EXHIBITIONS
MUSEUM OF CYCLADIC ART / ATHENS
Jeff Koons: ‘Venus’ Lespugue
The Museum of Cycladic Art presents, the exhibition “Jeff Koons: ‘Venus’ Lespugue”, a unique curatorial project that brings Paleolithic art into dialogue with contemporary art, at the Stathatos Mansion, from 20 March 2026 until 31 August 2026.
© Museum of Cycladic Art - Paris Tavitian
Exploring the significance of the Venus figure from the Paleolithic period to the present day the Museum presents Balloon Venus Lespugue (Orange) (2013-2019) of the international acclaimed artist Jeff Koons, loaned from the Homem Sonnabend Collection of Antonio Homem Sonnabend and Phokion Potamianos Homem, marking the first public display of the artwork, in dialogue with ten Paleolithic “Venus” figurines, through certified copies of the immovable originals housed in major European museums. The exhibition explores the female form from the Paleolithic era to contemporary art, proposing a dialogue that spans more than 40,000 years of human creativity.
Koons’ Balloon Venus Lespugue (Orange) draws inspiration from the paleolithic “Venus of Lespugue”, a mammoth tusk ivory figurine that dates back approximately 28,000 years. Jeff Koons has been influenced by this figure since the late 1970s. In his series Antiquity, which he started in 2008, the artist’s interpretation of the “Venus of Lespugue” engages a variety of art historical reference points, from Botticelli and Titian to Duchamp and Brancusi, where the notions of beauty and form play a central role. Koons has transposed the fetishized original, renowned for its exaggerated curves, into a towering balloon sculpture of Giacometti-esque proportions.
The exhibition does not suggest a linear history of art. Instead, it is organized as a dialogue of forms and ideas that transcends the boundaries of time, exploring the following questions: How has the symbolic body evolved from the Paleolithic period to postmodernity? Is there a universal archetype of fertility and femininity that transcends epochs? How does material transformation (from mammoth ivory and limestone to mirror-finished stainless steel) alter or preserve the symbolic meaning?
