Jeff Koons: Moon Phases

Reveling in past and future human achievements, Jeff Koons has drawn inspiration from the Moon as a symbol of curiosity and determination. Hopeful and transcendent, his new project offers viewers a sense of perspective about their place in the vast universe, encouraging profound reflection and contemplation.

Centering on the Moon as a symbol of human curiosity and the desire to achieve, Jeff Koons: Moon Phases comprises 125 unique works, each consisting of three components: a sculpture that will be installed on the Moon in perpetuity, a sculpture that will stay on the Earth, and an NFT that corresponds with the sculptures on the Moon and the Earth. 4Space secured the contract with Intuitive Machines to land the first authorized artwork on the Moon. In the first quarter of 2024, 125 sculptures from Jeff Koons: Moon Phases will make a lunar landing on an Intuitive Machines Nova-C Lunar Lander, to be launched on pad 39A at the Kennedy Space Center in a fully autonomous mission.

Moon Phases is Koons’s most ambitious work to date. The works in Jeff Koons: Moon Phases each correspond to a distinct phase of the Moon—62 phases of the Moon as seen from the Earth, 62 views of the Moon as seen from different vantage points in space, and one lunar eclipse.

The artworks within Moon Phases are each associated with people who have made accomplishments in human history. The list of names is universal, including individuals from various parts of the world, fields, and time periods, with Plato, Nefertiti, Artemisia Gentileschi, Andy Warhol, Gabriel García Márquez, Mahatma Gandhi, Sojourner Truth, Leonardo da Vinci, Ada Lovelace, David Bowie, and Helen Keller among them. These and other names will be individually displayed in front of the Moon Phases, memorializing the figures on the occasion of the Moon mission. In this way, Koons honors some of the greatest achievements of the past to inspire future generations.

The 125 miniature Moon sculptures, each approximately one inch in diameter, will be displayed together on the Moon in a sustainably built, fully transparent, compartmentalized cube. Grouped together, the different Moon Phases, along with the names associated with each phase, represent a collective.

Each unique NFT is paired with a sculpture that will reside on the Moon within the cube and a sculpture that will reside on the Earth, cultivating connections between the digital and physical worlds. The NFT itself will include an image of the sculptures installed on the Moon’s surface, as well as other images. Along with the other two components of Moon Phases, the NFT will feature Jeff Koons’s iconic signature.

The project also includes 125 larger sculptures depicting the Moon that will be approximately 15.5 inches tall and remain on the Earth. These large spheres of the Moon with its detailed surface will be mirror reflective stainless-steel—like Koons’s iconic Rabbit—with transparent colors depicting the colors of the Moon’s surface, enabling viewers to enter a dialogue with the artwork and the individual whose name is associated with each phase of the Moon.

With these works, Koons continues to explore themes of connectivity and acceptance, which have become hallmarks of his practice. The sculptures remaining on the Earth will feature a precious stone, either a white diamond, yellow diamond, blue sapphire, green emerald, or red ruby. The stone’s position on the sculptures will indicate the location of the landing site on the Moon, which will become a Lunar Heritage Site where the related Moon sculptures will be installed permanently.