Three sculptures from Jeff Koons’s “Hulk Elvis” series will make up his solo presentation with Gagosian at Frieze New York this year, the gallery announced on Tuesday. Hulk (Organ) (2004–14), Hulk (Tubas) (2004–18), and Hulk (Dragon and Turtle) (2004–21) will be installed against a vinyl backdrop adapted from the artist’s 2007 painting Triple Hulk Elvis III, which features the superhero alongside cut images of the rock band Led Zeppelin. All three sculptures come from Koons’s personal collection. Frieze New York will run from May 7th to 11th at The Shed in Hudson Yards.
This collaboration comes after Koons’s departure from Gagosian in 2021, when he left two mega-galleries (Gagosian and David Zwirner) to work exclusively with a third, Pace Gallery. (He subsequently split with Pace last year.)
Koons introduced the “Hulk Elvis” series in 2004. These works combine cartoon imagery with religious and mythological references, casting the Hulk as a transcultural symbol of masculine power. The title for the series is inspired by the resemblance of the Incredible Hulk’s pose to Elvis Presley’s in a publicity still for the Western film Flaming Star, which was later immortalized by Andy Warhol in his “Elvis” canvases from 1963.
“‘Hulk Elvis’ represents for me both Western and Eastern cultures, a sense of a guardian, a protector, that at the same time is capable of bringing the house down,” Koons said in a press statement. “I have tried to blend these cultural histories together. The Hulk represents a duality that shifts from a superhero to a divine being.”
Koons’s “Hulk” works have sold at auction for nine-figure sums: In 2019, for example, Hulk (Friends) (2004-2012) fetched $3.38 million. That same year, Koons’s Rabbit (1986) sold for $91.07 million at Christie’s, making him the most expensive living artist at auction.
Coinciding with its presentation at Frieze New York, Gagosian will show a new body of work by Anna Weyant at TEFAF New York at the Park Avenue Armory. The 30-year-old star will present a series of small paintings depicting jewelry, including lustrous pearls and golden chains—some adorned with price tags. The fast-rising Canadian artist joined Gagosian in 2022 and has since staged three solo exhibitions with the gallery. She set a steep auction record when her painting Falling Woman (2020) sold for $1.6 million at Sotheby’s in May 2022.
