The Sacramento Kings Commissioned an $8 Million Jeff Koons Sculpture for Their New Arena

An $8 million Jeff Koons sculpture will welcome Sacramento Kings fans into the team's new arena.

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Complex Original

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The Sacramento Kings have commissioned an $8 million Jeff Koons sculpture that "is intended to capture a child's ecstatic enjoyment of the world." Hey, anything to make star player DeMarcus Cousins happier, right?

The sculpture will be the fifth in Koons' Coloring Book collection, which features colorful metallic structures inspired the silhouette of Piglet from a Winnie the Pooh coloring book​. The new artwork will be 18 feet tall and 9 feet wide and is set to be completed in time to coincide with the opening of the Kings' new arena in late 2016, the Sacramento Bee reports.  

The acquisition is part of the city's Art in Public Places program. A nine-person panel made up of art experts and community leaders recommended the particular artwork, which will be the city's most expensive acquisition. "Part of the panel’s mission was to secure a large, iconic work of art," said Shelly Willis, director of the Sacramento Metropolitan Arts Commission.

A combination of donations from The Kings, the city, and the team's owners will make up the $8 million price tag. An additional $1.5 million was donated by artist Marcy Friedman, who will purchase work from local artists to be shown at the new arena.

$8 million is really chump change, though, when compared to the record-setting $58,405,000 Koons' iconic Balloon Dog sold for in auction

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[via the Sacramento Kings]

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