Feast our eyes u n these
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I Jeff Koons: Easyfun - Ethereal See feature.
Jeff Koons: Easylun — Ethereal. Fruitmarket Gallery 225 2383, 28 Jul-7 5 Sep, Mon—Sat 77am~6pm; Sun noon—5pm l4 Aug—7 Sep: daily 70am— 7pm), £3 (E 7.50); under 53 free.
I Rembrandt’s Women This major exhibition features paintings. intimate sketches and etchings drawn from collections around the world. Rembrandt '8 Women, National Gallery Of Scotland. 624 6200, until 2 Sep, Mon—Sat 70am—5pm; Sun noon—5pm (29 Jul-2 Sep: Mon—Sat 70am—6pm.- Sun 77am—6pm), £6 (£3.50).
I Ed Buscha and Franz West Ruscha. a leading figure of the California Pop Art movement in the 603, shows a series of hyper-realist paintings while West. celebrated for his interactive art and sculpture. presents four works sited within the Gardens.
Ed Ruscha — The Mountains. lnverleith House, Royal Botanic Garden, 552 7777, 72 Aug—74 Oct, daily 7 lam—5.30pm; Franz West — Meeting Points, Royal Botanic Garden, 72 Aug—74 Oct. daily 9.30am— 7pm, free.
I Sean Scully A Scottish debut for internationally renowned Dublin-born artist Sean Scully. His familiar abstract paintings have been shown in major museums across the globe. For the lngleby Gallery. a small group of paintings and recent works on paper will be on show. Sean Scu/ly. lngleby Gallery, 556 4447, 7 Aug—75 Sep. Wed—Sat 70am—5pm, free.
I Josef Albers: Prints
1 91 6-1 976 Celebrating the work of German artist Josef Albers. images from Homage to the Square. in which concentric squares are laid on top of each other in diminishing scale. are shown alongside lesser known works. photographs and photo- collages.
Josef A/bers: Prints 79 7 6- 7976. Edinburgh Printmakers, 557 24 79. 77 Aug-27 Sep, Tue—Sat 70am—6pm, free.
14 THE LIST sc—g 4...; 2:.“
4 exhibition that is widely tipped to be the must-see show of’ this yeafs festival. a real cottp for this bux/y gallety. These photo-realist works. commissioned by l)eutsche Guggenheim Berlin. explore Koons‘ well-documented obsessions with sex. childhood and fast food. They are made in collage by him. manying the tnany found images that he collects like a magpie. then transforms into surreal. l)aliesque. free-floating fantasies. They are Xeroxed. then he works on the shapes on his computers (there‘s a bank of' them by the entrance to the studio). manipulating them to fit his very precise vision. finally printing out templates for the team. complete with numbers and detailed descriptions of' all the colours to be used. Sometimes. the assistants. perhaps 7() of' them. work shifts throughout the night. The team is tnade up of’ young twenty- somethings. although Koons himself. once the had boy of‘ the New York art scene. is now to. With his clean-cut. preppy appearance. short hair and wide grin. he looks years younger than some of' his employees. He‘s so dapper that even his dark denims appear to have sharp. metaphorical creases. When you remark on the neatness of' his appearance. he insists: ‘l‘m not into suits. you know. I like jeans and sneakers.‘ He‘s polite. well-mannered and very. very charming. Can this really be the man who shocked even the notoriously louche an world when he broke all the taboos in the early 90s by using explicit images in the infamous Made In H(’(l\'(’ll series of himself' and his pom-star wife in sexual congress'.’ He comes across as such a nice. corn-fed. all-American boy. rather than the
nasty. porn—led creator of‘ art that gave a whole new meaning to being hard at work.
No stranger to lidinburgh. he first came here about twelve years ago and had fruitless discussions with the old l’ruitmarket (iallery about an exhibition that never happened much to his disappointment.
.I so Clllfl} L'Ll the city. lllL' culture. the architecture. the light it ama/ed me. I can‘t wait to get back to "fadin- borrovv"f he enthuses. llis schedule is such. he says. that he 'may' be here on If) and l l .-\ugust. But he is still battling with Stallct' for custody of‘ their eight-y ear-old son. l.udw ig. and is constantly yo-yoing back and forth between his l'pper liast Side town house in New York and Rome. where his ex has just been charged with kidnapping the child.
Despite his headlinc-grabbing personal problems. Koons is on a real career roll. In the last two years. he has exhibited two new bodies ol'
work. has finally begun to show pieces from the long— awaited ('v/e/nutioiis series. a technically daunting sculpture and painting project that he began in IWR. and Puppy. his joyous 40-foot high topiary sculpture of' a West Highland terrier. now bestrides the globe. liven before the gob-smacking price achieved by the Michael Jackson piece. he had begun to command impressive sums at auction. For instance. last year his porcelain sculpture Pink Panther sold for $1.3m at ('hristie's.
He feels 'honoured.‘ he say s. that his work is so sought-after. insisting that it's made little or no difference to either his life or his work. 'l just wake up every morning and want to make art. I dedicate everything I do to my son. Puppy. which many people