Essense of Kitsch culture in Koons' work

‘Michael Jackson and Bubbles‘ (1998) by Jeff Koons, as displayed at Versailles

Kitsch is a form of art that is considered an inferior, tasteless copy of an extant style of art or a worthless imitation of art of recognised value. The concept is associated with the deliberate use of elements that may be thought of as cultural icons while making cheap mass-produced objects that are unoriginal.


Garden Gnomes are usually considered to be kitschy :)

Kitsch also refers to the types of art that are aesthetically deficient (whether or not being sentimental, glamorous, theatrical, or creative) and that make creative gestures which merely imitate the superficial appearances of art through repeated conventions and formulae. Excessive sentimentality often is associated with the term.

Within the period of the New Wave music - the age when fashion went in for increasingly bright hi-tech colours.
In a way Koons testifies to this world of back brushed hairstyles, metal ribbons, lace and ruffles and food that came in ever-more fanciful colours where kitsch culture reigned supreme.

The term kitsch is considered derogatory(meaning lessen), denoting works executed to pander to popular demand alone and purely for commercial purposes rather than works created as self-expression by an artist.

The term is generally reserved for unsubstantial and gaudy works that are calculated to have popular appeal and are considered pretentious and shallow rather than genuine artistic efforts.

The concept of kitsch is applied to artwork that was a response to the nineteenth century art with aesthetics that convey exaggerated sentimentality and melodrama, hence, kitsch art is closely associated with sentimental art.