A unique work. Jeff Koons, to whom we owe among others the Rabbit works or the Bouquet of Tulips , located in the garden of the Champs-Elysées, has just completed a unique blend. According to him, he asked him for more than six years of work. Using 62 guns belonging to Sean Penn, the artist created a bronze Uli. Originally designed in wood, a figure of Uli is a statuette found in New Ireland in Papua New Guinea.
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The genesis of this project dates from 2014. The Oscar winner then has a large collection of firearms and decides to part with it. His period companion, Charlize Théron, convinced him of this. The actress has been a staunch supporter of gun control since she was a teenager. Her father, then intoxicated, shot her and her mother. In self-defense, his mother retaliated, killing him. " I changed my mind about guns thanks to a strong woman, a beautiful South African woman, " said Sean Penn at a charity gala for Haiti.
A commitment that he wanted to carry out to the end and in an original way. Jeff Koons tells on Instagram that the actor came to find him. “ He asked me if I wanted to create a work using his weapons. I told him, “Absolutely”, ”he says. The actor has auctioned off his entire collection. The profits from this sale would go to a charity for Haiti but Sean Penn warned that this auction was not like the others. Because the weapons had to be returned to Koons. " He will put all my cowardly killing machines out of service." The highest bidder will give each of my rifles to this iconic artist and sculptor , ”he said.
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With a bid of 1.4 million euros, the journalist and presenter of CNN Anderson Cooper won the bet. Once the weapons were entrusted to Jeff Koons, the artist got to work. To imagine this work, intended as a strong symbol of the change of mentalities compared to firearms in the United States.