with simultaneous interpretation into Greek and Greek Sign Language.
More information here.
