I am assuming that Koons will be inclined to include some of his work as Joannou is probably one of his major collectors. This already gives this show poor validity and merit. It becomes another case of celebrity driven entertainment and that is not what a museum should be about. I am sure they will sell tickets but at what cost?

The New Museum never struck me as a museum that had any actual new ideas. Their shows have aptly been “un-monumental.” I agree with Dave, no curator is ever going to show work by artists they have no interest in. However couldn’t they try a bit harder to search through the thousands of under known YOUNG artists who are making work far more relevant to their viewers experience than a socialite who makes art for his rich friends.The Generational show was awful and when compared to the brilliant “Pictures Generation” at the Met which ran congruently to NuMu’s “Younger Than Jesus,” it is glaringly obvious that NuMu is showing recycled post-modern (or whatever) ideas.

That said, I’d still offer to curate a true “Generational” exhibition at their museum without any personal interests other than a passion for the work, ideas and artists I show. I’d even do it with 1/1000 the cost that the Koons/Joannou/NuMu is costing. There is nothing new about catering to collectors or the art market. Arguably this is the least progressive thing that a “contemporary” institution can do…AND JEFF KOONS?!? HOW DOES HE EMBODY THE MSUEUM’S MISSION STATEMENT: “NEW ART, NEW IDEAS”? Koons hasn’t had a good idea since he put a bunch of Hoovers inside a display case in a ritualistic tribute to Andy Warhol and Duchamp. If they were still alive I am sure that they’d be guest curators at NuMu too.

I hope that this show will prove us skeptics wrong so I will leave this comment open until I see for myself how this show plays out.

I am assuming that Koons will be inclined to include some of his work as Joannou is probably one of his major collectors. This already gives this show poor validity and merit. It becomes another case of celebrity driven entertainment and that is not what a museum should be about. I am sure they will sell tickets but at what cost?

The New Museum never struck me as a museum that had any actual new ideas. Their shows have aptly been “un-monumental.” I agree with Dave, no curator is ever going to show work by artists they have no interest in. However couldn’t they try a bit harder to search through the thousands of under known YOUNG artists who are making work far more relevant to their viewers experience than a socialite who makes art for his rich friends.The Generational show was awful and when compared to the brilliant “Pictures Generation” at the Met which ran congruently to NuMu’s “Younger Than Jesus,” it is glaringly obvious that NuMu is showing recycled post-modern (or whatever) ideas.

That said, I’d still offer to curate a true “Generational” exhibition at their museum without any personal interests other than a passion for the work, ideas and artists I show. I’d even do it with 1/1000 the cost that the Koons/Joannou/NuMu is costing. There is nothing new about catering to collectors or the art market. Arguably this is the least progressive thing that a “contemporary” institution can do…AND JEFF KOONS?!? HOW DOES HE EMBODY THE MSUEUM’S MISSION STATEMENT: “NEW ART, NEW IDEAS”? Koons hasn’t had a good idea since he put a bunch of Hoovers inside a display case in a ritualistic tribute to Andy Warhol and Duchamp. If they were still alive I am sure that they’d be guest curators at NuMu too.

I hope that this show will prove us skeptics wrong so I will leave this comment open until I see for myself how this show plays out.

Oh wait he already has.

Seriously folks, I doubt this guy would have much trouble selling this work at auction given the results at Sothebys and Christies this month regardless of a NuMu exhibitino. Although I think the NuMu should certainly have written agreements about not selling X months post show and or donating (cash if no perm collection) but I think this is making a mountain out of a molehill.

The world is run by connections, is it any surprise how this works? Do you really think curators will ever show work by artists they have no interest in?

The tragedy that I see here is that I expect something more groundbreaking from NuMu than the already well established Koons.

Oh wait he already has.

Seriously folks, I doubt this guy would have much trouble selling this work at auction given the results at Sothebys and Christies this month regardless of a NuMu exhibitino. Although I think the NuMu should certainly have written agreements about not selling X months post show and or donating (cash if no perm collection) but I think this is making a mountain out of a molehill.

The world is run by connections, is it any surprise how this works? Do you really think curators will ever show work by artists they have no interest in?

The tragedy that I see here is that I expect something more groundbreaking from NuMu than the already well established Koons.

I actually think Jeff Koons is an amazing ART COLLECTOR why not show **his** art collection? He has a great Courbet and incredible Renaissance sculptures that he bought at auction…THAT would be interesting.

I actually think Jeff Koons is an amazing ART COLLECTOR why not show **his** art collection? He has a great Courbet and incredible Renaissance sculptures that he bought at auction…THAT would be interesting.

But Jerry’s comment about trusting the New Museum kind of struck a chord, and I realize the main reason I don’t feel as worked up or outraged over what’s obviously a problematic or controversial situation, is *because* I know some of these people, and I, too, well, trust isn’t the right word in this context, but I give them the benefit of the doubt. At the least, I figure I can know or see where they’re coming from and can thus make up my own mind about what they do.

Private collections and private museums are not some novelty [cf. Barnes, Stewart Gardner, Frick, Boijmans, van Beuningen]; they’re a significant reality, esp. in the contemporary art world. Take them or leave them for what they are. Why expect or even want them to “hope to represent the broader market”?

If the Museum and its curators are transparent about their relationships with Dakis, let them show what they want, and then judge the result. If it turns out to be a facile, greatest hits parade or boys with too many toys, it’ll be obvious enough. Or it could actually be interesting.

As for Koons, I think he does look at art, quite a bit, actually, and collects too. And I would expect him to know the Joannou collection extremely well. The question I wonder is whether he pulls it off or is a failed stunt,

But Jerry’s comment about trusting the New Museum kind of struck a chord, and I realize the main reason I don’t feel as worked up or outraged over what’s obviously a problematic or controversial situation, is *because* I know some of these people, and I, too, well, trust isn’t the right word in this context, but I give them the benefit of the doubt. At the least, I figure I can know or see where they’re coming from and can thus make up my own mind about what they do.

Private collections and private museums are not some novelty [cf. Barnes, Stewart Gardner, Frick, Boijmans, van Beuningen]; they’re a significant reality, esp. in the contemporary art world. Take them or leave them for what they are. Why expect or even want them to “hope to represent the broader market”?

If the Museum and its curators are transparent about their relationships with Dakis, let them show what they want, and then judge the result. If it turns out to be a facile, greatest hits parade or boys with too many toys, it’ll be obvious enough. Or it could actually be interesting.

As for Koons, I think he does look at art, quite a bit, actually, and collects too. And I would expect him to know the Joannou collection extremely well. The question I wonder is whether he pulls it off or is a failed stunt,