Jeff Koons in Versailles: An Invasion of American Art

Art world provocateur and superstar Jeff Koons has taken France by storm by installing his immense, larger-than-life statues in the storied Palace of Versailles. The groundbreaking exhibition, which opened this past Wednesday (September 10th) and runs through December, features 17 of Koons' works including a bright red aluminum "Lobster" hanging from the ceiling like a chandelier, the "Balloon Dog", and a ceramic ode to Michael Jackson and his pet chimp Bubbles.

The opening of the exhibition drew a several dozen protesters who consider the Koons show an affront to France. "This exhibit is sacrilegious and insulting to the symbols of the Republic and its art," Arnaud-Aaron Upinsky, president of the Union Nationale des Ecrivains de France, fumed to the AP. However Koons insists he has "complete respect for Versailles [and] complete respect for each individual coming to Versailles." Koons, who rejects the label "kitsch," says he wants to set up a "dialogue" between history and contemporary art as a way to encourage "acceptance of others."

See the NY Times slideshow of the exhibit here.