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Balloon animals and cartoon characters are fun childhood memories for most, but for artist Jeff Koons, they are monuments! The Pennsylvania-born painter and sculptor’s larger than life sculptures are kitsch writ large. Koons’ latest show, “Jeff Koons on the Roof” at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in NYC, which opened last week, is this year’s must-see exhibit in the Big Apple, and his public sculptures are permanent fixtures at the Guggenheim Bilbao in Spain and Papal Palace in Avignon, France.

A graduate of the Maryland Institute College of Art in Baltimore and the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, Koon has won numerous awards and honors, some of which include the BZ Cultural Award from the City of Berlin, induction into the Signet Society for Arts and Letters at Harvard University, and the Chevalier de la Légion d’Honneur. Despite his acclaim, his work receives mixed reactions: some criticize it as tacky, while others praise his determination to create art as entertainment, maintaining that viewers can admire and appreciate it without searching for a hidden or abstract meaning. 

Koons tries to avoid being categorized into a specific style, though “Neo-Pop” and “Post-Pop” seem to take hold among critics and admirers alike.  But no matter which side you’re on, you can’t help but stare in awe at the sheer awesomeness of it all. Click SEE SLIDESHOW for my favorite Jeff Koons picks!