Barnaby Barford

Tower of Babel: Sculpture No. 2458, 192 Billet Road E17 5DX by Barnaby Barford

2015

Jeff Koons Tulips Coupe Plate - Jeff Koons, 21st Century, Contemporary, Porcelain, Sculpture, Decor, Limited Edition 2014 Glazed porcelain 31 × 31 cm (12.2 × 12.2 in) Signed and numbered on verso Edition of 2500 In mint condition PLEASE NOTE: Edition numbers could vary from the one shown in the pictures. One of the most famous artists working today, Jeff Koons makes gleeful, tongue-in-cheek sculptures, paintings, and installations that border—and often cross—the edge of good taste. Exploring ideas of commodity, spectacle, celebrity, and consumption, Koons has made monumental balloon dogs, a series about his lusty relationship with Italian porn star Cicciolina, cast-aluminum pool toys, a gold-painted porcelain sculpture of Michael Jackson, and a giant sculpture that resembles both Play-Doh and a heap of dung. Though the artist resists complex interpretations of his work, Koons’s innovative fabrication processes have elevated him far above the designation of simple provocateur. Koons received his BFA from the Maryland Institute College of Art in Baltimore and has exhibited extensively in New York, London, Chicago, Basel, Seoul, and elsewhere. His work belongs in the collections of The Broad, the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, the Museum of Modern Art, the Tate, and the Whitney Museum of American Art. His work has sold for nearly $100 million on the secondary market. JEFF KOONS Jeff Koons (born 1955) playfully tests the boundaries of commerce, celebrity, banality and pleasure, turning banal commercial or everyday objects into art icons by using seductive materials, a shift of scale and a contextual displacement. He rose to prominence in the mid-1980s as part of a generation of artists who explored the meaning of art in a media-saturated era. Koons turns banal commercial or everyday objects into art icons by using seductive materials, a shift of scale, and a contextual displacement. Jeff Koons’s “Balloon Dog” (featuring his enormous iconic chromium stainless steel dogs); his large-scale vinyl “Inflatables”; or the giant “Split-Rocker” all follow this principle. For instance, Jeff Koons in “Puppy” engaged the past and the present, referencing the eighteenth-century formal garden, while adding the most sugary of iconography. “It’s basically the medium that defines people’s perceptions of the world, of life itself, how to interact with others. The media defines reality.” —Jeff Koons Originally licensed as a commodities broker, Koons decided to become an artist in the late 1970s and moved from Wall Street into a factory-like studio in SoHo with hundreds of assistants. Since then, he has produced different iconic series, like the “Pre-New”, a series of domestic objects in strange new configurations, and “The Equilibrium” series, consisting of basketballs floating in distilled water tanks. The “Banality” series, which includes Jeff Koons´s “Michael Jackson and Bubbles” and “Woman in Tub...

Diamond (Red) - Jeff Koons, Contemporary, 21st Century, Sculpture, Limited Edition Limoges porcelain with chromatic metalized coating Edition of 599 height: 32,4 cm (12.7 in) diameter: 39,2 cm (15.4 in.) Signed and numbered In mint condition, as acquired from the manufacturer In the original box designed by Jeff Koons, accompanied by a Certificate of Authenticity "Everything is a metaphor at the end of the day - we don't care about objects we care about people - and all objects and images are metaphors for ourselves and other people." —Jeff Koons The Greeks believed that diamonds were the tears of gods, and the Romans wrote about Cupid’s arrows being diamond-tipped. This is how this precious gemstone became a gesture of love and a social symbol of affluence. Especially since the red diamonds are the rarest and most expensive, they are the most coveted. With this festive Diamond in red colour, Koons offers a reimagined iconography of the gemstone found in nature, which takes billions of years to form. He first started working with the image of the Diamond in 1994 as part of his Celebration series. Thereafter, the Diamond became a vehicle for Koons to communicate and reflect upon the mass-made consumer products that are created for festivities. Koons said: "I don´t care about money. I´m interested in people, human desire, and aspiration.” This is why it is presented in the company of four gleaming golden settings at its corners, embracing the gemstone from every angle to keep it safe and in place, as a warm motherly figure. “It’s not about bling, but it’s about the moment of creation. The posts on the sides of the diamond represent male energy, and the diamond is an egg. The stone is attached to a ring by four prongs. For me, the prongs are like sperm attacking an ovum, in the process of being fertilized. That represents the truest narrative we have of human history, which are our genes and our DNA." —Jeff Koons With this technically challenging edition, Koons stretched the capabilities of the Limoges porcelain practice for this limited edition. Characteristic of his works, they share a deliberate mirroring effect of its environment, and that of the viewer - one cannot see the artwork without seeing oneself. and as the artist has said, "If you don't move nothing happens." JEFF KOONS Jeff Koons (born 1955) playfully tests the boundaries of commerce, celebrity, banality and pleasure, turning banal commercial or everyday objects into art icons by using seductive materials, a shift of scale and a contextual displacement. He rose to prominence in the mid-1980s as part of a generation of artists who explored the meaning of art in a media-saturated era. Koons turns banal commercial or everyday objects into art icons by using seductive materials, a shift of scale, and a contextual displacement. Jeff Koons’s “Balloon Dog” (featuring his enormous iconic chromium stainless steel dogs); his large-scale vinyl “Inflatables”; or the giant “Split-Rocker” all follow this principle. For instance, Jeff Koons in “Puppy” engaged the past and the present, referencing the eighteenth-century formal garden, while adding the most sugary of iconography. “It’s basically the medium that defines people’s perceptions of the world, of life itself, how to interact with others. The media defines reality.” —Jeff Koons Originally licensed as a commodities broker, Koons decided to become an artist in the late 1970s and moved from Wall Street into a factory-like studio in SoHo with hundreds of assistants. Since then, he has produced different iconic series, like the “Pre-New”, a series of domestic objects in strange new configurations, and “The Equilibrium” series, consisting of basketballs floating in distilled water tanks. The “Banality” series, which includes Jeff Koons´s “Michael Jackson and Bubbles” and “Woman in Tub...

In Koons’ hands even the most familiar, everyday items transcend commonality to become true icons manifesting the essence of American popular culture. Jeff Koons Balloon Dog (Blue) - Jeff Koons, 21st Century, Contemporary, Porcelain, Sculpture, Decor, Limited Edition Limoges porcelain with chromatic coating Edition of 799 40 × 48 × 15.8 cm (15.75 × 18.90 × 6.22 in) Signed and numbered In mint condition In the original box designed by Jeff Koons, accompanied by a Certificate of Authenticity One of the most iconic works of the 21st century. The magic attraction of Balloon Dog lies in its ability to convey cuteness, power and material perfection. Its alert, four-legged form makes it reminiscent of the heroic equestrian statuary that populates public spaces across the globe. Koons himself has called this piece the "Trojan horse“ of the Celebration series. This work of art has chameleon-like qualities; its reflective surface is capable of physically changing with its surroundings and its many-layered meanings make it conceptually change in the mind of each viewer. The freestanding limited edition of the "Balloon Dog (Blue)" requires 60 people for the production of each work and it takes a full month to complete one. Its creation combines traditional porcelain decoration techniques with new technologies which are not typically applied to ceramics, this combination allows to achieve the metallic and reflective characteristics. Each edition is signed on the inside front right leg and the signature is applied on top on the porcelain and fired in the oven. "It's a very optimistic piece, it's a balloon that a clown would maybe twist for you at a birthday party. But at the same time it's a Trojan horse. There are other things here that are inside, maybe the sexuality of the piece." —Jeff Koons JEFF KOONS Jeff Koons (born 1955) playfully tests the boundaries of commerce, celebrity, banality and pleasure, turning banal commercial or everyday objects into art icons by using seductive materials, a shift of scale and a contextual displacement. He rose to prominence in the mid-1980s as part of a generation of artists who explored the meaning of art in a media-saturated era. Koons turns banal commercial or everyday objects into art icons by using seductive materials, a shift of scale, and a contextual displacement. Jeff Koons’s “Balloon Dog” (featuring his enormous iconic chromium stainless steel dogs); his large-scale vinyl “Inflatables”; or the giant “Split-Rocker” all follow this principle. For instance, Jeff Koons in “Puppy” engaged the past and the present, referencing the eighteenth-century formal garden, while adding the most sugary of iconography. “It’s basically the medium that defines people’s perceptions of the world, of life itself, how to interact with others. The media defines reality.” —Jeff Koons Originally licensed as a commodities broker, Koons decided to become an artist in the late 1970s and moved from Wall Street into a factory-like studio in SoHo with hundreds of assistants. Since then, he has produced different iconic series, like the “Pre-New”, a series of domestic objects in strange new configurations, and “The Equilibrium” series, consisting of basketballs floating in distilled water tanks. The “Banality” series, which includes Jeff Koons´s “Michael Jackson and Bubbles” and “Woman in Tub...

Ceramic Edition of 75 Signed and numbered on COA New, as issued. Due to the hand finished nature of this artwork each sculpture in this edition differs slightly. The specific sculptu...

Awhi Whakapapa, Embracing Geneaology, ceramic figurative sculpture, Contemporary

'Aunty' wabi sabi beauty in imperfection, appreciate simplicity, handmade unique sculpture. Elevate your space with this extraordinary exquisitely sculpted clay face and head vase c...