One thing that came across in Jeff Koons’ recent Broad-sponsored (“Un-Private”) conversation with John Waters was a sense of the satisfaction Koons took from his work as a bond salesman and commodities trader on Wall Street.  His fascination with commercial exchange began early, while still a boy, selling items door to door.  He has been fascinated with selling – and what sells – ever since.  Critics tend to place undue emphasis on his appropriation of kitsch as subject and substance of his art, sidestepping the more fundamental aspect of the work which is the sell itself:  the implicit promise of a chimerical trust, even ‘transcendence’ – something seemingly tangible yet intangible, entirely fungible yet unique to each purchaser.