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Mighty Aphrodite: Artist Jeff Koons on venerating Venus in Athens

The celebrated American artist has been in the Greek capital Athens to present his exhibition 'Jeff Koons: Aphrodite of Lespugue' at the Museum of Cycladic Art.

READ MORE : http://www.euronews.com/2026/03/29/mighty-aphrodite-artist-jeff-koons-on-venerating-venus-in-athens

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Transcript
00:01Jeff Koons, one of the most significant artists of our time, visit Athens for the innovative
00:06exhibition Jeff Koons Venus-less Pig, hosted by the Museum of Cycladic Art.
00:13The exhibition examines the female form from the Paleolithic area to the present, offering
00:18an compelling journey spanning more than 40.000 years of human creativity.
00:25Euromius spoke with a renowned American artist about his work, the materials he uses, his
00:29interpretation of Aphrodite, and his distinctive iconography.
00:34When I decided to make some balloon Venuses, and I made four different versions, the Les Puig
00:43for me was the modernist one, the Paleolithic figurine that reminded me the most of like
00:51a Giacometti sculpture, something that if you view it from the side it feels very modernist.
00:58And at the same time, can have this ability to maintain really profound information within
01:08itself about human history.
01:11Does the prehistoric art, this symbol of our cultural history, have anything to tell us
01:18today, for you, for everybody?
01:20Today, we're still trying to embed information, share information with each other, so that we
01:28are able to maintain our civil quality, be a civilization, to be able to continue the information that
01:37helps us survive and to thrive.
01:40We live in very dark times, and this is a very luminous work.
01:45So what's the message?
01:46I try to believe in humanity.
01:49I believe in trying to be the best that we can be, and to be able to not make any
01:56form
01:56of judgments, to find everything perfect in its own being and practice acceptance.
02:04In the long run, we're here speaking about an artwork and other artworks that exist from
02:12the past, but they're only objects.
02:16What we really care about are being able to accept ourselves as individuals, and our ability
02:24to accept other people for the individuals that they are.
02:28That's what's really relevant to us as human beings, to be able to accept each other.
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