Background
Koons, Darell J. was born on December 18, 1924 in Albion, Michigan, United States. Son of John Junior and Viola (Foss) Koons.
Koons, Darell J. was born on December 18, 1924 in Albion, Michigan, United States. Son of John Junior and Viola (Foss) Koons.
Bachelor in Art Education, Bob Jones University, 1951. Master of Arts in Art Education, Western Michigan University, 1955.
Born in Albion, Michigan, Koons earned an undergraduate degree in art from BJU in 1951 and a master of arts degree in art education from Western Michigan University (1955). In 2010 Koons had more than 45 one-man exhibitions, including exhibitions at University of South Carolina, Wake Forest University, the Mint Museum, Charlotte, North Carolina, Columbus Museum, Columbus, Georgia, and the Washington County Museum of Art, Hagerstown, Doctor of Medicine. And he has participated in at least that many group exhibitions throughout the United States.
Koons’ paintings are in hundreds of public and private collections including the Gibbes Gallery, Charleston, South Carolina. The Greenville County Museum of Art, Greenville, South Carolina. The South Carolina State Art Collection.
The Governor's Mansion, Columbia, South Carolina. The Mint Museum, Charlotte, North Carolina. Eastern Michigan University.
Warren Wilson College, Swannanoa, North Carolina. Central Wesleyan College, Central, South Carolina. The West. Clement Stone Collection, Chicago.
And the Indonesian Embassy. Koons’ paintings have been published in Contemporary Artists of South Carolina, Artist/United States.A., and three editions of Prizewinning Artist
Art critics have called his distinctive style “magic realistic,” because the viewer tends to read into the picture more than actually appears.
Koons’ deceptively simple paintings, mostly in watercolor or polymer, give the viewer an impression of extreme detail in old buildings such as barns, cotton gins, and mills. In a 2010 interview, Koons told a reporter, "Bob Jones, Senior once said you can"t get the sand out the country boy"s ears. That"s true with medical An artist must know something about his subject or he will surely have difficulty painting lieutenant
My experience as a child and youth in rural Michigan has given me knowledge of my subjects, thus the opportunity to record this passing history of Americana."
In a 1972 interview, Koons noted that he enjoyed playing with space, especially in a building opening.
He virtually never included figures in his paintings but he often teased the viewer with open doors that "give the impression of recent activity." Koons’ work has been compared to that of Andrew Wyeth, although Koons himself believed the greatest influences on his art were the shadows and simplicity of Edward Hopper and the straight lines of Mondrian. Koons made a hobby of giving religious “chalk talks” to church groups especially during the Christmas and Easter seasons.
In 1970, Koons joined two other BJU faculty members, Emery Bopp and Carl Blair, to found Hampton III Gallery, one of the first commercial galleries in Upstate South Carolina.
Married Joyce L. Sherwood, December 26, 1952. Children: Sandra L., John H., Sheryl L., Susan L., Mark A.