Signature Plate

Label

Jeff Koons is one of the most commercially successful artists of all time, with his Balloon Dog setting the record for highest price paid at auction for a work by a living artist, selling for $58 million dollar in 2013. Koon’s kitch work is often erotic and sexualizes women. In Signature Plate, Koons is depicted on a porcelain plate with his arm draped over a pig as if it were a companion or a woman. Both the pig and Koons stare directly at the viewer. Although Koon’s expression is not aggressive, there is clear masculine power and authority displayed in this interaction. The pinkness of the pig appears fake and perfectly matches the tone of the artist’s own skin. The plate raises questions of both power and consumption, as the pig is purely at the mercy of the male figure who could consume him. The use of the plate is also gendered, with plates often being associated with women’s work, a woman’s place in the kitchen, and feminine décor. The Guerrilla Girls (featured in this exhibition) direct critique Koons on the grounds that his highly commercial body of work is exhibited globally for his (male) name recognition rather than its artistic merit.

From the 2019 exhibition A Space for Dialogue 96, The Politics of Pink, curated by Charlotte Grussing '19, Conroy Intern

Course History

WRIT 5, Poor Taste, William Boyer, Winter 2014

PORT 8, Brazilian Portraits, Carlos Minchillo, Winter 2020

ARTH 63.13, Bad Art!, Katie Hornstein, Winter 2020

ARTH 63.13, Bad Art!, Katie Hornstein, Winter 2020

Portuguese 8.01, Brazilian Portraits, Carlos Cortez-Minchillo, Winter 2024

Exhibition History

"Collecting and Sharing: Trevor Fairbrother, John T. Kirk, and the Hood Museum of Art", Hood Museum of Art, Dartmouth College, Hanover, New Hampshire, August 22-December 6, 2015.

A Space for Dialogue 96, The Politics of Pink, Charlotte Grussing,Class of 2019, Conroy Intern, Alvin P. Gutman Gallery, Hood Museum of Art, Dartmouth College, Hanover, New Hampshire, September 28-November 3, 2019.

Publication History

Collecting and Sharing: Trevor Fairbrother, John T. Kirk, and the Hood Museum of Art, with contributions by Katherine Hart, Michael R. Taylor, John O'Reilly and James Tellin, Trevor Fairbrother and John T. Kirk, Hanover, New Hampshire: Hood Museum of Art, Dartmouth College, 2015, p. 94, no. 48.

Charlotte Grussing,Class of 2019, Conroy Intern, A Space for Dialogue 96, The Politics of Pink, Hanover, New Hampshire, Hood Museum of Art, Dartmouth College, 2019.

Provenance

Parkett, Zurich, Switzerland; ordered by Trevor Fairbrother, Boston, Massachusetts, December 7, 1989; sold to Trevor Fairbrother, Boston, Massachusetts, August 2, 1990; collection of John T. Kirk and Trevor Fairbrother, 1990-2012; given to present collection, 2012.

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Subjects