Art Market Monitor

Global Coverage ~ Unique Analysis

  • AMMpro
  • AMM Fantasy Collecting Game
  • Podcast
  • Contact Us

“Rembrandt Would Have Spit on His Fluorescent-Lit Floors”

March 26, 2015 by Marion Maneker

Jeff-Koons-studio.-photo-Jason-Schmidt

Richard Johnson spoke to one of Jeff Koons’s former assistants:

Surrealist painter Alex Gardega responded to a help-wanted ad and was given a tour of Koons’ factory on West 29th Street. “It was beyond insane,” he told me.

Gardega said, “They have lasers printing holes in paper, so they make thousands of pieces of paper with holes in it, and these artists sit all day long and take one stencil, dab paint over it, take the next over that . . . repeat hundreds of times a day — all for a 5-inch section.”

Koons […] is said to have three shifts of assistants working around the clock, about 100 people total.

“Jeff’s a tough taskmaster,” said one art expert. “He has workers that just polish sculptures all day. There is high turnover.”

“It made an iPhone factory look like a fun place to work,” said Gardega. “It was the most lifeless place I have ever seen. I left there, and then right to the Met to clean my soul. Rembrandt would have spit on his fluorescent-lit floors.”

Jeff Koons churns out new factory art (Page Six)

More from Art Market Monitor

  • A Fabergé FortuneA Fabergé Fortune
  • Sadly, The Picasso Ceramics Market Isn’t for the Entry-Level Collector AnymoreSadly, The Picasso Ceramics Market Isn’t for the Entry-Level Collector Anymore
  • The Irish Still Like Their ArtThe Irish Still Like Their Art
  • Koons's New PadKoons's New Pad
  • Christie’s to Offer Late Pollock Work for $15-20mChristie’s to Offer Late Pollock Work for $15-20m
  • A New Twist on FraudA New Twist on Fraud

Filed Under: General

About Marion Maneker

Want to get Art Market Monitor‘s posts sent to you in our email? Sign up below by clicking on the Subscribe button.

Top Posts

  • Keith Haring’s 1989 Retrospect Comes to Sotheby’s London Prints Sale
  • Four of Picasso's Women Valued at $28m Come to Christie's from Rose-Walters Collection
  • Roy Lichtenstein’s Top Ten Auction Prices
  • Norman Rockwell's Not Gay. But Is He a Great Artist?
  • Sotheby’s Offers Pop-Culture Memorabilia, from Nike to Yeezy, in New Series
  • Rauschenberg’s Buffalo II Leads Mayer Collection at Christie’s
  • Mapping a Career in the Art World
  • Christie's Announces $70m Picasso Self Portrait
  • David Hockney's $20m Pacific Coast Highway & Santa Monica
  • Rare Apple-1 Computer Available from Christie's Private Sale
  • About Us/ Contact
  • Podcast
  • AMMpro
  • Newsletter
  • FAQ

twitterfacebooksoundcloud
Privacy Policy
Terms & Conditions
California Privacy Rights
Do Not Sell My Personal Information
Advertise on Art Market Monitor