Jeff Koons: An artist or not?

Simply saying his name is enough to divide a room. Jeff Koons.

For some, he's a neo-pop genius holding up a brilliant mirror to our consumer society. For others, he's the ultimate embodiment of the art market's decline: the triumph of marketing over meaning, of the "product" over emotion. When a stainless steel balloon dog sells for $91 million, the question inevitably arises: is it still art, or is it high finance?

At the heart of this debate lies a deep-seated fear that haunts many artists, here in Quebec as elsewhere:

"Does an artist lose their soul if they become a business?"

The myth of purity

There's a persistent, almost religious belief that art must be disconnected from money to be "real." The artist should suffer, create in obscurity, and leave the commerce to the dealers. According to this logic, Jeff Koons, with his factory of assistants and his Wall Street-worthy communication strategies, has sold his soul to the devil.

"But is it really that simple?"

Koons makes no secret of his intentions. He has made "commerce" an integral part of his work, just like Andy Warhol before him. His approach is brutally honest: he wants to communicate with the masses, and he uses the codes of advertising to do so. Does this make his approach any less artistic?

Two faces, one essence

At Le Socle, we interact daily with artists in Saint-Jean-Port-Joli and throughout the province. On one hand, there is the solitary artist, working with wood or canvas in the silence of their studio, guided by an inner quest, far removed from auction records. On the other hand, there is the artist-entrepreneur, who thinks big, who wants to flood the market, who thinks about "branding" and "scale".

The truth is, they're both right.

The status of an artist isn't defined by your bank balance, nor by the size of your team. It isn't lost when you sign a big contract, and it isn't gained by taking a vow of poverty.

An artist is someone who creates. Whether they create an intimate emotion for a single person or a global spectacle for millions, the fundamental act is the same: giving form to a vision that didn't exist before.

The soul is in the act, not in the price

Jeff Koons hasn't lost his soul; he's chosen to embody it within an industrial system. The artisan who refuses to expand in order to maintain complete control over their unique piece also possesses their soul.

What we champion at Atelier A is the freedom to choose. If your approach demands silence and rarity, that's magnificent. If your approach demands expansion and commercial success, that's magnificent too.

The important thing is to remain true to your own vision, whether it's "Koonsian" or minimalist. Because ultimately, what makes you an artist isn't the selling price of your work. It's the fact that, just this morning, you chose to create.