Conceptual and multidisciplinary artist Kathy Aoki invented a fictional art collector who hated Jeff Koons pop-kitsch art so much that they felt compelled to destroy it. Now visitors to the West Valley College Art Gallery are invited to explore this imagined history via Aoki’s faux visitor’s center and gift shop. Her immersive environment uses humor to take jabs at gender imbalances in the art market, making copies for profit, and greed.
For over 15 years, Aoki has used humor to explore gender and beauty issues through mock historical artifacts and ersatz documentation. Leveraging the exaggerated authority of institutional settings, Aoki uses humorous museum-style labeling, audio tour, animation, dioramas, and 2-d and 3-d artwork to present her concepts.
Join us on Thursday, February 29, for light refreshments and meet Kathy Aoki as she discusses her journey of discovery with this project.
Show Dates
February 20 – April 4, 2024
Performance Lecture
Wednesday, March 20 at 10:55 AM in Fox 120
Closing Walk-through Performance
Thursday, April 4 from 2:00 PM – 5:00 PM
Closing Reception
Thursday, April 4 from 5:00 PM – 7:00 PM
Location
WVC Visual Arts Gallery - VAB Room 100
Free and open to the public.
By Appointment
Contact Mitra Fabian: mitra.fabianFREEWEST_VALLEY
Gallery Hours
| Day | Hours |
|---|---|
| Tuesday | 2:00 PM – 5:00 PM |
| Wednesday | 10:00 AM – 2:00 PM |
| Thursday | 2:00 PM – 5:00 PM |
| Friday | 10:00 AM – 2:00 PM |
| Sunday | 12:00 PM – 4:00 PM |
Kathy Aoki, Lobster Peephole Diorama, 2022, mixed media, appears as 24 x 30 ft garden landscape
Kathy Aoki, Koons Ruins: Buried Balloon Dog, 2022, intaglio with watercolor, 16 x 17 inches
Kathy Aoki, Buried Bourgeois Bust, 2022, digital painting, 24 x 40 in
I buried a dog in the yard, Jeff Koons’ Balloon Dog that is.
In her new solo show at West Valley College Art Gallery, Bay Area conceptual and multidisciplinary artist Kathy Aoki provides humorous relief from the art market tyranny of Jeff Koons.
Pop artist Jeff Koons is known for delivering kitschy, self-serving work that many arts professionals find distasteful. But does his work deserve to be destroyed? The answer is “Absolutely!” according to Kathy Aoki’s satirical exhibition Koons Ruins: Discovery Zone, on display this spring in West Valley College’s Art Gallery (Saratoga, CA). Presented as a visitor’s center and gift shop, Aoki’s exhibition celebrates fictional art collector Dorothea James, whose dislike of Jeff Koons’ art grows into a simmering hatred that erupts into destructive action. Dorothea buys his art, sticks it in the ground on her estate, and subjects it to accelerated degradation. When she dies, her estate is open to the public as “Koons Ruins.”
Visitors to Koons Ruins: Discovery Zone can take an audio tour of the grounds, use the photostand to throw dirt on Jeff Koons’ Balloon Dog, and “visit” the estate through a peephole diorama featuring a Koons sculpture stuck in an acid pit. This is the perfect conceptual exhibition for art newbies, artists, and arts professionals alike.
Known for her mock museum installations that question society’s tendency to privilege the most bizarre things, Aoki began the Koons Ruins series in 2012. Like her invented character Dorothea James, Aoki has strong opinions about Koons’ work. While she finds most of his pieces downright insulting, Aoki admits that Koons is a master of sales, and Aoki’s witty text panels and labeling address both aspects of Koons’ work.
| Date | Event |
|---|---|
| February 29 | Reception for the artist and premier of new Koons Ruins sculpture |
| TBD | Humorous Performance Lecture by Kathy Aoki, in character as “Curator of the Museum of Historical Makeovers” |
| TBD | Closing walk through of the show. Kathy Aoki gives walk through tours of the exhibition, in character as “Curator of the Museum of Historical Makeovers” |
