Duct-taped banana turns to gold

In the world of contemporary art, few works have sparked as much debate and fascination as Maurizio Cattelan's Comedian—a simple banana duct-taped to a wall. 

Walk into any grocery store, and you can typically pick up a banana for under $1. But a banana taped to a wall? That could fetch over $1 million at an upcoming Sotheby’s auction in New York, Caliber.Az reports, citing foreign media.

The banana, attached to a white wall with silver duct tape, is titled “Comedian” by Italian artist Maurizio Cattelan. It first gained attention in 2019 at the Art Basel Miami Beach fair, where it was displayed as part of an edition of three and quickly became a viral sensation.

Was it a prank? A critique of the contemporary art world? At one point, another artist even took the banana off the wall and ate it, prompting the gallery to bring in a replacement. As selfie-seeking crowds gathered, “Comedian” was temporarily removed from display, but three editions of the work ultimately sold for between $120,000 and $150,000, according to the Perrotin gallery.

Now, this conceptual artwork is estimated to be worth between $1 million and $1.5 million at the Sotheby’s auction scheduled for Nov. 20. David Galperin, Sotheby’s head of contemporary art, describes it as "profound and provocative."

“What Cattelan is really doing is holding up a mirror to the contemporary art world, questioning how we assign value to artworks and what we consider to be art,” Galperin explained.

Bidders won’t be purchasing the exact banana from the Miami display, as those have long since been replaced. According to Sotheby’s, the fruit was always intended to be swapped out regularly, along with the duct tape.

“What you’re actually buying when you purchase Cattelan’s ‘Comedian’ is not the banana itself, but a certificate of authenticity that gives the owner the right and authority to recreate this banana and duct tape on their own wall as an original artwork by Maurizio Cattelan,” Galperin clarified.

The title of the piece itself suggests that Cattelan likely never expected it to be taken at face value. However, Chloé Cooper Jones, an assistant professor at Columbia University’s School of the Arts, believes it’s worth considering the context in which it exists.

Cattelan first debuted ‘Comedian’ at an art fair, attracting wealthy collectors and ensuring the piece would garner plenty of social media attention. Cooper Jones suggests that this might have been a challenge to these collectors, daring them to invest in something absurd.

However, she notes that if ‘Comedian’ is merely a commentary on the insular, capitalist world of art collecting, “it’s not that interesting of an idea.”

Yet, she believes the piece could have a deeper meaning beyond merely mocking the wealthy.

Cattelan is often seen as a “trickster artist,” Cooper Jones explained. “But his work frequently intersects humor with the deeply macabre. He’s often probing ways to provoke us, not just for the sake of provocation, but to encourage us to confront some of the darkest aspects of history and of ourselves.”

By Naila Huseynova