Commercial mass-produced goods, banal knick-knacks, and traditional sculptural elements come together in truly unique combinations in Jeff Koons' artistic oeuvre. Kitsch and commercialism have defined the artist's work since the 1980s, polarizing audiences with his larger-than-life porcelain figures and elevating brand-new vacuum cleaners to exhibition-worthy readymades. Among his best-known works are the "Balloon Animals," in which the artist immortalizes the brightly colored, pop aesthetic of balloons modeled into animal figures. A supposedly short-lived, everyday disposable product is elevated to an eternally beautiful work of art with the help of its flawless, highly polished surface. "The most important thing to me is the preservation of the object – the sense that it has been created to survive and that its longevity is certain," explains Koons (quoted from: Jeff Koons. Banality, Decadence and Easyfun, in: www.tate.org/uk).

The series of seemingly airy balloon animals, and in particular the "Balloon Dogs," in a wide variety of colors and sizes, are among the artist's best-known works. The monumental versions of the "Balloon Dog" were exhibited at the Palace of Versailles and on the roof of the Metropolitan Museum in New York in 2008, as well as in a solo exhibition at the Fondation Beyeler in Riehen/Basel in 2012.

Since the artist's first solo exhibition in 1980, his distinctive works have been presented in the world's most important international museums. In 2014, the Centre Pompidou in Paris, the Whitney Museum of American Art in New York, and the Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao dedicated a large-scale retrospective to them. In 2022, Koons' works will be on display in the exhibition "Shine" at the Palazzo Strozzi in Florence—where visitors will, of course, also be able to marvel at a monumental "Balloon Dog."