Jeff Koons (53) is considered to be one of the most influential living contemporary artists. On Saturday, he opens his first major exhibition in the USA after 15 years at the Museum of Contemporary Art in Chicago. The exhibition will run through September 21, 2008.

The retrospective show will feature about 60 paintings and sculptures spanning Koons’ career from 1979 through 2007. One highlight is a 1988 porcelain sculpture of the King of Pop and his pet chimpanzee, called “Michael Jackson and Bubbles.”

In an interview to the Associated Press Koons said about this art:

“Objects are metaphors of people. All the works are like children, you really put a lot of thought and care into them.

The core of my work is to have transcendence in life. You have to first be able to accept yourself. Then you can take a journey which leads you to the acceptance of others.”

Koons was a pioneer in his field in the 1980s, setting the stage for numerous other young artists. At the same time, he has an intense commercial appeal. Until May 2008, he held the record for the highest price paid at auction for a work by a living artist. His “Hanging Heart” sculpture fetched $23.6 million in November 2007. Many of the works on display in the Chicago exhibition are so valuable that they were uninsurable.

Source: Associated Press