The Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA) today announced the acquisition of Jeff Koons’s Split-Rocker (2000), a monumental sculpture adorned with living plants and flowers. In the lead up to the 2026 opening of the David Geffen Galleries, LACMA’s new home for the permanent collection, the museum is planning a robust program of outdoor public art throughout the 3.5 acre park and open space created by the elevated design of the new building. Anchoring the ground-level public spaces south of Wilshire Boulevard will be Koons’s Split-Rocker, which will be installed and open to the public in late 2025.
The acquisition, installation, and future maintenance of Split-Rocker is made possible by a generous gift from LACMA life trustee Lynda Resnick and her husband, Stewart, through their foundation.
“Jeff is a master of bringing bold playfulness together with layers of deeper artistic meaning,” said Michael Govan, LACMA CEO and Wallis Annenberg Director. “We are thrilled to welcome this living sculpture to LACMA, where it will greet visitors, pedestrians, and traffic along Wilshire Boulevard. And, uniquely among four of Jeff's flower sculptures worldwide, LACMA’s will be alive and growing year-round in the mild climate of Southern California. Lynda and Stewart are magnanimous supporters of public institutions across the region, especially in Los Angeles. We are honored by their longstanding commitment to LACMA, from leading the expansion of our campus with the addition of the Resnick Pavilion to gifting and helping acquire many of the beautiful artworks we care for and share with the public."
Split-Rocker is a 37-foot-tall living sculpture comprising more than 50,000 flowering plants. Based on children’s toys, the playful work takes its shape from one-half of a cartoon-like pony’s head and one-half of a similarly simplified dinosaur’s head, combining the two into a single, irregularly matched, almost Cubist form. Inspired by the tradition of the topiaries in 18th-century European gardens, Split-Rocker is “painted” by living plants, supported by an internal irrigation system, so that the sculpture changes as the plants flower and grow. Split-Rocker is an edition of 1 plus an artist’s proof. LACMA’s work, the artist’s proof, will be created with drought-tolerant flowers and plants that are best suited to Southern California’s climate. Split-Rocker, which will now reside permanently at LACMA, has been exhibited around the world, first at Palais des Papes, Avignon, in 2000, then at Château de Versailles (2008), Fondation Beyeler (2012), Glenstone, Maryland (2013), and Rockefeller Center (2014).
One of the most prominent artists working today, Koons challenges the limitations of fabrication while transforming everyday images and objects into works of art that engage the viewer in a dialogue with the time in which we live and our historical past. The smooth, mirror-finished surfaces of his iconic stainless steel sculptures reflect and affirm viewers and their environment, and he has earned renown for his monumental floral sculptures Puppy and Split-Rocker. In 2008, the artist’s well-known stainless-steel Rabbit (1986) and Balloon Dog (Blue) (1994–2000) were featured in the inaugural installation of BCAM. The installation also debuted Cracked Egg (Red) (1994–2000) from the Celebration series. For the opening gala for BCAM, a 4.5-inch-high replica of Cracked Egg was the official invitation for the event. In 2017–18, Koons’s iconic Balloon Monkey (Orange) (2006–13) was on view at LACMA.
Among LACMA’s longest-standing and most generous supporters, the Resnicks, along with their foundation, have led the expansion of the museum’s campus with the addition of the Resnick Pavilion in 2010 and donated other significant works of art. Lynda served on LACMA’s board for nearly 25 years, and was Chair of the Acquisitions Committee from 1994 to 2015. Their gift of Split-Rocker furthers LACMA’s goal of creating spaces and moments for all of Los Angeles to enjoy.