December 07, 2019, 04:13 PM
Italian artist Maurizio Cattelan is often characterised as the joker of the art world. Perhaps his latest artwork will explain why.
His latest art installation is a banana duct taped to a wall and it has sold for USD120,000 (S$163,215).
Via Artsy. Image credit: Maurizio Cattelan and Emmanuel Perrotin.
That's right. A banana and duct tape sold for about half the price of a BTO.
Titled "Comedian (2019)", the installation is taped to a booth wall at the Art Basel, an international art fair in Miami Beach.
The booth belongs to another artist, Emmanuel Perrotin.
According to Artsy, there are three editions of the installation. Two have been sold while the third might be acquired by a museum.
According to Sky News, the third one might be sold for USD150,000 (S$204,018).
Perrotin and Cattelan have been discussing this piece of work for a couple of months, reported Artsy.
While the artist tried to fashion bananas using materials such as resin and bronze, the results were unsatisfactory.
In the end, the artist decided to use a real banana instead.
"The banana is many things - a symbol of global trade, a witty double entendre, and a classic device for humour," said a spokeswoman for Art Basel Miami Beach, reported Sky News.
"Maurizio takes mundane objects and transforms them into vehicles of both delight and critique," she added.
Top image via Pixabay
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