‘The Matrix’ Producer, Joel Silver, Sues Gagosian Over a Missing Jeff Koons Sculpture—the Second Such Complaint This Month. The Hollywood producer wants his money back after Gagosian told him the work would be delayed for at least two more years.
Eileen Kinsella | artnet News
A second high-powered art collector is suing Gagosian Gallery over delays in the delivery of a massive Jeff Koons balloon sculpture. The new complaint, brought by Joel Silver, who produced the films The Matrix and Lethal Weapon, alleges that Gagosian failed to deliver Koons’s Balloon Venus Hohlen Fels, which Silver agreed to buy for $8 million in 2014. Silver says when he attempted to cancel the deal due to the lateness, the gallery told him that he would then have to forfeit the $3.2 million he had already paid, according to court documents.
Silver’s complaint, filed in Manhattan Supreme Court today, draws heavily on similar claims made by hedge-fund manager Steven Tananbaum in a suit filed against both the gallery and Koons on April 19. Tananbaum alleged that the artist failed to deliver three monumental sculptures, despite having paid millions of dollars for them. “[Gagosian], which holds itself out as the preeminent contemporary art gallery and exhibition space in the world, took millions of dollars in periodic payments for Koons sculptures while extending estimated completion dates by years,” Silver’s complaint alleges. Koons is not named as a defendant in Silver’s suit…read more
Image: Producer Joel Silver speaks during the 25th American Cinematheque Awards in Beverly Hills, California. Photo by Kevin Winter/Getty Images.