Pink Panther
Jeff Koons. 1988 C.E. New York. Glazed porcelain
This piece is a part of his Banality series. It is a reflection of pop culture, juxtaposing the namesake popular children's' cartoon character with Jayne Mansfield, a sex symbol. Four essentially identical Pink Panther sculptures exist. They are an example of kitsch, meant to appeal to the masses. This piece later grew to be considered high art due to its popularity.
Theme:
Challenging postmodernism
Form:
Highly polished and glossy - inexpensive commercial art; coloring like 1950s/60s; smiling, bare-breasted, blond woman scantily clad in a mint-green dress, head tilted back and to the left as if addressing a crowd of onlookers
Function:
Part of Koons "Banality" exhibition to challenge the ideals of postmodernism, which challenged originality - Line btwn ironic appropriation of a mass-culture object and the object itself?
Content:
German/Italian artisans made each work in triplicate - debuted in NY Chicago, and Cologne simultaneously; figure based on 1960s B-list Hollywood star Jayne Mansfield and 1963 cartoon Pink Panther
Context:
Nostalgic of pre-civil rights era? Feminism? Parodying male authority? Postmodern 1980s inaugurated contemporary sense of the artist as a critical/serious interrogator of mass culture/media - provocation - supposed to counter banality of popular culture - Koons reveled in it
