2019 EXHIBITION LISTINGS – PRESS RELEASE
January 2019
JEFF KOONS
at the Ashmolean
7 February–9 June 2019
The Ashmolean’s spring 2019 exhibition will be devoted to one of the world’s leading contemporary artists, Jeff Koons. Curated by Koons himself together with guest curator Norman Rosenthal, the show will feature seventeen important works, fourteen of which have never been exhibited in the UK before. They span the artist’s entire career and his most well-known series including Equilibrium, Statuary, Banality, Antiquity and his recent Gazing Ball sculptures and paintings.
Jeff Koons (b. 1955) has been described as the most influential, subversive, famous, expensive and controversial artist working today. In showing his work at the Ashmolean, the world’s oldest public museum where the collections range from prehistory to the present, the exhibition asks you to look at Jeff Koons anew, against the backdrop of art history and ideas about art with which his work engages.
LAST SUPPER IN POMPEII
25 July 2019–12 January 2020
When the ash from Mount Vesuvius began raining down on Pompeii in AD 79, people in the resort-town were engaged in typically Italian activities – eating, drinking and producing food. Located in the sunny paradise of southern Italy, Pompeii was sandwiched between lush vineyards and fertile orchards to one side and the bountiful waters of the Bay of Naples to the other. The town produced more wine, grain and olive oil than it could consume and exported its gourmet products across Italy.
Everything from the exquisite mosaics in the villas of the wealthy to the remains found in kitchen drains reveals what the people of Pompeii loved to eat and drink. The Ashmolean’s 2019 summer exhibition, LAST SUPPER IN POMPEII, will tell the story of this ancient Roman town’s love affair with food. Many of the objects, on loan from Naples and Pompeii, have never before left the country. They range from the luxury furnishings of the Roman dining room (statues, frescoes and silver dining services), to the carbonised food that was on the table when the volcano erupted.
ENDS
FURTHER INFORMATION
Claire Parris, Press Officer
claire.parris@ashmus.ox.ac.uk | T+44 (0)1865 278 178 | M+44 (0)7833 384 512 | @AshmoleanPress
Sarah Holland, Press Assistant
sarah.holland@ashmus.ox.ac.uk | T+44 (0)1865 278 285
PRESS IMAGES
Images for editorial use are available to download at http://bit.ly/KoonsAshmolean
Banner image:
Jeff Koons (b. 1955)
detail of Seated Ballerina
mirror-polished stainless steel with transparent colour coating
210.8 x 113.5 x 199.8 cm
© Jeff Koons
Artist's proof
Edition of 3
2010–2015
NOTES TO EDITORS
Exhibition: Jeff Koons at the Ashmolean
Dates: 7 February–9 June 2019
Venue: The John Sainsbury Exhibition Galleries
Tickets: £12.25/£11.25 concessions; purchase at the museum or book online
Publication: The exhibition is accompanied by an illustrated publication; £20, available at the Ashmolean or online
Exhibition: Last Supper in Pompeii
Dates: 25 July–12 January 2019
Venue: The John Sainsbury Exhibition Galleries
Tickets: Prices to be confirmed
PRESS TICKETS
Complimentary Exhibition Press Tickets are only available by prior arrangement and are granted at the discretion of the Press Office. Press Tickets for JEFF KOONS at the Ashmolean are limited and priority is given to members of the media who are reviewing the exhibition. Complimentary tickets will not be available during the final two weeks of the exhibition. Please contact us (above) to discuss your requirements and we will be happy to help.
