Artist Jeff Koons on money and acceptance

To his critics his work is overrated, overpriced and obvious. To his fans, he is a living legend -- the incarnation of the Pop Art movement. Either way, at 63, Jeff Koons says he just wants to focus on creating the art he wants to make.

Koons' works are brash, voluptuous and carry astronomical price tags but that hasn't dimmed appetite for his pieces in Asia, where he is presenting at Hong Kong's edition of Art Basel -- a top event for wealthy collectors looking to snap up new status symbols.

The American pioneer has brought some of his signature mirror-polished steel sculptures to the fair as well as his Gazing Ball series, in which shiny blue spheres are inserted into reproductions of classic European masterpieces, including works by Rembrandt and Tintoretto.

Koons set an auction record for the highest price paid for any work by a living artist in 2013 when his orange "Balloon Dog" fetched US$58.4 million at Christie's in New York. But he insists the monetary value attached to his art is just an "abstraction" to him.

"I'm flattered that my works are perceived by society as having some relevant value. But the beauty to have impact with real individuals, that they can come across their own potential, that's what really brings me joy," he said.

His work is polarising. In January, artists, gallery owners and officials in Paris signed an open letter objecting to a planned 12-metre tall "Bouquet of Tulips" memorial designed by Koons as a tribute to the victims of the terror attacks on the city in November 2015.

The letter described Koons as an "emblem of industrial art which is spectacular and speculative".

Koons would not comment on controversy, but when asked how he deals with criticism, he said he tries to focus on his work.