Jeff Koons is having another big year: not only is the Pennsylvanian artist the subject of a monster retrospective at the Whitney Museum of American Art, New York City, but his huge Split-Rocker sculpture has been installed at the Rockefeller Centre too. Say what you like about Koons’ work – and many do – but there’s no denying his importance in the contemporary art movement. When someone is willing to shell out a world record $58million for one of your balloon animals, you must be doing something right, and the Whitney clearly agrees, staging what is being billed as the most comprehensive Koons exhibition ever.

Jeff Koons: A Retrospective fills almost the entire museum, and stars some of the artist’s greatest hits across a variety of media. His signature shiny shiny surfaces are in evidence with the sculptural Moon (Light Pink) and the oil on canvas work Cake, and going back in time there is the 1985 piece One Ball Total Equilibrium Tank. In total there are 120 works to enjoy, and the exhibition is running until 27 October. At the Rockefeller centre, Gagosian Gallery has helped install the 37ft floral sculpture Split-Rocker for its New York debut. Koons combined the heads of two children’s rocking toys – a pony belonging to his son, and a dinosaur – in the design, which uses more than 50,000 flowering plants. The impressive work will remain in situ until 12 September.

@JeffKoonsStudio
@gagosianny
@whitneymuseum

Jeff Koons,
Aqui Bacardi, 1986.
Oil inks on canvas;
45 x 60 in. (114.3 x 152.4 cm).
Ostrow Family Collection. © Jeff Koons.

Jeff Koons,
Split-Rocker (Orange/Red), 1999.
Polychromed aluminum;
13 1/2 x 14 1/2 x 13 in. (34.3 x 36.8 x 33 cm).
Collection of B. Z. and Michael Schwartz. ©Jeff Koons.

Jeff Koons
Split-Rocker, 2000
Stainless steel, soil, geotextile fabric, internal irrigation system, and live flowering plants
446 7/8 x 483 1/8 x 427 5/8 inches
1,135.1 x 1,227.1 x 1,086.2 cm
Edition of 1 plus 1 AP
© Jeff Koons. Courtesy Gagosian Gallery.
Photo, Tom Powel Imaging

Jeff Koons,
Loopy, 1999.
Oil on canvas;
108 x 79 1⁄4 in. (274.3 x 200.7 cm).
Bill Bell Collection. © Jeff Koons

Jeff Koons,
Metallic Venus, 2010 –12.
Mirror-polished stainless steel with transparent color coating
and live flowering plants;
100 x 52 x 40 in. (254 x 132.1 x 101.6 cm).
Private collection; courtesy Fundación Almine y
Bernard Ruiz-Picasso para el Arte. © Jeff Koons

Jeff Koons,
New Hoover Convertibles Green, Blue,
New Hoover Convertibles, Green, Blue Doubledecker, 1981–87.
Four vacuum cleaners, acrylic, and fluorescent lights;
116 x 41 x 28 in. (294.6 x 104.1 x 71.1 cm).
Whitney Museum of American Art,
purchase with funds from The Sondra and Charles Gilman, Jr. Foundation, Inc.,
and the Painting and Sculpture Committee 89.30a-v. © Jeff Koons.

Jeff Koons,
Poodle, 1991.
Polychromed wood;
23 x 39 1⁄2 x 20 1⁄2 in. (58.4 x 100.3 x 52.1 cm).
Whitney Museum of American Art, New York;
promised gift of Thea Westreich Wagner and Ethan Wagner P. 2011.212.
© Jeff Koons

Jeff Koons,
One Ball Total Equilibrium Tank (Spalding Dr. J 241 Series), 1985.
Glass, steel, sodium chloride reagent, distilled water, basketball;
64 3/4 x 30 3/4 x 13 1/4 in. (164.5 x 78.1 x 33.7 cm).
Collection of B. Z. and Michael Schwartz. ©Jeff Koons.

Jeff Koons,
Geisha, 2007.
Oil on canvas;
102 x 138 in. (259.1 x 350.5 cm).
Soledad and Robert Hurst © Jeff Koons

Jeff Koons,
Cake, 1995 – 97.
Oil on canvas;
125 3⁄8 x 116 3⁄8 in. (318.5 x 295.6 cm).
Private collection. © Jeff Koons

Jeff Koons,
Moon (Light Pink), 1995–2000.
Mirror-polished stainless steel with transparent color coating;
130 x 130 x 40 in. (330.2 x 330.2 x 101.6 cm).
Collection of the artist. © Jeff Koons.