A Brush with Greatness
In February I had the once in a lifetime experience of meeting and working with Jeff Koons.
To be clear, I was on the film crew for BMW featuring the Master Artist. We spent the two days with him and his team - one day in his studio and offices here in NYC and the next in his large stone sculpting facility in Pennsylvania.
(I’m also a commercial makeup artist for television and film.)
As you might imagine, this was nothing short of a dream for me.
It was very special to see the inner workings and output of Mr. Koons' studio and also to spend time and chat with one of the world's most influential and successful artists… of ALL time.
A Titan. Truely.
Jeff Koons and his team were wonderful to the whole crew.
He was a thoughtful, curious and gracious host.
On day one in New York I was greeted by Jeff’s personal assistants. They led me through the large office space where I would be setting up my makeup station. Jeff would soon be seated to get camera ready.
When he first arrived I did my best to play it cool. I’ve worked on some noteworthy personalities in my 15 years in the industry, and it’s rare that I have butterflies. I had butterflies.
Without knowing it, he and his team put me at immediate ease. They were genuine and kind (my two love languages).
What I first noticed was how he noticed everything.
All of his senses seemed to fire at 1000%.
I honestly can't say that one thing impressed more than the next. The organization of the studio was impeccable. The forethought, planning, level of detail and execution of his vision, staggering.
The care that goes into his works of art, unparalleled.
His team, a symphony.
Watching this synchronized body of assistants dance through his NYC painting studio had my hairs standing on end. They were working on at least a half dozen large scale, spectacular artworks at once. Time slowed down as I consumed the scene around me. All the while dreaming of what is possible.
Listening to Koons ruminate on what it means to be an artist, leading a team and leaving a legacy was a deeply meaningful experience for me. I can’t offer much more about operations there; I respect the sanctity of an artist’s closed studio.
(However, you’ll be able to have a feel of it all when you play the video we filmed linked below.)
Shoot Day One alone gave me enough inspiration to last years.
It combined with Day Two… well,
I should be set with enough imaginative impetus for a lifetime.
Koons and his team studying a prototype of the Pink Ballerina.
Now on this day we filmed at Koons’ stone carving facility in PA.
After picking up some street shots in Manhattan on a frigid and rainy morning, we set out on a few hour drive into the heart of Pennsylvania.
We were going to be among the first outsiders to see the nearly completed Pink Ballerina statue carved from of one piece of Pink Portuguese marble.
I was preparing to be awestruck.
After finishing with hair and makeup, Koons and I walked through the facility toward the next camera set up. I was like a kid on Christmas morning. I slowly looked around, eyes wide, mouth agape and asked aloud “when you see all of this magnificent work manifest after so many years of planning and watching them come to fruition, what goes through your mind?” He answered, “I always look for the problems. What problem needs to be solved next.” It wasn’t a magical answer… it was a practical one, and one that made complete sense.
If you’re going to be successful on this level - the reality is that you’ll be trouble shooting more than you’re dreaming.
The crew picked up a few more shots and then we set up directly in front of the Pink Ballerina.
Pink Ballerina in the final stages of carving, with Jeff Koons.
She’s magnificent.
7 years. 7 years around the clock she’s been in the making. She’s everything you could dream of and more. I wish that you could have been there - to see her detail up close. Her skirt of marble has the same structure as tulle fabric. Her posture, so delicate. Her grandiosity, dorfing. When she is on display to the public, I beg of you… go and see her.
Now I could write a post about my years at University that could break your heart.
The long story short is that I was forced to switch my major from Visual Communication Design to Fine Arts in Crafts after year 4. (It was a blessing in disguise). I graduated after year 5 completing - and acing - 8 studio classes that year alone, all in 3D crafts - (this is insane - think of these as labs - each 25 hours of work per week) - such as Glass Blowing and Casting, Ceramics; both Hand Built and Thrown, Jewelry Metals, Textiles; Loom, Silk Screen and Block Printing. Let me tell you it was simultaneously one of the most challenging and happiest years of my life. As formidable as it was, it was also when I felt most alive. As I now create in 100 square foot studio in Manhattan, I dream of creating in lavish studios like that again.
I say this to tell you that I GEEK OUT on discussions and discovery of craftsmanship, processes and tools.
I love, love, love to get my hands dirty.
I love to get INSIDE my art.
And I always have 1,000,001 questions when I’m in a new studio environment.
So you might conclude that I had some technical questions about the grand Pink Ballerina. Being that I typically always go to the source, I asked Mr. Koons. After thoughtfully answering he introduced me to his lead Stone Sculptor, Constantin Nazarie. Constantin was born and raised in Italy. Since he was a boy he has worked with stone and stone alone… talk about specialization! A master sculptor, he shared how as a child he used to spark rocks off each-other to explore their properties. He could tell where a stone was from, from the sound and smell they would release when sparked. He explained that a stone will smell like salt if sourced near the ocean, and like mountain if they were sourced near the Alps.
I’d venture that he’s one of the leading (if not THE leading) stone sculptors alive today.
Now, as the rest of the camera crew was off gathering B-Roll, Constantin spent hours chatting with a few of us curious crew members. He toured us further through the facility and described the processes of the enormous projects before us. We asked detailed questions; he gave detailed answers.
He delighted us in stories of working with Koons to realize master works, past and present.
The colossal pink marble Ballerina, again, merely weeks away from being complete is a true marvel of design. He spoke about how they critically analyze the stone daily and at every stage. How they designed and manufacturing their own drill bits specially for the piece. And the next on their agenda - engineering a structure to safely ship her across country to California and eventually abroad.
It was fascinating.
At the end of the day, Constantin offered us a couple discarded scraps of pink marble. He said they were trash… useless, but a neat momento nonetheless. As I held the small piece of rough, weighty marble, I dumbfoundedly responded, “I don't think I've ever been given anything cooler in my life.” And that’s the truth.
That cylindrical scrap sits on my studio table… reminding me to think BIG.
Which leads me to conclude what I believe impacted me most from this artistically-sacred experience.
And that’s realizing the immense scale in which Jeff Koons thinks… in which he dreams.
The care he takes to create and address a work fully and in 360°. His attention is on every surface… in its DNA.
He will make perfect what we see and what most of us will never see.
From my observation and his catalogue raisonné, he places very few limits on his work. What's more is he knows that he himself doesn't have to be, for example, the best stone sculptor in the world to realize a modern marble masterpiece. He can create alongside and employ the best in the world. With a trusted team of personnel, artists, scientists and engineers they can build his vision together.
He takes no shortcuts.
Koons is the mastermind. The Conductor.
A grand visionary who truly embodies the saying:
“If there is a will, there's a way.”
For me seeing this concept in motion was Earth shattering. We usually assign these delegatory attributes to CEOs across the globe, but to see an Artist do the same… Well, it changed me.
You may be wondering if I told Jeff Koons that I was also an artist.
I admit, I was hesitant. I imagined it would feel similar to what a drone operator would feel telling an Astronaut that they tinker with aviation.
So, I didn't reveal myself for nearly the entire shoot. Then the last time he sat in my makeup chair to be un-made up, (and after being so moved by it all), I’d built up the courage to share how much the two days meant to me as a lifelong artist.
Of course I knew who Jeff Koons was before this experience. But I certainly didn't fully wrap my head around his almost otherworldly accomplishments until I saw just a few of them unfold before my own eyes.
He was gracious with my disclosure. We even chat a little about how we each like to use oil paint best.
Best shop chat ever.
I'll never forget my brush with Jeff Koons.
Nor be unmoved by the expanse of his legacy.
Nor will I forget how present and kind he was to every one of us.
“I’ve tried to be a leader through everything that I’ve learned about being an artist. How you can communicate to people, how you can find greater meaning in your own life, and how you can share that to try to help other people find meaning and open themselves up to the world.”
All Images courtesy of BMW/CNN and my own.
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