Photos By Gail

Few artists know how to make an everyday object feel larger than life quite like Jeff Koons. His Tulips sculpture (1995–2004) takes the familiar shape of a bouquet of colorful flowers and transforms it into an exuberant work of art with a decidedly impressive personality. This  sculpture is one of five unique versions, and its production was an extraordinarily complex undertaking.

Part of Koons’ popular Celebration series, the sculpture features oversized, mirror-polished stainless steel tulip balloons in a brilliant assortment of colors. Their reflective, almost impossibly smooth surfaces give them the appearance of inflated party balloons, while their monumental scale turns a simple bouquet into something wonderfully unexpected.

Tulips is a playful reminder of Koons’ fascination with popular culture, childhood imagery, and the transformation of ordinary things into extraordinary objects. It’s hard not to smile at a bouquet this bold!

Photographed at The Broad in Los Angeles.