Jeff Koons’ Split-Rocker sculpture in LA to be made of more than 50,000 flowers and plants
Half rocking horse head, half dinosaur head, Jeff Koons’ Split-Rocker is set to bloom at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art
Jeff Koons stood on top of a construction lift and planted a silvery-grey succulent on the nose of his topiary sculpture Split-Rocker at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art (Lacma) in the US state of California.
“It is home!” Lacma director and chief executive Michael Govan yelled up at the beaming Koons.
Lacma announced the sculpture’s acquisition in June, noting that it would anchor the east side of the campus at the David Geffen Galleries opening in April 2026. Work soon began on erecting the sculpture, which is made of 1,800 linear feet of steel tubing and 500 planter boxes.
Koons worked for more than a year with a team of landscape architects from LRM Landscape Architecture, including Kathy Wishard, who noted the plants are sustainable, native to California and should flower almost year-round – creating their own ecosystem with roots that will further strengthen the creation.