Gagosian Hong Kong is presenting Hulk Elvis, Jeff Koons’ first major solo exhibition in Asia. Koons is known for his diverse array of sources, ranging from comic book characters and children’s art to figures from classical antiquity. His art has evolved from its beginnings in found objects to creations that combine abstraction and figuration to evoke conceptual constructs that touch on the new, the banal, and the sublime.
Works from the ongoing series Hulk Elvis include precision-machined bronze sculptures and energetic, vibrant large scale paintings. The polychromed surfaces of the sculptures mimic exactly the glossy surfaces of vinyl inflatables, and are a permutation of Koons’ constant preoccupation with the found object and its significance in art and society. The Hulk superhero is paired with other motifs found from a wide variety of sources: a wheelbarrow filled with live flowers, a crew of inflatable toy animals, a precise replica of the Liberty Bell. In Hulk (Organ) (2004-14), keys, pipes, and a pedalboard jut out from the figure’s torso, legs, and shoulders; as the title suggests, the sculpture doubles as a fully-functioning instrument.
In Hulk Elvis paintings, gestural brushwork and flat two dimensional dots portray a charged mix of nudes and inflatable animals against realistically rendered landscapes. Textures are rendered, almost paradoxically, in smooth and vivid detail, and multiple images are spliced and interwoven to create compositions that are both abstract and figurative at the same time.
Jeff Koons Hulk (Wheelbarrow) 2004-2013
Polychromed bronze, mixed media, and live flowering plants
Jeff Koons Hulk (Organ) 2004-2014
Polychromed bronze and mixed media
Jeff Koons Hulks (Bell) 2004-2012
Polychromed bronze, bronze, and wood
by Louise Lui
Hulk Elvis is on show until 20 December, 2014 at Gagosian Hong Kong, 7/F Pedder Building, 12 Pedder Street, Central, Hong Kong