You created such a cozy and elegant environment! It truly enhances the overall experience.

Weng Contemporary and Iconic Swiss Watch collaborate to create a fusion of art and luxury at an exclusive event held in Geneva.Geneva, renowned for its prestigious watches and jewellery Auction Week, recently played host to an extraordinary event that combined the worlds of contemporary art and luxury timepieces.&nbsp;Weng Contemporary, a leading platform for limited edition artworks, joined forces with Iconic Swiss Watch, to curate a captivating exhibition that left guests in awe.&nbsp;The event, hosted at a stunning intimate venue in Geneva, showcased limited edition artworks by renowned artists JR, Yue Minjun, Jeff Koons, and Peter Doig, alongside exquisite luxury watches from iconic brands like Patek Philippe and F.P. Journe.

Upon entering the venue, guests were immediately struck by the tasteful environment meticulously created for the occasion.&nbsp;The event organizers had spared no effort in ensuring that the setting exuded an inviting ambiance, perfectly complementing the artworks and watches on display. The careful attention to detail and the seamless integration of art and luxury were widely appreciated.&nbsp;

While luxury watches and art have long been associated with exclusivity and high price tags, the event showcased a refreshing perspective. It highlighted the accessibility of both markets, surprising many attendees who were not aware of the diverse range of options available.&nbsp;The event offered a unique opportunity for individuals to explore the world of luxury watches and art, gaining a deeper understanding of their intricacies and how they can fit into their lives.&nbsp;

I would not imagine that watches and art can be so approachable. I learned a lot about both markets during the event.

The collaboration between Weng Contemporary and Iconic Swiss Watch during Auction Week in Geneva resulted in an exceptional event that united art enthusiasts and watch aficionados.&nbsp;By seamlessly blending limited edition artworks by world-renowned artists with exceptional luxury watches, the event provided a new perspective on the intersection of these two industries.

This event served as a tribute to the transformative power of collaborations and demonstrated that the worlds of art and luxury can merge harmoniously, offering a unique and enriching experience for individuals with diverse interests.&nbsp;As Geneva continues to host prestigious events like this, the city solidifies its position as a global hub for art, luxury, and cultural exploration.

Image by Philippe Tarasiuk

Known as the power artists duo, Christo and Jeanne-Claude, created ephemeral environmental installations in urban and rural global locations.

Christo and Jeanne-Claude (respectively, born June 13, 1935, Bulgaria—died May 31, 2020, New York, U.S.; born June 13, 1935, Morocco—died November 18, 2009, New York, U.S.) stand out for their environmental and sometimes controversial temporary outdoor installations, most notably the wrapping of world-famous architectonic icons like the “Wrapped Reichstag, Berlin”, 1995 or the project "The Gates, New York", which consists of over 7'503 steel gates with orange coloured fabric stretched acres 37 km of walkaway in Central Park.
After Jeanne-Claude´s passing in 2009, Christo continued to carry out the couple’s proposed projects: “Big Air Package”, 2013 inflating an immense fabric dome within the cavernous Gasometer Oberhausen in Germany. As well as “The Floating Piers”, 2016 connecting two islands in Lake Iseo in Italy. These monumental works were seen not only by those that would visit the installations but also by passers-by. These works confront observers not only with its aesthetic properties but explore environmental, democratic, and humanist questions and it creating new ways of seeing familiar landscapes.

Christo

Christo became famous for his monumental collaborations with his wife and creative partner, Jeanne-Claude.

https://data.wengcontemporary.com/media/Christo_-_Ponte_SantAngelo__Weng_Contemporary.content_sheet.pdf

Among the various man-made and nature's creations, wrapping bridges has always been an important subject that Christo, but also together with wife and artist-collaborator Jeanne-Claude, marked the foundation of their most celebrated series (as Christo and Jeanne-Claude). Wrapping the Ponte Sant'Angelo has been a dream of the artist(s), as it is the oldest bridge in Rome and it also connects the Vatican with the city of Rome. Since their proposition submission to proceed with the installation in 1967, this project remains unrealized.

And for every project, because it takes years, you can see the early drawings and collages as just a simple, vague idea, and through the years and through the negotiations of getting the permit, you see that every detail is now clarified.

Exploring the opportunities of wrapping a built-environment, the artist(s) offers the possibility to review it by applying a new appreciation of its form and volumetric qualities. Creating a layer of abstraction to a figurative and real environment. By applying fantasy to a real occasion, at a gigantic scale, the artist(s) puts the viewer at once in a life-time experience to unravel the metamorphoses of an object.

Ponte Sant’Angelo, Wrapped

ARTXX

Collage on lithograph

A Fusion of Art and Luxury in Geneva

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Last night was really special! The event was well organised, in my opinion. The wine and snacks were always available, the people working in the gallery are very passionate and knowledgeable about the art pieces, and the location is great! I would like to visit Zug showroom again for sure

I enjoyed the exhibited works and appreciated the passion for art shared by the team. The artworks were so fresh and contemporary and in the same time elegant and tasteful!

Jeff Koons display from our event

At Weng Contemporary, we are thrilled to have hosted an incredible evening featuring artworks from some of the most renowned artists of our time. The event was a showcase of their creativity, talent, and unique perspectives, which we were honored to present to our discerning clientele.&nbsp;We had the pleasure of showcasing beautiful works such as The Empresses by Damien Hirst, a series of five glamorous prints, as well as the iconic Balloon Animals by Jeff Koons.

We welcomed a diverse range of art enthusiasts and collectors, all excited to experience and discover the world of Weng Contemporary. The exhibition was a true celebration of contemporary art, as it showcased the diversity and creativity of the artists featured.&nbsp;From Damien Hirst’s mesmerizing butterfly compositions to Jeff Koons’ playful Balloon Dog sculptures, Peter Doig’s serene landscapes, and Manolo Valdés inspiring fusion of contemporary and tradition elements. The pieces on display were a reflection of the artists’ incredible talent and creativity.

<h2>The Team:</h2>Giorgia Zardetto, Managing Director <a href="mailto:giorgia@wengcontemporary.com">giorgia@wengcontemporary.com</a> Melanie Moske, Chief Digital Officer moske@wengfineart.comAnna Rouveure, Head of Business Development <a href="mailto:anna@wengcontemporary.com">anna@wengcontemporary.com</a>Laura Marinoni, Head of Operations <a href="mailto:laura@wengcontemporary.com">laura@wengcontemporary.com</a>Arianna Perini, Investment Advisor &amp; Sales <a href="mailto:arianna@wengcontemporary.com">arianna@wengcontemporary.com</a>Caterina Frulloni, Art Advisor <a href="mailto:caterina@wengcontemporary.com">caterina@wengcontemporary.com</a>Alla Sawedeg, Digital Marketing <a href="mailto:alla@wengcontemporary.com">alla@wengcontemporary.com</a>&nbsp;

As the guests explored the gallery, we were delighted to see the impact that the exhibition had on them. Conversations flowed effortlessly as attendees shared their thoughts and interpretations of the works.&nbsp;We were thrilled to see how the artwork ignited the creative spark in our guests and left a lasting impression on their minds and souls.

As the night came to an end, we were grateful for the opportunity to share such an unforgettable experience with our visitors. We look forward to continuing to showcase the very best of contemporary art and having the pleasure to host our guests again!

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The Turner prize winner and epicenter of the YBA movement. Hirst's emblematic art of our era revolutionizes the art market. Hirst is widely regarded as one of the most important artists working today, creating truly iconic artworks.

A genuine star of the Young British Artists (YBA) movement, Damien Hirst has always made a point of mixing up different media. Whether as a sculptor, an installation artist, a painter, or a printmaker, Hirst has produced many of the most spectacular and widely discussed works in recent years and helped to revolutionize the art market. Damien Hirst’s, For the Love of God, the diamond-encrusted replica of the skull of a thirty-five-year-old man from the thirteenth century, broke all records to become the most expensive contemporary artwork in the world. Damien Hirst´s artworks are truly emblematic icons of our era, with their recurring motives such as dots, butterflies, cows, sharks, skulls, pills, and pharmacy cabinets. His works, captivating and intense as they are, challenge our stereotyped concepts and beliefs. Damien Hirst’s shark, suspended in formaldehyde, The Physical Impossibility of Death in the Mind of Someone Living (1991), is widely recognized, as are his real butterflies suspended in paint or thousands of butterfly wings arranged in a mandala-like pattern – the famous Damien Hirst butterfly paintings. Since 1986 he has been producing the Spot paintings (sometimes called Dot Paintings), a series of paintings with evocative pharmacological titles, which display lines of colored spots. Damien Hirst´s Spot paintings and his Spin paintings became iconic series. Inspired by such diverse themes as life, death, art, science, and medicine, Damien Hirst’s art takes a direct and challenging approach to ideas about existence. The energy and inventiveness are also to be found in Damien Hirst's prints, which continue to stir controversy within the viewer with the same intensity.

Damien Hirst

Damien Hirst, a poster boy for the Young British Artists who rose to prominence in late 1980s London, is one of the most notorious artists of his generation.

https://data.wengcontemporary.com/media/Theodora_-_The_Empresses_-_Damien_Hirst_-_Weng_Contemporary_-_ArtXX_-_Content_Sheet-compressed.pdf

Extraordinarily complex and dynamic, Theodora is named for the great Byzantine empress who used her intelligence and savvy to create lasting change in the empire. Born into the lowest class of Byzantine society, Theodora (497-548 CE) rose to power in 527 CE following her marriage to Emperor Justinian. She left a significant impact on the region, namely through implementing new religious and social policies. Indeed, Theodora’s power over the empire left many to wonder if it was her and not Justinian that ruled.  

In Theodora various hues of red and black butterfly wings assemble into an intriguing asymmetrical pattern, the only of its kind from the series. The composition is defined by lines of glittering red, noticeable only at proximity, which symmetrically sections the print horizontally into thirds and vertically in half, as well as establishes a circle in the upper half of the print.

The lower horizontal band, the circle and the vertical line are the most prominent, creating a formation reminiscent of the female gender symbol. Such recalls some of Theodora’s landmark policies that benefited women, including prohibiting the trafficking of girls and amending divorce laws to give women more rights. With the wings arranged in pairs or singularly across the work, Theodora stands out for its degree of organised chaos. The result of the carefully composed asymmetrical composition is the visual sensation that these wings are not lifeless specimens arranged for the viewer’s aesthetic pleasure but insects vibrating with life, captured zooming across (and perceivably beyond) the picture plane.

Theodora (The Empresses H10-03)

Laminated Giclée print on aluminium composite, screen printed with glitter

An Evening with Weng Contemporary

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Whether you are starting to look into art for a decorative purpose, to diversify your portfolio or simply because you love it, collecting takes time and finding the right piece can be an intimidating process. To make it easier for you, we put together our top ten tips to help you start your collection!&nbsp;

1. Discover your Taste: see as much art as possible, both offline and online. Visit museums, galleries and fairs, as well as scrolling on your favourite art pages. Online platforms have become a great place to learn about art and its histories, discover emerging artists and feed your curiosity!2. Set a Budget: it will allow you to decide what is available to you and where to buy it. However, if you really love it, trust your instinct - chances are - you will not regret it.3. Understand why: always ask yourself whether you are looking to acquire art to decorate your space, make an investment or simply because you fell in love with a piece and its story.

A painting is not a picture of an experience, but is the experience

<h3>For purchase inquiries, please contact:</h3>Giorgia Zardetto, Managing Director (giorgia@wengcontemporary.com) Laura Marinoni, Sales &amp; Operations (laura@wengcontemporary.com) Arianna Perini, Sales &amp; Operations (arianna@wengcontemporary.com)

A true artist is not one that is inspired, but one who inspires others

Tony Cragg in New York Suburbs Art-Filled House. Featured in ©Decor Report.

Tyler Ellis's Los Angeles Home Styled by Andrew Elmendorf. Photograph: by Richard Petit. Featured in ©AD.

&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;4. Go Online and do your Research: browsing online marketplaces such as Artsy, Artnet or LiveArt, can help you explore the market, compare pricing and get you started.5. Use Social Media: following the right Instagram pages or YouTube channels can be a great way to follow artists, galleries, museums and the latest happenings in the art world.6. Seek Advice: try to get your advice from trusted experts and specialists. This will prevent risks related to authenticity, provenance and artwork conditions. Don’t be afraid to ask questions, just drop an email and get your doubts clarified.

7. Enjoy the Process: collecting is a matter of finding the right piece at the right time - don’t rush it.8. Manage your Expectations: don’t expect to win every time you bid at auctions or get every artwork you lay your eyes on.9. Think Smart: if you buy art purely as an investment, make sure you are aware of your reselling options.10. Consider Limited Editions: Limited Editions can be a good way to start collecting: they are original artworks at accessible prices and increasingly becoming a collector’s must - if you want to learn more about the world of limited editions get in touch!

Central Park West Apartment Designed by James Huniford. Photograph: Matthew Williams Featured in ©AD.

Interior Styled by Lawren Howellby for Kylie Jenner. Photograph: Douglas Friedman. Featured in ©AD.

Pharmaceuticals draws inspiration from Hirst's 2004 New York exhibition "The Elusive Truth", which focused on larger-than-life, hand painted tablets, which were meticulously showcased and ordered in a cold-lit window.

The sterile, stainless steel wall-mounted medicine cabinet appears almost as an altar. Praising modern pharmaceuticals and highlighting society's obsession with drugs, the cabinet shows how medicine and science seem to have replaced society ‘s faith in God. While Damien Hirsts’ pills and caps are colourful and alluring, the uncanniness is present. The juxtoposed symbols of toxicity and antidotes suggest human struggle between life and death, desire and fear.

Pharmaceuticals

Inkjet print

TOP 10 TIPS: How to Start Collecting Art?

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<h3>We are&nbsp;delighted to present you with&nbsp;The Empresses; a&nbsp;highly-sought after limited art edition series&nbsp;by Damien Hirst.&nbsp;</h3>This&nbsp;series of five glorious prints are&nbsp;carefully composed images of butterfly wings that&nbsp;create&nbsp;a kaleidoscope effect and are placed&nbsp;on a flaming red background. Each work has been carefully screen printed with glitter coat which offers that gleaming effect on them.&nbsp;Each Empress from this series&nbsp;is named after five exceptionally influential female rulers: Wu Zetian (624-705), Nūr Jahān (1577-1645), Theodora (c. 490-548), Suiko (554-628) and Taytu Betul (1851-1918). Their characters and stories are enhanced by the dominant red tone of the series, which deals with themes such as life, war, power, anger, love, joy and luck.

I just made these 5 mega red glitter prints! I thought the idea was good but seeing them now, real, they feel like they are unlocking the unfathomable mysteries of the universe. I don’t know why they are so good but they are... They feel powerful and important. I called them “The Empresses” and named them after five famous female rulers (...) I love art and it’s uplifting qualities and how can these not make you feel good? I love it when an idea explodes and becomes more than the sum of its parts.

Damien Hirst, Nūr Jahān (The Empresses, H10-02), 2022

Since the beginning&nbsp;of his career, Hirst has interacted with the butterfly, one of his best-known motifs. Inspired by a chance encounter in his studio and the intricate patterns found on Victorian tea trays, in&nbsp;The Empresses Hirst develops on the complex compositions he invented in&nbsp;his&nbsp;Kaleidoscope Paintings&nbsp;and&nbsp;Mandalas series.&nbsp;The Empresses prints are symmetrical, asymmetrical, and spiral patterns of meticulously organised butterflies that nonetheless exude hope and life – the butterflies feel as if they are taking flight. This effect is in part aided by the material,&nbsp;laminated Giclée print on aluminium composite, screen printed with diamond dust, which allows the butterfly wings to be&nbsp;presented in such detail that they appear lifelike.&nbsp;

The images of wings inspire awe and are framed by diamond dust, a fantastically tactile material previously used by Hirst in his paintings. Diamond dust is loved for its playfulness and joy – a sentiment echoed in the play-on-words of the series title itself, which alludes to both female rulers and the Empress Butterfly. Hirst has consistently used butterflies for their associations to freedom, religion, life and death.&nbsp;The Empresses&nbsp;illuminates and sheds light on these themes. Through this new series, these themes become intertwined with glory, female power and the development of nations, visible through the entrancing twists and turns of these five dazzling and vital visual celebrations.

I see butterflies as souls and part of a wider visual language. I've always described them as universal triggers; everyone loves them because of their incredible abstract fragility and beauty. It's an interesting example of how we use nature to try and express the inexpressible: love, desire, belief and the eternal.

Damien Hirst, Wu Zetian (The Empresses, H10-01) 2022

Damien Hirst, Suiko (The Empresses, H10-02), 2022

Damien Hirst, Theodora (The Empresses, H10-03), 2022

https://data.wengcontemporary.com/media/The_Empresses_Porfolio_Compressed.pdf

“The Empresses” is a series of five glorious prints carefully composed of butterfly wings that create a kaleidoscope effect and are placed on a flaming red background. Each work has been carefully screen printed with glitter coat which offers that gleaming effect on them. Each Empress from this series is named after five exceptionally influential female rulers: Wu Zetian (624-705), Nūr Jahān (1577-1645), Theodora (c. 490-548), Suiko (554-628) and Taytu Betul (1851-1918). Their characters and stories are enhanced by the dominant red tone of the series, which deals with themes such as life, war, power, anger, love, joy and luck.

The Empresses, set of 5

Laminated giclée print on aluminium composite, screen printed with diamond dust

"The Empresses" by Damien Hirst

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In the very beginning of my Spot Painting career I made some messy spots and I hated them, so I perfected them into perfect dots and for 25 years, I made perfect dots. At the very end, I went back to the messy dots and made two or three. I really like them! (...) They are not a print but they look like a print.

<h3>Weng Contemporary is delighted to present 4193. Mouths are planted&nbsp; from The Currency, the first NFT series by Damien Hirst.&nbsp;</h3>Damien Hirst’s Spot Paintings remain one of the most recognizable motifs in contemporary art, known for their perfect circles in a grid format.&nbsp;The works of The Currency evolved from this exploration, with the spots appearing like particles or atoms. The Currency marries one of Hirst’s most generative bodies of work to his lifelong fascination for technology and materiality.&nbsp;

&nbsp;Ever disrupting art world conventions, the artist's use of NFTs is an important development in his ongoing interest in notions of ownership and collecting. The Currency challenges the concept of value through money and art. Each of the unique 10,000 hand painted works were launched in July 2021 as NFTs on the blockchain. There is a possibility to exchange the physical work and burn its NFT correspondent until July 2022. By the beginning of April 2022, only 750 physical works (7.5%) have been redeemed and the rest of the editions remain as NFTs.

<h3>Same as other currencies, but different</h3>Similar to other forms of currency, anti-counterfeiting measures are employed to ensure authenticity. Each work of The Currency has several measures that safeguard the authenticity, both of the physical artwork and the digital NFT. The paper is hand made and is cut manually, producing spontaneous imperfections and asymmetries. Each unique artwork is numbered, titled, stamped with the Hirst logo and signed by the artist on the back. Additional authenticity features include a watermark of Damien Hirst’s head taken from his sculpture called The Collector where the artists poses as Henry VIII, a microdot and a hologram containing a portrait of the artist.

<h3>&nbsp;</h3><h3>Rarities</h3>Using a machine learning algorithm, all of the different identifying features of each work have been analysed and ranked out of 10,000. These features, also known as “rarities” are defined by overlaps, drips, texture, density, weight, colours, word and characters. From the amount of drips and splashes, to the texture of the paint, each artwork has a unique combination of ranked features. 4193. Mouths are planted has a weight score (amount of grams) of 19.23&nbsp; ranking it 5,863 out of 10,000 and a density score of 0.50 (out of 1) ranking it at 5,363. This means that 5,862 artworks of The Currency are lighter and 4137 are heavier. Similarly, 4,637 artworks in the series have more density. The thickness and texture of the paint, the amount of spots and their vicinity to each other impact the uniqueness of each artwork. 4193. Mouths are planted offers a uniform overall rarity score making this piece an expectational illustration of The Currency project.

The Currency is an artwork, and anyone who buys it will participate in this work, it’s not just about owning it… The whole project is an experience in belief… It is the most exciting project I have ever worked on by far.

<h3>10,000 Unique Artworks</h3>Each artwork is uniquely titled and numbered (1-10,000). The titles are generated from machine learning applied to some of the artist's favourite song lyrics. Influenced by the Catholic symbolism of his upbringing, Damien Hirst’s oeuvre explores the relationship between science, faith and art as systems of belief. 4193. Mouths are planted particularly resonates with The Book of Jeremiah, 12:2 “You plant them, and they take root; they grow and bear fruit. ‘You are near to us,’ they say with their mouths,” providing&nbsp; another level of complexity and depth to this unique artwork.

<h3>&nbsp;</h3><h3>&nbsp;</h3><h3>&nbsp;</h3><h3>&nbsp;</h3><h3>For purchase inquiries, please contact:</h3>Giorgia Zardetto, Managing Director (giorgia@wengcontemporary.com) Laura Marinoni, Sales &amp; Operations (laura@wengcontemporary.com) Arianna Perini, Sales &amp; Operations (arianna@wengcontemporary.com)&nbsp;

Hologram on paper. ®Damien Hirst

Damien Hirst. "4193. Mouths are planted", 2016-2021

Stacks of unique artworks that could be yours … or that you could have a hand in destroying. Source: Heni

Hirst with a stack of unique artworks from his project, The Currency. Source: Heni

https://data.wengcontemporary.com/media/Damien_Hirst_4193_Mouths_are_planted_Content_Sheet.pdf

Damien Hirst’s "Spot Paintings" remain one of the most recognizable motifs in contemporary art, known for their perfect circles in a grid format. Since its first iteration in 1986, the series has seen many variations, but it wasn’t until 2016 that Hirst dispensed the rules for his "Colour Space" paintings, and allowed the work to become more organic. The works of The Currency evolved from this exploration, with the spots appearing like particles or atoms. It marries one of Hirst’s most generative bodies of work to his lifelong fascination for technology and materiality. Ever disrupting art world conventions, the artist's use of NFTs is an important development in his ongoing interest in notions of ownership and collecting. "The Currency" challenges the concept of value through money and art. Each of the unique 10,000 hand painted works were launched in July 2021 as NFTs on the blockchain. There is a possibility to exchange the physical work and burn its NFT correspondent until July 2022. By the end of March 2022, only 700 physical works (7 %) have been redeemed and the rest of the editions remain as NFTs. Each artwork is uniquely titled and numbered (1-10,000).

4193. Mouths are planted (The Currency)

Enamel paint on handmade paper

Damien Hirst: "4193. Mouths are planted" ("The Currency"), 2016-2021

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We are delighted to share with you our latest visionary and storytelling editorial celebrating the release of Jeff Koons's limited art edition. Shot by the talented photographer Shkelzen Konxheli, who has recently shot for Elle Germany. We are grateful to&nbsp;The Dressing Room Zug for carefully selecting the clothing for this editorial, as well as to Nina Tatavitto for executing the hair and makeup.&nbsp;

The highly anticipated freestanding Balloon Dog (Blue) is one of the most iconic works of the 21st century and as Jeff Koons himself has called it the "Trojan horse“ of the Celebration series. A reproduction of the larger sculpture of the Balloon Dog from the Celebration series, as conceived in five unique colours (beginning with the creation of the Blue, Magenta, Yellow, Orange, and Red) starting production in 1994 and completing them in 2000.&nbsp;

I wanted to make something that would be more accessible to people because the stainless pieces weigh two-and-a-half tones, so it's difficult for the average person to have space for them. I wanted to maintain the relevance and the profoundness of the idea and to put it in a form that would communicate its reason for being.

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.&nbsp;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.

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."

One of the things that I’m most proud of is making work that lets viewers not feel intimidated by art, but feel that they can emotionally participate in it through their senses and their intellect and be fully engaged.

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.“It ties us to the present moment while at the same time to our ancient past. The exterior is totally reflective. It always reflects its environment, affirming the viewer. When you move the abstraction happens; nothing happens without you; it’s all about you. When you leave the room, the art leaves the room with you.” —Jeff Koons

Jeff Koons (born 1955) playfully tests the boundaries of commerce, celebrity, banality, and pleasure. 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. 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”, among others, is characterized by oddly eroticized, comic, and kitsch images. However, it is indeed Koons’s “Made in Heaven” series that is his most provocative and controversial work, in which he examines the place of sexuality in visual culture. Koons is widely regarded as one of the most important, influential, and controversial contemporary artists. He constantly tests the boundaries between art and commerce, high culture and mass culture, ready-made and art objects, by decontextualizing his objects and lifting them to iconic status. Jeff Koons´s art is the result of his intention to bring it out of the enclave of the genius-driven artist into the realms of contemporary pop and commerce-driven culture.

Jeff Koons

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.

Weng Contemporary is delighted to present you with the most iconic work of the 21st century and as Jeff Koons himself has called it the "Trojan horse“ of the Celebration series. The only authentic limited edition depicting the free-standing Balloon Dog is finally here.

This edition is a reproduction of the larger sculpture of the Balloon Dog from the Celebration series, as conceived in five unique colours (starting with Blue, Magenta, Yellow, Orange, Red) starting in 1994 and completing them in 2000.

The Balloon Dog 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.

This limited art edition comes from an edition size of 799 pieces and was created of Limoges porcelain and manufactured in Limoges, France. 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 metallic and reflective characteristics.

Each edition is signed on the inside front right leg and the signature is applied on top of the porcelain and fired in the oven.

Balloon Dog (Blue)

Limoges porcelain with chromatic coating

Make It Yours: Balloon Dog (Blue) by Jeff Koons

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We are thrilled to share with you the final destination from a recent project in collaboration with a prominent interior designer studio from Brazil, which was done in mind for a private collector in Bal Harbour, Florida. It is always a special moment in our daily operation when we receive pictures from our clients.&nbsp;Even though the editions are multiple, the installation in each home is unique. We hope you can find some inspiration and a little motivation to further enhance your daily space — be it&nbsp;your home or working space.

The black dress has been a recurrent theme in Alex Katz's work since the very beginning. The theme of the edition goes back to one of his most iconic early paintings, which is indeed titled “Black Dress”, created in 1960 and depicting 6 different perspectives of a woman; his wife and muse Ada, wearing a classic cut little black dress, very similar to the one featured in the iconic movie Breakfast at Tiffany.&nbsp;Calvin Klein said: "Alex Katz’s Black Dress series is just as modern and wonderful. And, ironically it has nothing to do with fashion. His portrait have such strong color fields and clean lines. And despite their apparent simplicity, they’re extremely expressive and perfectly capture the essence of his subjects. You can’t help but notice these women, these beautiful enigmas drawn in bold and certain strokes. You wonder who they are, how they live, what they feel, just exactly what they have going on."

The more the art dominated my life and my house, the more the house became a home.

Following with White Roses (image above) which is also by Alex Katz. This work is part of the famous flower painting series by the American artist. Katz has been painting flowers since the 1960s, often during his summer residencies in Maine. The cropped, flattened composition displays a debt to Japanese woodblock art printing. The American artist is well-known for his large works, whose bold and simple use of&nbsp;colours are now seen as precursors of Pop Art.Katz’s flower themes are inspired by everyday motifs and are among the most favourite subjects of the artist within the theme of nature. In a 1968 interview, Katz described his works of flowers as an extension of the cocktail party scenes he often painted. He remarked that the flowers are “all overlapping volumes” like the individuals in his figure groupings, which overlap one another as they advance into the painting’s pictorial space. However, by selecting flowers as a subject he sought to introduce a greater degree of movement in the work without literally representing something in motion, thus focusing on the unfolding form of a rose bud.&nbsp;

Katz uses a physically poetic language—similar to dance—in his work, allowing the viewer to adapt that structure to his or her own frame of mind and emotional bearing. Light and form provide an unexpected syncopation of movement across the surface of his paintings of flowers. Painted rapidly and assuredly, wet into wet, the flowers oscillate between states of awkwardness and grace typically associated with the human body. Katz’s roses, with their fleshy petals and serrated leaves, are aggressive and fierce, belying the congenial association that flowers typically summon.

I’ve got an obsession with death … But I think it’s like a celebration of life rather than something morbid.

The first butterfly work by the British artist Damien Hirst is based on the painting Idea leuconoe in Nerium oleander, which is from 2009 - 2010. The limited edition is however titled Paper Kite Butterfly on Oleander and comes form an 25 inkjet prints.&nbsp;Hirst began work on the Fact series in 2000. His goal with this series has always been to attempt to reproduce photographs exactly in complete, realistic detail through the traditional medium of oil on canvas. The paintings explore our relationship with imagery. Hirst explains: “I want you to believe in them in the same way as you believe in the&nbsp;Medicine Cabinets. I don’t want them to look clever, but to convince you. I’m using painting to produce something that looks like a bad quality reproduction – the painting process is hidden as it is in my work Hymn, which looks like plastic, but is bronze underneath.”

The ‘Kaleidoscope’ works reference the spiritual symbolism of the butterfly, used by the Greeks to depict Psyche, the soul, and in Christian imagery to signify the resurrection. The works are reminiscent of, and even sometimes directly copy stained glass windows. Recalling someone once saying to Hirst: “Butterflies are beautiful, but it’s a shame they have disgusting hairy bodies in the middle,” Hirst chose to use only the iridescent wings in the ‘Kaleidoscope’ works, divorcing the butterflies from “the real thing”.

Design project by Sig Bergamin. Photograph: ©Björn Wallander.

Installation view of Alex Katz’s silkscreen “White Roses” in Bal Harbour, Florida. Design project by Sig Bergamin. Photograph: ©Björn Wallander.

From Inbox to Unbox: The final destination to your home

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That is what really attracted me to these reflective surfaces, the ability to continue the beholder's share. Art does not happen inside objects. It happens inside the viewer.

It is with great pride that we expand to Greece to present Jeff Koons's limited art editions; the freestanding&nbsp;Balloon Dog (Blue) and the Diamond (Red), to a new audience of Greek art lovers, expats and tourists, ahead of the American artist's exhibition at Hydra Project&nbsp;by DESTE Foundation this upcoming June 2022. We are delighted to collaborate&nbsp;with the luxury fashion boutique LUISA World at their two locations in Athens;&nbsp;at Kolonaki as well as at Kifisia, until the end of November, where these two limited art editions will be on display for purchase. To celebrate our collaboration we want to&nbsp;share with your an editorial marrying fashion with art.

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.

Both works are part of the American artist's Celebration series, which Koons started in 1994. The series evolved from Koons's desire to recreate the ecstatic experiences in one's life such as birthday parties and festive events, hence the "Balloon Dog (Blue)" that a clown would create at a memorable child's party and the "Diamond (Red)" symbolising an engagement ring.&nbsp;

These two limited art editions are labouriously created out of Limoges porcelain with chromatic coating, which gives them chameleon-like qualities; their reflective surfaces are capable of physically changing with its surroundings and its many-layered meanings make these works conceptually change in the mind of each viewer. Each edition is signed and numbered and the works from this set share the same edition numbers, which makes them a rare and desirable collectible.

Expanding in Greece with editions by Jeff Koons..

We are delighted to offer you a unique set of only 99 conceived matching edition numbers from Jeff Koons's limited art editions of the "Balloon Dog (Blue)" created in 2021 from the edition of 799 pieces and the festive "Diamond (Red)", created in 2020 from an edition number of 599. Both works are part of the American artist's "Celebration" series, which Koons started in 1994. The series evolved from Koons's desire to recreate the ecstatic experiences in one's life such as birthday parties and festive events, hence the "Balloon Dog (Blue)" that a clown would create at a memorable child's party and the "Diamond (Red)" symbolising an engagement ring.

These two limited art editions are labouriously created out of Limoges porcelain with chromatic coating, which gives them chameleon-like qualities; their reflective surfaces are capable of physically changing with its surroundings and its many-layered meanings make these works conceptually change in the mind of each viewer.

Each edition is signed and numbered and the works from this set share the same edition numbers, which makes them a rare and desirable collectible.

Set: Balloon Dog (Blue), 2021 and Diamond (Red), 2020

Expanding in Greece with editions by Jeff Koons with the support of LUISA World

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<h3>One of the most iconic works of the 21st century.</h3>Weng Contemporary is delighted to present you with the most iconic work of the 21st century and as Jeff Koons himself has called it the "Trojan horse“ of the Celebration series. The only authentic limited edition depicting the freestanding Balloon Dog is finally here.This edition is a reproduction of the larger sculpture of the Balloon Dog from the Celebration series, as conceived in five unique colours (beginning with the creation of the Blue, Magenta, Yellow, Orange, and Red) starting production in 1994 and completing them in 2000.The Balloon Dog 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.

This limited art edition comes from an edition size of 799 pieces and was created of Limoges porcelain and manufactured in Limoges (France) which is the first location in Europe where kaolin was found in the late 18th century, a place incredibly rich in history.

Jeff Koons has an amazing talent to captivate everybody through his art. (...) His work is overwhelmingly beautiful, so children love it as well as adults of all ages. But at the same time, the subversive side also fascinates art critics.

A piece that enjoys the environments that it is being placed in, from the Grand Canal of Venice, to the ceilings of Versailles, the Neue Nationalgalerie in Berlin, the Brant Foundation, the sky of the New York City from the roof of the Metropolitan Museum. That is what really attracted me to these reflective surfaces, the ability to continue the beholder's share. Art does not happen inside objects. It happens inside the viewer.

This plated edition of Balloon Dog (Blue) was created in 2002, depicting a much smaller Balloon Dog glued on a plate. It was published in collaboration with the Museum of Modern Art, Los Angeles (MOCA). The work was manufactured in China, the edition size is 2300 pieces, and the price was listed at $500.The freestanding edition of the Balloon Dog (Blue) is a reproduction of the larger sculpture of the Balloon Dog from the Celebration series, as conceived in five unique colours (Blue, Magenta, Yellow, Orange, Red). This work was created of Limoges porcelain and manufactured in Limoges, France which is the first location in Europe where kaolin was found in the late 18th century, incredibly rich in history.&nbsp;The authentic freestanding Balloon Dog (Blue) 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.&nbsp;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.

<h3>The authentic freestanding Balloon Dog (Blue)</h3>- A freestanding Balloon Dog (Blue) requires 60 people for the production of each edition -&nbsp;It takes a full month to create one edition - The creation of the Balloon Dog (Blue) 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 - The signature is applied on top of the porcelain edition and fired in the oven, allocated on the inside front right leg.

Handling Instructions1.Due to the delicate metallic luster of the piece, use the cotton gloves included in the box to protect the piece from any marks and/or fingerprints. It is advised not to handle it with bare hands.2.Fingerprints can be removed from the surface with water and a soft cotton cloth. Please be mindful not to use any detergent.3.Display or store the Balloon Dog (Blue) out of direct sunlight.

Comparing the two edition of Balloon Dog. Left is the "Balloon Dog (Blue)" with plate from 2002 and right side is the freestanding "Balloon Dog (Blue)" from 2021.

"Balloon Dog (Blue)", 1994-2000 from the collection of the Broad Museum in Los Angeles.

©️Jeff Koons. Photo: Keith Major

Jeff Koons's new edition "Balloon Dog (Blue)" freestanding is one of the iconic works of the 21st century

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the Collector's Set

We are delighted to announce our&nbsp;partnership&nbsp;with the historic department house&nbsp;Bongénie Grieder&nbsp;to celebrate art in four locations, in Basel, Zürich, Lausanne, and Geneva.&nbsp; Explore iconic artworks throughout Switzerland, available for purchase until Saturday, 9th of October.

For Basel, we have presented the iconic Balloon Animals as a Collector's Set. Incorporating the vocabulary of Jeff Koons´s iconic Celebration series; the Balloon Rabbit, Balloon Monkey, and Balloon Swan, that marked a spectacular new chapter in the artist´s oeuvre.&nbsp;The limited-edition, now in a matching edition number - only 40 editions created, touches on various important subjects of the history of art; such as the biblical creation, our anti-aging obsession, the memento mori, cheating death, as well as through its materiality; porcelain with chromatic coating.&nbsp;Koons democratizes porcelain, a material once used exclusively for kings, to the masses, and the reflection of the Balloon Animals adds elements of the Greek myth of Narcissus - "if you don´t move, nothing happens", as Koons has said.

In Geneva, we had the pleasure to present the latest edition by Jeff Koons - the Diamond (Red) accompanied with the Balloon Animals.&nbsp;The festive Diamond (Red) was created in 2020 and comes from an edition number of 599. Koons 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. The American artist stated: "I don´t care about money. I´m interested in people, human desire, and aspiration.”

For the historic department house at Bahnhofstrasse 30 in Zurich, we are showing a solo presentation from the&nbsp;Walking bag&nbsp;series by&nbsp;Erwin Wurm, titled&nbsp;Tall bag YSL. Created out of bronze, this artwork permits outdoor installation under any weather conditions. As an artist, Wurm is interested in conditions that test the limits of form and evoke the absurdity that can be found in the routine and mundane actions of everyday life, such as&nbsp;by giving human appendages to luxury handbags.

I just see Monroe as just another person. As for whether it's symbolical to paint Monroe in such violent colors: it's beauty, and she's beautiful and if something's beautiful it's pretty colors, that's all.

The focal point of our presentation in Lausanne consists of nine Andy Warhol's Marilyn that grace the main wall. These works come from a limited edition of 49 and are made out of enamel on porcelain. A set of four pieces in matching edition numbers (ed. 35/49) are also available and presented as a desirable collectible.

Jeff Koon's Balloon Animals in matching edition numbers from 2019 are exclusively presented in Lausanne only. Together with the iconic&nbsp;presentation box of the&nbsp;Balloon Dogs and&nbsp;Koons's&nbsp;latest edition Diamond (Red). All art editions by Koons are made out of French Limoges porcelain with chromatic coating.

Digital + Physical: Find Us At Bongénie Grieder in 4 Locations in Switzerland

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We are delighted to announce that we are collaborating with the historic 130-year-old Swiss department house,&nbsp;Bongénie Grieder Brunschwig &amp; Cie,&nbsp;for the launch of&nbsp;Jeff Koons's newest edition,&nbsp;Diamond (Red) as well as a worldwide exclusive presentation of the Balloon Animals Collector's Set in matching edition numbers (only 40 sets available).&nbsp;

For one week only, starting this Monday, 3rd of May and extended until Saturday, 15th of May,&nbsp;you are able to view and purchase the&nbsp;Limoges porcelain editions&nbsp;in Grieder's most iconic location — at Bahnhofstrasse in Zürich, Switzerland.&nbsp;To commemorate&nbsp;the&nbsp;exciting launch, we want to share with you a visionary and storytelling editorial, shot by the talented Swiss photographer Shkelzen Konxheli, who has recently shot for Vogue Arabia. Model and actress&nbsp;Zoë&nbsp;Pastelle graced the&nbsp;narrating&nbsp;role reflecting on Jeff Koons's&nbsp;Diamond (Red)&nbsp;limited art-edition. We are grateful to Grieder for carefully selecting the clothing for this editorial, as well as to Nina Tatavitto for executing the hair and makeup.&nbsp;

The limited-edition, now in a matching edition number - only 40 editions created, touches on various important subjects of the history of art; such as the biblical creation, our anti-aging obsession, the memento mori, cheating death, as well as through its materiality; porcelain with chromatic coating.These artworks by Jeff Koons, reference his iconic and monumental sculptures from his highly acclaimed Celebration series that evolved from his desire to recreate the ecstatic experiences of a child's enjoyment of the world through universal signifies of birthday parties and festivities.

Koons democratizes porcelain, a material once used exclusively for kings, to the masses, and the reflection of the Balloon Animals adds elements of the Greek myth of Narcissus - "if you don´t move, nothing happens", as Koons has said. The six artwork figures presented as a set have been very successful and performed very well in the auction market.

It is about celebration and childhood and color and simplicity – but it’s also a Trojan horse. It’s a Trojan horse to the whole body of artwork.

We were also delighted to present exclusively at Grieder the latest edition, which is the Diamond (Red). Koons 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.&nbsp;

The American artist stated: "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.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."

https://data.wengcontemporary.com/media/Jeff_Koons_-_Collectors_Set_6___Weng_Contemporary.content_sheet.pdf

We are thrilled to offer you an exclusive, limited edition, the Collector´s Set of the Balloon Animals. Incorporating the vocabulary of Jeff Koons´s iconic Celebration series; the Balloon Rabbit, Balloon Monkey, and Balloon Swan, that marked a spectacular new chapter in the artist´s oeuvre.

The limited-edition, now in a matching edition number - only 40 editions created, touches on various important subjects of the history of art; such as the biblical creation, our anti-aging obsession, the memento mori, cheating death, as well as through its materiality; porcelain with chromatic coating. Koons democratizes porcelain, a material once used exclusively for kings, to the masses, and the reflection of the Balloon Animals adds elements of the Greek myth of Narcissus - "if you don´t move, nothing happens", as Koons has said.

The six artwork figures presented as a set have been very successful and performed very well in the auction market. Last June, in 2019, it was first offered at the Dorotheum as a matching edition number set and it sold for $85,000. In 3 months another matching Collector´s Set was offered at Phillips, in New York, and the price it fetched was over $93,000 - a price increase of 10%. This year, in January 2020, another matching set was offered, at Phillips in London, and it sold for $100,000 – an almost 20% price increase in 6 months. It is interesting to notice that despite the geographic location; Vienna, New York, and London, these Jeff Koons Balloon Animals, in matching edition number, are very desirable and they have shown price appreciation in a very short amount of time.

Balloon Animals (Collector's Set)

Balloon Animals (Collector´s Set)

Partnering with Grieder at Bahnhofstrasse in Zurich

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Every child is an artist. The problem is how to remain an artist once we grow up.

<h3>Explore a selection of limited art editions that suit the nursery perfectly. Plus, find out why it is important to expose your kids early to art and what are the various benefits.</h3>

Get ready for the arrival of your precious baby, and add the final touches with the artworks that will make the biggest impressions. Research has shown that exposing your children to an environment with art during their early stage, it stimulates both sides of their brain. Apart from building confidence and strengthening imagination through the various shapes and colours, art increases the capacity of memory, attention, and concentration.

We carefully selected editions, that will encourage all these developments for your child, and act as a narrator to your baby´s imagination. Build a safe and familiar environment surrounded by art, while celebrating this through a-once-in a lifetime experience. May your baby be surrounded by art and you will notice the&nbsp;confidence, and intellectual depth it will cultivate. Encourage their vivid creativity and expose them to multi-cultural practices. This way they will be equipped to be the leaders of tomorrow.

Art has the role in education of helping children become like themselves instead of more like everyone else.

You can find out our Nursery art selection on our Gifting menu, under the category NurseryOr click on this link direct you to this selection of limited art editions.&nbsp;

Placing Art In The Nursery

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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.

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&nbsp;Diamond&nbsp;in 1994 as part of his Celebration series. Thereafter, the&nbsp;Diamond&nbsp;became a vehicle for Koons to communicate and reflect upon the mass-made consumer products that are created for festivities.

We are delighted to share with you our latest visionary and storytelling editorial celebrating the release of his limited art edition. Shot by the talented photographer Shkelzen Konxheli, who has recently shot for Vogue Arabia. Model and actress&nbsp;Zoë&nbsp;Pastelle graced the&nbsp;narrating&nbsp;role reflecting on Jeff Koons's festive&nbsp;Diamond (Red)&nbsp;limited art-edition. We are grateful to&nbsp;Bongénie&nbsp;Grieder for carefully selecting the clothing for this editorial, as well as to Nina Tatavitto for executing the hair and makeup.&nbsp;

The American artist stated: "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.&nbsp;

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."

The Celebration series marks the commercialization of birthdays, holidays, Valentine's Day, and Easter. They act as the vehicle for Koons to reflect upon the massmade consumer products that are created for celebrating these festivities. This body of work occupies not only a seminal place in Koons’s artistic oeuvre, but also in his personal life; his notorious marriage to Illona Staller (Cicciolina), the birth of their son, followed by an abrupt divorce.

Similarly to the original and monumental sculpture of the Diamond, 1994-2005; measuring more than 2 meters wide and created in five unique colour versions of Green, Pink, Blue, Yellow, Red, the porcelain limited fine-art edition shares a highly polished chromium surface that reflects light, but does not refract it in the same way as a real diamond, where light travels through the precious gemstone´s 58 cuts. Characteristic of Koons´s artworks, they share a deliberate mirroring effect of its environment, the surroundings, and that of the viewer(s) - one cannot see the artwork without seeing oneself.

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.

https://data.wengcontemporary.com/media/Diamond_Red_new_content_sheet.pdf

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.

The American artist stated: "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.

Koons elaborated: “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."

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."

Diamond (Red)

Limoges porcelain with chromatic metalized coating

The "Diamond (Red)": A Gesture of Love

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The Balloon Animals work as a symbol of optimism, they remain fully inflated. Fully optimistic pieces, completely full of life’s energy, full of oxygen. This embrace of breathing, and energy of life. I love the way the light plays off of it, dealing with ideas of transcendence and aspects of spirituality and the power of light. The origins of human history comes into play when we see light reflected.

It is with great delight that we announce our partnership with the Dolder Grand in Zurich, Switzerland. The historic, 122-year-old award-winning hotel, is not only an epitome of hospitality, but its clear orientation towards art and architecture is what guided us towards this unique opportunity to partner.

In the company of Takashi Murakami, Marc Quinn, and Andy Warhol, among many other important and leading artists, you can now view our showcase display with the iconic and festive Balloon Animals by Jeff Koons, while enjoying your sweet escape at the top of Zurich.

Jeff Koons, the world's most expensive artist, 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.

His highly acclaimed Celebration series, started in the early 1990s, evoking with its large-scale motifs of balloon animals. The iconic forms of the balloon animals – dog, swan, rabbit and monkey – have been blown up to gigantic sculptures of steel, covered with a transparent chromatic coating. This finish gives the massive artworks a fragile and light appearance. Using the recognizable form of&nbsp;a balloon twisted into the shape of an animal, Koons has&nbsp;frozen a moment in time, exaggerating both scale and&nbsp;material.

For the Balloon Animals Collectors Set, Koons has partnered with the high-end French porcelain manufacture Bernardaud engineering his famous balloon animals. These are a collection of&nbsp;shapes, each segment alone does not look like part of&nbsp;an animal’s anatomy — in fact Koons often references human&nbsp;sexual anatomy.

Working with seductive materials, such as the high chromium stainless steel of his Balloon Animals sculptures, Koons turns banal objects into high art icons. His paintings and sculptures borrow widely from art-historical techniques and styles; although often seen as ironic or tongue-in-cheek, Koons insists his practice is earnest and optimistic.

https://data.wengcontemporary.com/media/Jeff_Koons_Balloon_Animals_Set_II.pdf

This set of Jeff Koons´ Balloon Animals II includes the newest limited editions made of highly reflective porcelain, covering the remaining canonic Koons colors. Incorporating the vocabulary of his iconic Celebration sculptures, Balloon Rabbit, Balloon Monkey and Balloon Swan marked a spectacular new chapter in Jeff Koons’s oeuvre.

Jeff Koons has been interested in cultural subject matter with widespread appeal throughout his career. It is, therefore, fitting that the rabbit, the monkey and the swan have been recurring motifs in his body of work. These subjects have captured artist’s fascination throughout history, serving as allegorical figures for universal themes such as the pursuit of pleasure, sexuality and innocence. Koons merges these typically contradictory concepts through the reduction of the subjects to their most essential forms.

Dimensions:
Rabbit: 29,2 x 13,9 x 21 cm (11.5 x 5.4 x 8.2 in.)
Monkey: 24,9 x 20,9 x 39,2 cm (9.8 x 8.2 x 15.4 in.)
Swan: 24,1 x 16,4 x 21 cm (9.4 x 6.4 x 8.2 in.)

Balloon Animals, Set II in matching edition numbers

French Limoges porcelain with chromatic coating

Partnering with the Dolder Grand

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Jeff Koon's latest edition is possibly the most festive and staggeringly beautiful artwork from his Celebration series. The American artist has once again challenged the technical means, with the meticulousness of his latest project, as well as stretched the capabilities of porcelain practice throughout the 52 sharp cuts of the diamond.Titled Diamond (Red), Jeff Koons reveals a reimagined iconography of a diamond, he revisits the form of nature´s creation that takes billions of years to form. As always, his works capture perfection not a glimpse or fragment of reality, but of the ideal, of a world of obtained dreams and perfection - the Diamond (Red) has a deliberate visual language that introduces us to a synthetic man-made creation.&nbsp;&nbsp;

Greeks believed that diamonds were the tears of gods, and Plato suggested that they were living celestial spirits embodied in stones, further adding to the mystique and power that surrounded the stone. In Roman literature, dated from the first century AD, Cupid's arrows were diamond-tipped. This visual language references today´s narration of love, procreation and commercially indicated in the minimal geometric forms and/or cuts of a diamond ring. The diamond is viewed as a classic symbol of love that represents light, permanence, and sincerity, it has been rooted in history and in the human DNA.

I'm interested in people, human desire, and aspiration, having daily interconnection with the people I value. I believe in experience, and having transcendence in your life.

This limited edition allows more access to my work versus it sitting in a museum or a collector’s home. It’s the engagement I love.

Similarly to the original and monumental sculpture of&nbsp;Diamond, 1994-2005 (measuring seven feet wide and in five unique colour version of Red, Blue, Green, Yellow, and Pink), the limited fine-art edition shares a highly polished chromium surface that reflects light, but does not refract it in the same way as a real diamond, where light travels through the precious gemstone's 52 cuts. Characteristic of Koons's artworks, they share a deliberate mirroring effect of its environment, the surrounding and that of the viewer(s) - one cannot see the artwork without seeing oneself.

The&nbsp;Diamond (Red)&nbsp;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. The narration of a diamond placed in a contemporary context is viewed as a cliché gesture showcasing love and commitment, also socially considered as a symbol of affluence. Commercial red diamonds are commonly known as the most expensive and the rarest diamond colour in the world. It's so rare in fact, that it is thought that only 30 true gem-quality red diamonds are known to exist.

Koon's limited edition of the&nbsp;Diamond (Red)&nbsp;is composed of valuable Limoges porcelain. Its materiality echoes the subject of life and creation, through its use of clay (being the main ingredient of porcelain). With the medium of porcelain Koons makes yet once again a reference to the "creation of life from clay", the miraculous birth theme present in Christianity, mythology, and abundantly found in literature.

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A Fusion of Art and Luxury in Geneva

“You created such a cozy and elegant environment! It truly enhances the overall experience.„

— Guests' Feedback

Ponte Sant’Angelo, Wrapped, 2011

“I would not imagine that watches and art can be so approachable. I learned a lot about both markets during the event.„

— Guests' Feedback