Second Saturdays Jeff Koons: A Retrospective
Oct 11, 2014

On October 11, teens from across the five boroughs came together at the Whitney Museum of American Art for the first ever Second Saturday program! For the past few weeks, Youth Insights Leaders have been developing tours of the exhibition Jeff Koons: A Retrospective, and we finally got to show off our skills in a group tour for New York City high school students. As the teens arrived on the rainy Saturday afternoon, we gathered to introduce ourselves and snack on bagels before the tours. Andrea, Ruth, and I began with showing the group Koons’s Inflatables and Pre-New and The New series of sculptures in the second floor galleries. At first, the group seemed unsure about what inflatable flowers and vacuum cleaners could mean in the context of art, but the conversation gradually led into an exciting conversation about the duality of life and death and the meaning of art.

Afterwards, we headed to the fourth floor to see Celebration, the most contemporary and light-hearted series of the Koons exhibition. Anna, Lisa, Nicholas, and Carlo led a really interesting conversation about the importance of mirrors and reflection in this group of sculptures and paintings. Given the reflective nature of the sculptures, they were very popular with the group for selfies! The teens enjoyed seeing how many times they could spot themselves reflected in Balloon Dog (Yellow), (1994-2000) while standing in one spot. Overall, it was great meeting teenagers from all around the city, educating them about the exhibition, and hearing their opinions!

By Sammie Jo, Youth Insights Leader