“Easyfun – Ethereal“ by Jeff Koons was on view from 10 March to 21 April, 2018 at Gagosian, New York.
In an era where consumer imagery saturates our daily lives, Jeff Koons’ “Easyfun-Ethereal” exhibition at Gagosian in New York offers a visually overwhelming yet conceptually rich exploration of how advertising, nostalgia, and high art intersect. Presented through seven monumental canvases originally unveiled at the Deutsche Guggenheim Berlin in 2000, the series marks a return to painting for Koons after years spent perfecting his sculptural practice. Curated with both spatial awareness and thematic clarity, the show immerses visitors in a dreamlike realm where amusement parks, food items, and fragments of human bodies coalesce into hyperreal compositions that oscillate between spontaneity and control.
Gagosian, known for its commitment to presenting museum-quality contemporary art, provides an ideal setting for this vibrant display. The gallery’s mission to champion artists who redefine visual language aligns perfectly with Koons’ provocative aesthetic—one that appropriates commercial imagery not to critique consumerism, but to elevate it into the realm of mythic storytelling. The installation guides viewers through a sequence of large-scale works that each function as self-contained worlds, yet together form a cohesive narrative about memory, desire, and cultural inheritance.
Jeff Koons, one of the most polarizing figures in contemporary art, has spent decades challenging conventional notions of taste, value, and authorship. Born in 1955 in York, Pennsylvania, Koons gained prominence in the 1980s with his Luxury and Degradation series, followed by his iconic Banality sculptures like Michael Jackson and Bubbles . His work often appropriates mass-produced objects and advertising motifs, transforming them into meticulously crafted artworks that question the boundaries between high and low culture. In the “Easyfun-Ethereal” series, Koons returns to painting with renewed energy, using digital scans of magazine cutouts and personal photographs to create multi-layered compositions that echo both Abstract Expressionism and American commercial aesthetics
In “Lips” (2000) , two pairs of glossy red lips hover above a lush South African landscape, surrounded by floating corn kernels and streams of orange-red liquid. The painting exemplifies Koons’ ability to transform banal elements—lipstick, juice, and popcorn—into dramatic visual motifs. The exaggerated scale and fluid brushwork recall the gestural abstraction of artists like Willem de Kooning, yet Koons subverts this tradition by rendering everything in hyperrealistic detail. The result is a seductive tension between chaos and control, desire and detachment.
“Hair with Cheese” (2000) layers three stylized bobs—red, blonde, and purple—over a background of forest undergrowth and graphic snowflakes, with melting cheese dripping across the surface. The painting captures Koons’ fascination with texture and transformation, as well as his playful manipulation of erotic symbolism. The cheese, a symbol of indulgence and decay, contrasts with the sleekness of the hair, evoking both attraction and unease. This duality is central to Koons’ aesthetic, which revels in contradictions without resolving them.
“Niagara” (2000) presents a surreal tableau of oversized feet and shoes hovering above a pastoral scene, interspersed with cakes and donuts. The composition merges the grandeur of Romantic landscapes with the garish allure of fast food advertisements. Koons draws on the visual language of dreams and fantasies, creating a sense of vertigo as familiar objects are magnified and recontextualized. The painting becomes a metaphor for excess and longing, reflecting the contradictions of contemporary consumer society.
The inclusion of “Mountains” (2000) adds a tactile dimension to the exhibition. Rendered in hyperrealistic oil paint, the work depicts a surreal landscape composed entirely of sweets—cake slices, chocolate tobos, and confections suspended in a dreamlike space. The meticulous rendering of textures and light effects recalls the precision of Renaissance still-life painting while referencing the artificiality of commercial product photography. Like all works in the “Easyfun-Ethereal” series, Mountains bridges the gap between personal nostalgia and collective cultural memory, inviting viewers to lose themselves in a fantasy constructed from the remnants of everyday life.
Koons’s paintings are portals to a surreal world where pop culture collides with artistic tradition.
What makes this exhibition particularly compelling is its resonance with current cultural dialogues around consumerism, nostalgia, and the blurring of high and low art. Koons’ work feels especially relevant in an era dominated by digital media and influencer culture, where branding and self-expression are increasingly intertwined. The exhibition does not offer moral judgments but instead invites reflection on how we navigate a world saturated with images and commodities.
Ultimately, “Easyfun-Ethereal” is more than a showcase of Koons’ technical prowess—it is a meditation on the visual and emotional landscapes that shape our collective consciousness. Whether one sees it as a celebration or critique of consumer culture, the exhibition undeniably leaves a lasting impression, much like the vivid memories it seeks to evoke.
