It was 2013 and Jeff Koons had just opened a show in New York that had all-white, almost classical, plaster sculptures in it. That’s how I got the idea of painting him white, to turn him into a sculpture. He has also used a lot of flowers in his art. I had photographed Jeff before. I had him running down the street in a white tuxedo, holding the blow-up lobster he’s used in some of his works. He has a businessman quality to him and had 100 people working for him at one point, creating his art, so I liked the idea of him being very formal and well dressed.
He loved the picture, so trusted me. But it still took a long time to talk him into this photo. I had to ask him three times to do the white face paint. In the end, I painted my assistant’s face white and he saw how great it looked, so finally agreed. The gold makeup around the eyes was also my idea.
