London, Jul 1 American artist Jeff Koons will be holding a major solo show featuring work from his Popeye series in London.

The work will go on public display at the Serpentine Gallery from July 2, and the focus will be on his paintings of iconic cartoon character Popeye, as well as inflatable beach and bath toys, including a giant lobster.

The Serpentine Gallery said that it was the first major exhibition of the artist's work in a public gallery in England. oons said that he wanted visitors to engage with the works, and feel that "their history, their culture is perfect".

Popeye and Olive Oyl are central to the series, with many of the pieces on loan from both public and private collections.

The exhibition also includes dolphins, a paddling pool, monkeys and lobsters, which at first glance, look like inflatable toys, but the objects are cast in aluminium and their surfaces are painted.

"Working with everyday objects, it's about people and the acceptance of others," the BBC quoted Koons as saying.

"I watched Popeye when I was younger... I always see a little bit of my father in Popeye," he said.

Koons began his Popeye series in 2002, and compares his "inflatables" to life.

"In our own life we're inflatable. We exhale and it's a simple death," he said.

"They're (the artworks) in a state of being optimistic. Maybe art is the spinach," he added. (ANI)