Flower Drawing (Green)

Immaculately rendered on mirror-polished stainless steel, Flower Drawing (Green) is a joyful celebration of one of Jeff Koons' most iconic motifs. 'I have always enjoyed flowers,' Koons has said. 'Since taking art lessons as a child, I have had flowers in my work. I always like the sense that a flower just displays itself. The viewer always finds grace in a flower. Flowers are a symbol that life goes forward' (J. Koons, quoted in Jeff Koons, exh.cat., Museo Archeologico Nazionale di Napoli, Naples 2003, p. 157). Bold, bright and appealing, flowers have long played a central role in Jeff Koons' work. Since the 1970s Koons has used flowers as a visual tool to celebrate sexuality and creativity; they embody the fundamental vitality and unabashed attractiveness that pervades much of Koons' work.

Koons finds that drawing conveys a similar immediacy; the gesture is both a physical and intellectual articulation. The design of Flower Drawing (Green) is deliberately reductive; with such an archetypical image, we need only the most essential gestures to recognize and respond to its motif. Characteristically direct, this openness is complemented by the immaculate mirrored surface, which leaves the viewer free to contribute their own thoughts and ideas to Flower Drawing (Green). The viewer and the context are inextricable from the artwork; we are at once attracted to the lustrous object, yet forced at the same to reflect upon ourselves. This is a visual manifestation of Koons' belief that ultimately, art is personal iconography. 'It is the tool that helps you connect and communicate - but it's about going deeper through trust in the self, into a range of archetypal images, images that are deep and important within everybody.' (J. Koons, quoted in Jeff Koons: Celebration, exh.cat., Neue Nationalgalerie, Berlin 2008, p. 86).