San Francisco Park Life Art Retailer at the Center of Balloon Animal Dispute

fighting over balloons

​As it turns out, children are not the only ones who will fight over balloon animals.

A San Francisco art retailer is being sued by the controversial artist Jeff Koons, who claims that the store ripped off his balloon dog idea.

Park Life is a retail bookstore and art gallery in San Francisco that sells rare and limited-edition items, including books, prints, paper goods, art, and jewelry from all over the world. One of its more quirky tchotchkes is the $30 balloon dog bookend, a resin statue based on the classic clown art of twisting balloons into the shape of animals.

Koons, known for his iconic pop art, claims the store is stealing his idea. His version is a creepy 10-foot metal reproduction of a balloon twisted to resemble a toy dog.

Park Life astutely notes that while nobody can pinpoint the origin of balloon art, the magic of twisting balloons into animals predates Koons' work. Balloon modeling appears in books published as early as 1958, according to the lawsuit, which was filed today in San Francisco court.

The dispute started on Dec. 20, 2010, when Park Life received a letter from Koons, where he claims the company is "violating his intellectual property rights" in his dog balloon sculpture. The letter orders the company to cease and desist the sale of its balloon dog bookends. In his letter, Koons says he is worried that consumers will mistakenly associate him with balloon bookends.

Koons demanded the sales of the bookends to stop by Christmas Eve. The company has refused, and shoppers can still purchase the dog statues online or at the store.

But the dispute is really based in principle, not sales, at least for Park Life. When asked whether the balloon dog bookends were big hits with consumers, a salesman at Park Life replied: "Not really."



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