A Buster Balloon creation.
The Michelangelo of Balloons
July 2009
Manhattan’s Half Gallery is turning kid stuff into art, tapping
master balloon twister Buster Balloon for an unlikely solo show this
September. “I think it was Michelangelo who said he never told the
stone what to do—it told him,” says Buster, who can often be
found performing for children in California’s Orange County, where
he’s based. “It’s sort of the same thing with
balloons: I pay attention to what the balloon wants.” His
intricate creations have included mermaids, playing cards and all manner
of fauna, and he recently collaborated with Jeff Koons (whose famed
balloon sculptures are made from the more durable stainless steel) on a
“top secret” project. On the show’s opening night,
Buster will fashion “balloonicatures”—caricatures
sculpted from balloons—of gallery patrons for $100 a pop.
Art-world heavyweights who have already signed up as models include
gallerist Jeanne Greenberg Rohatyn and Purple magazine founder Olivier
Zahm.
- Keywords
- Half Gallery,
- balloons,
- Buster Balloon,
- Why
