Dolphin

2002

Polychromed aluminum, stainless steel, coated steel chain

127 x 200 x 97 cm (50 x 78 3/4 x 38 3/16 in.)

This inflatable dolphin in polychrome aluminium is suspended by stainless steel chains and supports a series of kitchen utensils. It differs from Koons' previous sculptures by its more melancholic character. Combining a children's toy with pots and pans, he highlights mass consumption’s cultural omnipresence in our lives.

Iconic contemporary artist Jeff Koons’ 2002 sculpture Dolphin is highly characteristic of his exploration of the relationship between popular kitsch and high art. Here, the contradiction between the dolphin's uniform, convex, appealing lightness and the pans’ chaotic, concave, composite heaviness highlights the triumph of mass consumption in every possible form.

Koons' sculpture Dolphin, which is in the Pinault Collection, was presented in 2009 during the exhibition "Un certain état du monde ?" (“A Certain State of the World?”) at the Garage Center for Contemporary Culture in Moscow.
Exhibitions