Jeff Koons‘ work has always left its viewers amused. Who wouldn’t smile at a giant dog made of flowers or a balloon cast in shiny metal? But on Tuesday night at London’s Serpentine Gallery, where the artist opened a new show of Popeye paintings and sculptures, the reaction he was going for wasn’t laughs, it was self-acceptance. “I think being happy with yourself, sticking up for yourself, and doing what you want to do is an idea that transcends art into many different worlds,” said Koons, greeting friends and fans like Larry Gagosian, Tracey Emin, and Dasha Zhukova. Popeye, as it turns out, was created in 1929 on the eve of the Great Depression, which makes him a fitting role model for our own straitened times. Said Koons: “He’s a modern hero.”

—Derek Blasberg