Jeff Koons' monument "Bouquet of Tulips", gifted to the Paris City Hall, was installed in Paris last month
The world's most 'vulgar' public art is actually in Paris - the City of Flowers

Text and photos by Chen Chi-Hsiang. It is hard to imagine that the world’s most “vulgar” public art is located in Paris, the Flower City. Jeff Koons, a contemporary art star, gifted this monumental work, Bouquet of Tulips, to the Paris city government last year. The piece is quite realistic: a hand holding a bouquet of colorful tulips. It is a work suitable for all ages; everyone can understand it at a glance, with no question of comprehension. In an era where vulgarity has become popular culture fashion, it is so vulgar that one might want to vomit upon seeing it.

This work was originally intended to be installed between the Musée de la Ville de Paris (Paris Municipal Museum) and the Palais de Tokyo, the halls of modern and contemporary art in Paris. However, due to strong opposition and petitions from nearby residents and citizens against the work, it was forced to choose a corner in the back garden of the Petit Palais near the Seine River. When a celebrity artist gifts a grand “present-work,” it must indeed be handled with caution. If the work is excessively vulgar, it clashes too greatly with the elegant and textured city. Instantly, Paris—the beautiful beauty—loses its charm and radiance, becoming unbearable. Clearly, even if an artist gifts a noble (artistic) present, one must think twice.