The sentimental life of commodities: the aesthetics of cuteness and its play of power in the art of Jeff Koons

Abstract The present paper analyzes a few works by artist Jeff Koons using the vernacular aesthetic category cute. In his sculptures representing critters and toys, Koons gives formal expression to the contradictions and ambiguities of cuteness, making explicit the ambivalent feelings and longings that underpin the relationship between the consumerspectators of late capitalism and the commodities that surround them. Reflecting on commodities and consumption – cultural consumption included – in light of the aesthetics of cuteness helps us, or so we argue, to better understand the very place of art in a globalized circuit increasingly dominated by neoliberal market logic. The work of Koons, one of the most popular and financially successful contemporary artists, is a privileged vantage point from which to observe power shifts in the field of visual arts.