Fans of the pop artist and sculptor Jeff Koons — and they are legion — will have the chance to own a sculpture he’s created in a collaboration with the prestige Champagne house Dom Pérignon. To celebrate the release of the 2003 Rosé Champagne, Koons and Dom Pérignon have collaborated on a unique limited edition of the vintage Rosé housed in Koons’ polyurethane resin sculpture “The Balloon Venus for Dom Pérignon.”
Adapted from the original Balloon Venus in high chromium stainless steel currently on exhibit at the Gagosian Gallery in Manhattan, only a few hundred of “The Balloon Venus for Dom Pérignon” will be available worldwide at the retail price of — get this — $20,000.
If that sounds steep, consider that Koons’ "Tulips" sculpture sold at Christie's last November for a whopping $33 million and change.
“I’m very proud of the 'Balloon Venus,'” says Koons. “It’s a work that I enjoy and I think really represents my oeuvre of work. 'Balloon Venus' represents the continuation of life’s energy. A great vintage also represents the vintages that will come, and so it’s about the continuation of something. It’s a continued creative process.”
So picture this eye-catching sculpture on your sideboard. It opens to reveal a bottle of Dom Pérignon 2003 Rosé dressed up in the same flaming fuchisa as the sculpture. So how's the Champagne? The house describes it this way: "Its colour is deep, with light amber and copper tints. The wine's bouquet eruprs theatrically from its silken fleshy body, just as the sculpture's refletive surface the viewing in a dynamic invitation to tasting."
sexy, no? For the Champagne afficionado and art lover who has everything.