Beschreibung:

7 Jeff Koons Jim Beam - Observation Car 1986 stainless steel, bourbon 26 x 40.6 x 16.5 cm (10 1/4 x 15 7/8 x 6 1/2 in.) This work is number 3 from an edition of 3 plus 1 artist’s proof.
Provenance Anthony d'Offay Gallery, London Acquired directly from the above by the present owner Exhibited Los Angeles, Daniel Weinberg Gallery, Luxury and Degradation, July - August, 1986 (another example exhibited) Literature Jeff Koons exh. cat., Chicago, Museum of Contemporary Art, 1988, cat. no. 19, pp. 30-31 (illustrated, another example exhibited) High & Low: Modern Art and Popular Culture, exh. cat., New York, The Museum of Modern Art, 1990, cat no. 32, p. 395 (illustrated, another example exhibited) J. Koons and R. Rosenblum, The Jeff Koons Handbook, London, 1992, pp. 66-67 (illustrated, another example exhibited) A. Muthesius, ed., Jeff Koons Cologne, 1992, pl. no. 10, p.74 (illustrated, another example exhibited) Jeff Koons exh. cat., San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, 1992, cat. no. 28, pl. 24 (illustrated, another example exhibited) R. Rosenblum, Jeff Koons Easyfun - Ethereal, New York, 2000, p. 34 (illustrated, another example exhibited) Jasper Johns to Jeff Koons Four Decades of Art from the Broad Collection, exh. cat., Los Angeles County Museum of Art, 2001, p. 224 (illustrated, another example exhibited) J. Koons, Pictures 1980-2002, exh. cat., Bielefeld, Kunsthalle Bielefeld, New York, 2002, p. 21 (illustrated, another example exhibited) Jeff Koons exh. cat., Naples, Museo Archeologico Nazionale, 2003, pp. 44-45 and p. 51 (illustrated, another example exhibited) Jeff Koons Highlights of 25 Years, exh. cat., New York, C&M Arts, 2004, pl. 15 (illustrated, another example exhibited) S. Cosulich Canarutto, Jeff Koons (Supercontemporanea series), Milan, 2006, pp. 44-45 (illustrated, another example exhibited) H. Werner Holzworth, ed., Jeff Koons Hong Kong: Taschen, 2009, pp. 197, 586 (illustrated, another example exhibited) Video JEFF KOONS 'JIM BEAM - OBSERVATION CAR', 1986 "Stainless steel is a seamless material. He [Jeff Koons] takes mundane everyday objects and tries to transfer them into timeless materials to make timeless sculptures". Svetlana Marich, Deputy Chairman & Co-Head of Contemporary Art, Europe discusses Jeff Koons Jim Beam - Observation Car, 1986 from his 'Luxury and Degradation' series about the luxurious lifestyles promised to consumers in advertising campaigns of the 1980's. "Koons was investigating what kind of dreams can come true if you use this product or that." Catalogue Essay Creating work with a façade of visual seduction has remained one of Jeff Koons's signature points in crafting new pieces, ever since the premiere of his Pre-New series in 1979, which first captured viewers’ imaginations with its exhibition-style presentation of mundane objects. His Luxury and Degradation series, first exhibited in 1986, pushed the envelope on addressing contemporary tactics of consumer advertising. Focusing on alcohol, the show was a testament to the lengths to which corporations will go to promote their products, even to dehumanize their consumer. By elevating and highlighting the specific tactics employed by advertising firms, Koons was able to showcase the main concept within the advertisements- the luxurious lifestyle promised to the consumer. As the centerpiece in the show, the Jim Beam J.B. Turner Train represented the most sculpturally complete embodiment of the shows overarching message. Beautifully wrought, Jim Beam—Observation Car, 1986 is one of the finest examples of Koons’s work— and a symbolically profound entry in his series. Koons’s work in the Luxury and Degradation series is a combination of sculpture and painting, a collection of both advertisements and the paraphernalia used to transform alcohol into a toy for adulthood. The Jim Beam—Observation Car, 1986, was one of the most exciting projects within the series for Koons personally, as it brought into account the concept of temptation. Koons testifies as to its origins: ‘I was walking down Fifth Avenue and I saw in a liquor store this train that was made out of plastic and porcelain. It was a Jim Beam train. What caught m