Art Basel, Miami Beach

In their paintings, sculptures, and mixed media works, Baldessari and Koons appropriate the by-products of American industry – synthetic Hollywood images, erotic advertising come-ons, and the perfect likeness of mass-produced consumer goods. Baldessari’s manipulations of found images appear deliberately imperfect, while Koons’ exact facsimiles of found products convert mundane consumer goods into precious aesthetic objects. Each artist achieves a striking balance between seductiveness and banality and, with uncanny awareness, points to the complex illusions to which we are all vulnerable.