In 1989, Jeff Koons put up a billboard (pictured above) on the corner of 3rd Avenue and 7th Street (or was it 6th St?) in New York’s East Village, of himself and his then-wife, pornstar/politician, Cicciolina, in a naked embrace. The billboard read “Made in Heaven” and indeed, the couple, who may or may not have been copulating in the photo—I’d vote “yes”—were set against a kitschy “heavenly” background.
To say it was a striking (and somewhat confusing) artistic message to see that large on a billboard is an understatement, but I recall thinking at the time that Koons was a lucky, lucky man (his post-divorce child-custody travails with his soon to be ex-wife, had not yet occurred, obviously). There may have been other billboards like it, but I walked past this particular one on a daily basis going to and from the subway and my apartment on Avenue A and 7th. It was there for quite a long time, too.
The “Made in Heaven” show at the Sonnebend Gallery (back when Soho still had art galleries instead of Banana Republic and Pottery Barn stores) featured several similar large paintings depicting Koons and Cicciolina in various positions out of the Kama Sutra. There were also porcelain statues and glass sculptures of the couple “doing it.” The show was a scandalous success—was it art or pornography?—and saw Japanese tourists, eurotrash and curious onlookers fill the gallery day after day.
Now the “Made in Heaven” work is being presented again—it’s the first exhibit of this work in nearly 20 years—at Luxembourg & Dayan gallery in New York, from October 6, 2010 - January 21, 2011.
Below, an interview with Jeff Koons.