Friday Photos: Move over, Le Vau

Posted By Travis Daub Friday, September 12, 2008 - 7:12 PM Share

Dog
"Balloon Dog" by Jeff Koons. Photo by Stephane de Sakutin/AFP/Getty Images

U.S. artist Jeff Koons opened a controversial show in Paris this week at the Hercules salon in the Château de Versailles. From a gargantuan balloon dog to his famous porcelain statue of Michael Jackson and Bubbles, Koons "redecorated" Louis XIV's former hunting lodge inside and out. He even filled Marie Antoinette's room with vacuum cleaners. Of course, as NPR reports, some in France were not amused:

Koons' sculpted rabbits and dogs "don't belong at the palace of Versailles, they belong at Disneyland," said journalist and radio host Anne Brassie.

Arnaud-Aaron Upinsky, the president of a writers' union, agreed. "This exhibit is sacrilegious and insulting to the symbols of the Republic and its art," he said, wearing a velvet-and-gold-colored crown at the protest.

Here are some more unbelievable shots from the show:

Lobster
"Lobster" by Jeff Koons. Photo by Stephane de Sakutin/AFP/Getty Images
Heart
"Hanging Heart" by Jeff Koons. Photo by Stephane de Sakutin/AFP/Getty Images
Banality
"Ushering In Banality" by Jeff Koons. Photo by Stephane de Sakutin/AFP/Getty Images
EXPLORE:FRIDAY PHOTO, PHOTO, EUROPE, CULTURE
 

AJLONGINI

6:31 PM ET

September 13, 2008

My take

My take: Both Versailles and Koons' work are immensely garish and redundant, they belong together!

 

CLANAD

11:49 AM ET

September 14, 2008

My impression

I was there slome days ago..looks rather weird.
But actually it is funny because when you enter to the rooms there is a "plea" that says " all the guides please do not comment on the modern art exposition"...
Hahaha rathr funny.

 

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