Jeff Koons Family Opening
Aug 14, 2014
Art making with families in the Lower Gallery, July 2014. Photograph by Julia Pastor
On July 19, Family Programs welcomed more than 1,000 participants to a special Jeff Koons Family Opening. On each floor of the Jeff Koons: A Retrospective exhibition, families responded to the artist’s work through close observation, discussion, and art making.
Kids and parents touch a sample of Play-Doh (1994-2014) made of painted aluminum, July 2014. Photograph by Julia Pastor
On the fourth floor, children and adults had the rare opportunity to touch samples of Koons’s large-scale sculptures provided by the artist’s studio. Kids compared one material to another, contrasting the texture of a real balloon to a portion of the stainless steel Balloon Dog (Yellow) (1994-2000). These touch objects also constructed a framework for deeper understanding of Koons’s work. Once they hadtouched the bronze, granite, aluminum, and stainless steel samples children were able to guess the materials of Koons’s sculptures in other galleries.
Pauline Noyes, Coordinator of School and Educator Programs, shows families the Venus of Willendorf—the source of Koons’s Balloon Venus (Orange) (2008-2012), July 2014. Photograph by Julia Pastor