On September 21, 2015, internationally acclaimed sculptor, painter, and alum Jeff Koons (SAIC 1975–76, HON 2008) spoke to more than 900 people as the Visiting Artists Program's 150th Anniversary Distinguished Alumni Lecturer. Koons discussed his work, career, and experience at SAIC where he studied under influential Chicago Imagists, such as Ed Paschke (BFA 1961, MFA 1970, HON 1990) and Karl Wirsum (BFA 1962), as well as notable faculty members Ray Yoshida (BFA 1953) and Whitney Halstead (BFA 1949, MFA 1954).

Renowned for his pioneering, and divisive, public sculptures and high-priced reproductions, the artist touched on everything from his love of Led Zeppelin and varied source material to the meaning and making of iconic works like Rabbit (1986), Michael Jackson and Bubbles (1988), and Balloon Dog (Blue) (1994–2000).

Here are a few highlights from his lecture and post-lecture interview:

Artistic beginnings…

My father was an interior decorator and had a furniture store; I learned aesthetics from my dad. I started taking art lessons at the age of seven…I always took art classes in high school. I was talented, gifted, could make something extremely realistic, and model something…but I had no relationship with my work. So I went to art school. 

In my first art history class, my teacher brought up an image of Olympia and started talking about Manet and the different symbolism: what this type of cat meant in 19th-century France, the woman with the bouquet, the relation to Goya… I felt like the luckiest person in the room. I thought, “Wow! This is what art can be…I had no idea.” It was always just something that created anxiety within me, trying to follow certain rules and making it look a certain way. When I realized how effortlessly that it connects you to all of these human disciplines, I was just like, “I’m in.”

Getting the Led out…

I would listen to Led Zeppelin, and I got a little taste of philosophy and sociology and the power of art and the idea of wanting more…I would listen to an hour of Led Zeppelin every day and [I still do] now. It’s actually so ancient, the music. In Kashmir, Robert Plant goes, “Ooo ooo, yeah yeah, I’m down…” “Ooo ooo” is tragedy and “yeah yeah” is comedy. It’s Greek tragedy—this is as far back as you can go for a chorus. It’s profound. But it’s those types of feelings that I started coming in contact with.

Influence of Chicago Imagists…

In 1974 there was a Jim Nutt (BFA 1967) show at the Whitney [Museum of American Art]. I saw the show and I was blown away. It was the first time I had seen work that was contemporary surrealism/Dada; it had all of this power and it made me physically feel something. Then I saw Ed Paschke’s work. I thought, “This is where I’d like to be.” So I applied [to SAIC] on a student mobility program and…I was accepted. I studied with Ed, but I was also his studio assistant. On the weekends, I would stretch canvases, and he invited me into his family. We would go back to his house and have lunch together. I realized that you really can have a way of life doing this.

Ed used to take me around and show me where he would get his source material. We would go to a midget bar on the South Side; we would go to a tattoo parlor. I remember going to a club one time and there was a pregnant woman dancing; her whole body was tattooed. The stage’s light was just kind of flickering...and when you would look at the light in his paintings, they would reflect. This is where he would get his source material. I was looking at the world around me for source materials and trying to be open to everything. 

Ed was the one who really taught me that everything is here. He would say that within the universe, everything’s here, nothing leaves…it’s everywhere around you. It’s about opening your eyes and looking for it. That really got me looking. When you do look, you realize everything is here. It’s so important to follow your interests and focus on those interests. If you do, it takes you to this metaphysical place. I think it’s the only thing an artist can do.

Approaching art…

So many people come into the realm of art and they feel unqualified. They are ashamed of their own cultural history. They feel like they don’t know enough to participate and they don’t know the rules. They distance themselves from art. I want to communicate to people immediately that their own cultural history, their history in general, everything about you, the viewer, is perfect. Absolutely perfect. It’s about this moment forward; it’s about your potential…This is one of the things I learned in art and the journey of the Chicago experience. The journey from subjective art to objective art is the journey from self acceptance to acceptance of others.

Process, research, and thinking about his next work…

I believe in intuitive thought and following my interests. Generally what I make today, I’ve been thinking about for two years. It’s not that I’ve avoided it for two years; it’s just been brewing. Is it worthy enough to execute? There’s a period of reflection that takes place, thinking about something before actually taking the step. For me, it’s all intuitive—opening one’s self up to the world is really critical.

I don’t believe in judgment; I don’t believe in criticism. One of the things that holds people back is being critical. You can realize that some things are more significant to you than others, but it doesn’t mean that what you don’t find significant isn’t of equal quality of its own being. It might not be significant to you at that moment, but in the future it may be. So don’t distance yourself politically.

His use of stainless steel and mirror finishes…

The idea of a reflective surface affirms you…you see your own reflection. It is informing you that the art happens inside you. It is an object, just a transponder. Nothing happens in it. There is no value in art. Art’s value is in the way you respond to it. 

Advice to current SAIC students…

I would try to use my time as wisely as possible. I am 60 years old now and...I try to grow as a human being; I try to grow every day. I try to have my art become a vehicle to help others experience growth, enlightenment, and a sense of transcendence. Other artists gave that to me in my life, and I’d like to be able to share that experience.

The value of an art education…

Art connects you to other disciplines so effortlessly and so easily. When you’re studying art, you’re involved in making things, planning things, conceptualizing things…before you know it, you’re dealing with mathematics, science, aesthetics, sociology, philosophy, all of these different areas. You’re being educated…in all of these areas. That’s the power of art…it introduces you to all of the human disciplines.

Read the F Newsmagazine article about Jeff Koons's lecture at SAIC.