Caterpillar Chains

This sculpture, an inflatable polychrome aluminium caterpillar pool toy suspended by eight coated steel chains, ironically glorifies an emblematic item of mass consumption. Here, Jeff Koons enters the imaginary world of childhood.

In 2003, iconic contemporary artist Jeff Koons created Caterpillar Chains, which is highly characteristic of his exploration of the relationship between popular culture and high art. The inflatable’s playful design and apparent lightness contrasts with the aluminium’s cold, heavy density, as if to mock the contradictions inherent in big industry and the manufacturing of consumer culture.

Koons’ sculpture Caterpillar Chains, 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.