Jeff Koons's sculpture Split-Rocker at Glenstone. The Washington Post via Getty Images
Funded by LACMA life trustee Lynda Resnick and Stewart Resnick through their foundation, Split-Rocker will inhabit the ground-level expanse south of Wilshire Boulevard, transforming the museum’s approach into a living, breathing spectacle. Unlike its counterparts in harsher climates, LACMA’s iteration will thrive year-round, its blossoms shifting with the seasons—a nod to 18th-century topiary traditions, reimagined through Koons’ irreverent, Pop-inflected lens.
Michael Govan, LACMA’s CEO and Wallis Annenberg Director, remarked: “Koons collapses the boundaries between play and profundity, between the ephemeral and the eternal. This work doesn’t just occupy space—it responds to it, to us, to the sun and soil of Los Angeles. The Resnicks’ vision has always been to give art back to the city, and Split-Rocker does exactly that: a gift that grows.”
Originally conceived in 2000, Split-Rocker has graced the Palais des Papes in Avignon, Versailles, Fondation Beyeler, and Rockefeller Center, its form—a Cubist collision of childhood icons—serving as both spectacle and sly commentary on artifice and nature. Koons, ever the alchemist of the mundane, here turns living plants into pigment, their blooms a transient skin over steel and irrigation veins.
The Resnicks’ legacy at LACMA is indelible: from the Resnick Pavilion’s 2010 debut to their stewardship of the museum’s collection. Lynda’s 25-year board tenure, including 21 years chairing Acquisitions, underscores their commitment to civic art.
