Jeff Koons Making Handbag Sculpture for UN Charity

Jeff Koons Photo: Patrick McMullan

A celebrity artist creating art from the luxury trappings of other celebrities, all in the name of charity? If it sounds too good to be true, think again. Jeff Koons (who else?) has been tapped by Project Perpetual, a new art philanthropy initiative, to work on a fundraising campaign for the United Nations Foundation. According to a press release, Koons will make a large sculpture, as well as a handful of smaller works, sourced from luxury handbags donated by the likes of Sofia Coppola, Almine Ruiz-Picasso, Diane von Furstenberg, Marc Jacobs, Princess Caroline of Hanover, and Countess Daniela Memmo D’Amelio. The pieces will be auctioned by Simon de Pury on November 9 in New York.

“This is a way of really looking at the world and saying; with my means, with my perception and my understanding of joy and pleasure, how can I receive a sense of greater fulfillment in this life through a commitment to helping others?” Koons said of his work with the charity in a statement.

Project Perpetual was founded by art collector Svetlana Kuzmicheva-Uspenskaya with the mission of “fus[ing] the energy of contemporary art and the power of global influencers to help those most in need.” The Koons project is just the first in an ongoing series that Project Perpetual plans to do with major contemporary artists, though none have been announced as of yet. Big names who have signed on to the organization’s advocacy campaign include Damien Arsham, Rachel Feinstein, supermodels Kate Moss and Claudia Schiffer, and actress Vanessa Paradis. In its first year, Project Perpetual will support the United Nations Foundation’s work to combat measles, pneumonia, polio, and rotavirus through their Shot@Life campaign,


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