Balloon Dog

 
24Sept2015In the spirit of throwback Thursday, I am sharing this photo taken 7 years ago when Jeff Koons had an exhibit of several pieces including this on the roof of The Metropolitan Museum in NYC. This is Balloon Dog (Yellow), part of a series of balloon dogs he did which all are variations on a theme and remarkably capture the feel of huge balloons shaped to resemble toy dogs. This dog, though, is more than 10 feet tall, and would require some really large balloons.
I was attracted like most photographers are to anything shiny. I shot this to capture a reflection of admiring museum visitors, the skyline, and the clouds floating above. I chose a low angle to emphasize the enormous size of the dog, and to feel as if you are sharing a canid eye view looking out at the shiny buildings of the city.
Apparently this is a very lucrative form of art since its cousin, an orange balloon dog, sold a couple years ago for $58.4 million, the highest price ever paid for work sold in an auction by a living artist. Though it inspired a number of Chinese knockoffs, and legitimate collaborations with other artists, it seems Koons alone has the magic touch when monetizing shiny balloons. But once I’m done posting this I’m off to experiment with some balloon projects