A Controversial Artist and His Provocative Works

The ” Banana » hung on the wall (titled “Comedian”) by Maurizio Cattelan was recently sold in New York for more than $6 million at Sotheby's, bringing public attention to one of the most controversial and discussed contemporary artists.

Maurizio Cattelan's “Banana” sold for $6.2 million, the record price made by the founder of cryptocurrencies Tron: I will eat it

Let's retrace his story: his beginnings, his most controversial works, record sales and romantic relationships (like the one with Victoria Cabello).

Who is Maurizio Cattelan, age

Maurizio Cattelan was born in Padua on September 21, 1960 and is a 64-year-old Italian artist, considered one of the most important and controversial of his generation.

Biography and where he lives

Eldest of three siblings, son of Paolo Cattelan and Pierina Brillo, nurse, Maurizio Cattelan has two sisters: Giada and Cristina. In his adolescence, he became passionate about radio engineering, and it was by dismantling and reassembling old radio and television sets that he acquired ease in assembling, cutting and welding metals. He attended an industrial technical institute and, out of a need for independence, while waiting to graduate, he took on a series of odd jobs, thus developing various technical skills. He then began a brilliant artistic career.

Today, Cattelan lives and works between Milan and New York.

Artistic career

The first gallery to accept his proposals was the Neon in Bologna. In Forlì, around the mid-80s, he collaborated with some local artists.

With Paola Manfrin and Dominique Gonzalez-Foerster, he publishes the magazine Permanent Food and, with Massimiliano Gioni and Ali Subotnick, the Art magazine Charley. He occasionally collaborates with the contemporary art magazine Flash Art. In September 2010, he designed another editorial project with photographer Pierpaolo Ferrari, Toilet Paper.

After five years of absence from the creative scene, Maurizio Cattelan returns in 2017, but not to be part of the gallery, but to want to be part of the public debate, affirming that precisely at the moment he decided to abandon the public , he got the most pleasure.

Maurizio Cattelan maintains that these years were dedicated to researching the thousand lives that an image can have, working on ideas for furnishing objects in collaboration with Seletti. Cattelan anticipated that he is preparing a work to be exhibited in New York in a public space which will be a provocative work in the tradition of LOVE[17]; during his break, he understood that galleries interest him less and less but what counts for him is real contact with the public to get the debate going.

Controversial works and the “Banana”

Maurizio Cattelan's works are known to be particularly controversial: they combine sculpture with performance, but often include happening events, provocative actions, theatrical pieces, commentary texts on the panels accompanying his works of art . Sometimes works not made by himself, articles for newspapers and magazines are also used.

What is Maurizio Cattelan’s “Banana”: the meaning, where it is located and the cost of the “most discussed” work

Among these, of course, the “Banana”, recently sold for more than 6 million dollars.

“Novecento”: the horse suspended from the ceiling

Among the most irreverent works of Maurizio Cattelan, there is surely “ Twentieth century », a reflection on the new century after the second industrial revolution. The symbol, for him, of change resided precisely in the horse: a means of transport of the 19th century par excellence, put aside for the advent of the automobile, and of technology in general.

“Him”, the sculpture of Hitler sold for 17 million

In 2001, he created “Him,” a work that depicts Hitler on his knees, with the body of a child, praying with pleading eyes. The sculpture was sold at auction at Christie's for no less than $17,189,000, setting a record for the artist.

Private life: the relationship with Victoria Cabello

Maurizio Cattelan had a relationship with the host Victoria Cabellowho, after the death of her first boyfriend, opened up to love precisely with the artist. Subsequently, between 2010 and 2011, he had an affair with Andrea Rosso. Although he shares the same last name, he is not related to the famous presenter Alessandro Cattelan.