Michael Jackson and Bubbles facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Michael Jackson and Bubbles |
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The artist's proof, on display at The Broad
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| Artist | Jeff Koons |
| Year | 1988 |
| Medium | Porcelain |
| Subject | Michael Jackson |
| Dimensions | 110 cm × 179 cm × 83 cm (42 in × 70.5 in × 32.5 in) |
Michael Jackson and Bubbles is a porcelain sculpture (42 x 70.5 x 32.5 in) by the American artist Jeff Koons. It was created in 1988 within the framework of his Banality series.
Description
The life-size porcelain sculpture depicts the American singer-songwriter Michael Jackson leaning back on a flower bed. On his lap reclines his domesticated chimpanzee Bubbles who clasps a white cloth. Jackson and his pet form an optical unit. They wear similar clothing, are colored homogeneously and parts of their bodies are paralleled with each other, such as Jackson's right hand and Bubbles' paw. The sculpture has been arranged in a triangular and multi-perspective composition.
Sculpture
Bubbles was Jackson's domestic animal who was bought by the artist from a Texas research facility in 1983. It has been claimed by the media that he was Jackson's best and faithful friend who even joined the singer on his world tours and helped in the household. Jeff Koons used a press photo of Jackson and Bubbles as a template for his sculpture. It is almost identical to the artist's work except for a slight variation of the posture. Koons changed Jackson's direction of view and thus adjusted the composition to the requirements of a sculptural work which has to take into account many different viewing angles.
At the time the sculpture was created, Jackson had already become a world-famous performer. Having achieved a sales record with his album Bad, he was at the pinnacle of his career. Koons artwork can be read as a comment on the great media interest that has been directed at Jackson's life as musician and as a private person.
Three of the Michael Jackson and Bubbles sculpture were made. One was sold at Sotheby's on 15 May 2001, when it was auctioned off to the record price of 5.6 million dollars. The artist's proof is owned by the Broad Art Foundation of businessman and art collector Eli Broad and is displayed in the Los Angeles County Museum of Art (It is now at The Broad Museum in Downtown Los Angeles). The two other versions are in Oslo in the Astrup Fearnley Museum of Modern Art and in the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art.
Exhibitions
In 2012 the Liebieghaus in Frankfurt attracted attention displaying Michael Jackson and Bubbles next to Egyptian mummies and thus established an aesthetic and ironic dialogue between the objects.
