John Yau on Jeff Koons
Also: Sprinkler debacle at the Studio Museum in Harlem, Ellen Harvey’s lost places, and a galaxy of armor.
Have you ever had a “but what does it mean” moment with an artwork? When you wonder if you’re missing something? I had one the first time I saw a picture of Jeff Koons’s sculpture “Michael Jackson and Bubbles” (1988), as a fine art undergraduate. Was it supposed to be good, or so bad that it was good? Was it a parody or an homage?
John Yau brings a critical eye and acerbic wit to his review of Koons’s current Gagosian exhibition. For Yau, these highly polished porcelain sculptures perfectly mirror the values of the one-percenters who buy them (think Trump donors). Billionaires admiring their reflections in a Koons — I think I finally get it.
—Natalie Haddad, reviews editor
Jeff Koons’s Reflective Sculptures Mirror the One Percent
Seeing your distorted image in one of these porcelain sculptures may be novel, but they are “not mirroring the selfie-takers as much as those who identify with Koons’s aesthetics, and believe his work is an important contribution to art history and culture.”
The Top Four Tax Mistakes Every Artist Makes
Learn the most common mistakes artists make on their taxes and how they cost you time and money. In this free class, Hannah Cole, artist and author of Taxes for Humans, will share her four-step framework to make your taxes easier while feeling valued as an artist, and the secret to stashing more in your savings. Tuesday, January 27, at 12pm (ET).
News
- Artists and cultural workers signed a letter urging the Jewish Museum to help save the Cohen Building in Washington, DC, as Trump officials move to expedite its sale and potentially demolish it and its New Deal-era murals.
- The city of Philadelphia is suing the Department of the Interior and the acting director of the National Park Service over the removal of a wall text and illustrations from an exhibition about slavery in a historical park.
- Two months after unveiling its new building, the Studio Museum evacuated visitors due to a messy "sprinkler emergency."
Rhode Island School of Design Pre-College Enrolling for Summer 2026
RISD Pre-College now offers in-person and virtual program formats for young artists anywhere in the world. Students will join RISD's creative community in an intensive summer program, engaging with a cohort of like-minded peers to build their portfolio and forever shape their approach to art and design.
From Our Critics
Ellen Harvey’s Elegy to Lost Places
Her painting series is a record of those grand and mundane places lost to time or other occurrences, whose presence we continue to mourn. | Lori Waxman
In Shiny Armor
A Millennia-Long Fascination With Armor
Sarah Bond takes us through a new installation of the Worcester Art Museum’s armor collection — the second largest in the country. “As it turns out, the setting of knights’ tales doesn’t just take place in the storied landscapes of the European Middle Ages,” she writes. “They stretch across Eurasia, Africa, Japan, and beyond” — even making their way to “a galaxy far, far away.”
NXTHVN – Studio and Curatorial Fellowships
Up to seven early-career visual artists and two curators participate in a paid, 10-month intensive mentorship-driven residency in New Haven, Connecticut. Fellows are also matched with a high school apprentice for one-on-one mutual learning. Read more on Hyperallergic.
Deadline: March 2, 2026 | nxthvn.com
See more in this month’s list of opportunities for artists, writers, and art workers!
Member Comment
Antonio C. Cuyler on Bryan Martin's "Accessibility Should Be at the Center of Museum Education":
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Now Streaming
A Group of Friends Walks Into a Mall, and Stays for Four Years
Was it a crime? A prank? A work of art? A new documentary unveils the full story of an artist collective’s secret mall apartment, and other ephemeral actions. | Kathy Ou
