Leeum Museum of Art goes bananas for Maurizio Cattelan

Home > Culture > Arts & Design

print dictionary print

Leeum Museum of Art goes bananas for Maurizio Cattelan

″All″ (2007) by Maurizio Cattelan, which consists of nine Carrara marble sculptures reminiscent of corpses covered with white cloth, is now on view as part of the artist's solo exhibition ″WE″ at the Leeum Museum of Art in Yongsan District, central Seoul. [MAURIZIO CATTELAN, LEEUM]

″All″ (2007) by Maurizio Cattelan, which consists of nine Carrara marble sculptures reminiscent of corpses covered with white cloth, is now on view as part of the artist's solo exhibition ″WE″ at the Leeum Museum of Art in Yongsan District, central Seoul. [MAURIZIO CATTELAN, LEEUM]

 
People queued in a long line in the lobby of the Leeum Museum of Art in Yongsan District, central Seoul, Tuesday afternoon to enter the gallery for the first-ever solo exhibition of Maurizio Cattelan in Korea, a testament to the local popularity of the 62-year-old Italian artist.
 
In strange contrast to the well-dressed visitors to the nation’s biggest private museum, a homeless man was sitting against a pillar in the lobby, fast asleep. In fact, the man is a hyperrealistic life-size sculpture, which, together with another sculpture of a homeless man installed at the museum's entrance, makes up “Donghoon and Junho”(2023), a work newly created by Cattelan for this exhibition.
 
Seeing the work, viewers can recognize two of the major characteristics of the controversial artist: the dark humor hanging over his works and the maximization of their effect through the interaction with their surroundings and viewers.
 
Cattelan’s solo show at Leeum, titled “WE” after one of his works on view, is “the largest survey of his oeuvre since his 2011 retrospective at the Guggenheim Museum in New York,” according to the museum in Seoul. It showcases 38 works encompassing hyperrealistic sculptures, installations featuring taxidermic animals and photographs from the three decades since the artist’s emergence in the 1990s.
 
″Comedian″ (2019) by Maurizio Cattelan, a fresh banana duct-taped to a wall, is now on view as part of the artist's solo exhibition ″WE″ at the Leeum Museum of Art in Yongsan District, central Seoul. [MAURIZIO CATTELAN, LEEUM]

″Comedian″ (2019) by Maurizio Cattelan, a fresh banana duct-taped to a wall, is now on view as part of the artist's solo exhibition ″WE″ at the Leeum Museum of Art in Yongsan District, central Seoul. [MAURIZIO CATTELAN, LEEUM]

 
The exhibits include “Comedian”(2019), which made headlines all around the world three years ago and is remembered even by many people not interested in contemporary art. The work is a real, ordinary banana affixed to a wall with duct tape. It first appeared in December 2019 at the booth of the Paris-based gallery Perrotin in Art Basel Miami Beach and was sold for $120,000, causing a chain of commotion. Then, a man claiming to be a performance artist ate up the banana, intensifying the ruckus. The gallery put up a new banana, explaining that the work is the artist’s idea — not the banana itself. The banana of “Comedian” now on view at Leeum will be also replaced when it starts to go bad.
 
Known as a provocateur and prankster who seldom appears before journalists, Cattelan did not attend the press preview of the exhibition on Monday, though he was in Seoul. Even in an artist talk on Tuesday, he was not on stage but Francesco Bonami, an Italian curator and critic, spoke on behalf of the artist with Kim Sungwon, chief curator and deputy director of Leeum, while the artist himself sat in the audience as a “Cattelanesque joke.” Bonami, who directed many important art events including the 2003 Venice Biennale, wrote the 2011 book “Maurizio Cattelan : the unauthorized autobiography.”
 
The view of the exhibition ″WE″ at the Leeum Museum of Art in Yongsan District, central Seoul. This is the first-ever solo show of Maurizzio Cattelan to be held in Korea. [LEEUM]

The view of the exhibition ″WE″ at the Leeum Museum of Art in Yongsan District, central Seoul. This is the first-ever solo show of Maurizzio Cattelan to be held in Korea. [LEEUM]

 
In the talk, Bonami explained about some of Cattelan's works on view at Leeum. Regarding the taxidermy such as the squirrel in “Bidibidobidiboo” (1996) and horses in “Novecento” (1997) and “Untitled” (2007), he said they are somewhat personified and have their own stories.
 
Asked by Kim why his hyperrealistic sculptures are not always life-sized but in many cases are scaled slightly up or down, Bonami as Cattelan said, “Scale is very important in my work. It is about creating a relationship with the viewers.” He added that the scaled-up or scaled-down sculptures depicting humans or ordinary things bring new perceptions to viewers. Among such sculptures is “Charlie” (2003), depicting the artist himself during his childhood when “being at school was torture.” This, along with many of his other works, deal with “minor traumas on life,” Bonami said.
 
One of the most impressive works on view is “All” (2007), which consists of nine Carrara marble sculptures reminiscent of corpses covered with white cloth. The sculptures “commemorate and remind us of a recent tragedy nearby, circling us back to our stark realities and gently touching our lives,” Kim said.
 
They are also a twist off the Italian Baroque marble sculptures that realistically depicted clothes, according to Bonami. “Accordingly, it is the combination of art history and the present in which everybody can fall victim to an accident,” he said.
 
″We″ (2010) by Maurizio Cattelan, a scaled-down hyperrealistic sculpture work, is a double self-portrait of the artist. The work is now on view as part of the artist's solo exhibition ″WE″ at the Leeum Museum of Art in Yongsan District, central Seoul. [MAURIZIO CATTELAN, LEEUM]

″We″ (2010) by Maurizio Cattelan, a scaled-down hyperrealistic sculpture work, is a double self-portrait of the artist. The work is now on view as part of the artist's solo exhibition ″WE″ at the Leeum Museum of Art in Yongsan District, central Seoul. [MAURIZIO CATTELAN, LEEUM]

 
“Cattelan’s hyperrealistic sculptures are straightforward and recognizable, while also cleverly and stealthily appropriating art history and popular culture,” Kim said. “Strewn with satirical and cynical anecdotes, his works audaciously demand us to confront uncomfortable truths and overturn our foundations of perception.”
 
The exhibition runs through July 16. Admission is free, but reservations are required, which can be made on the museum’s website.

BY MOON SO-YOUNG [moon.soyoung@joongang.co.kr]
Log in to Twitter or Facebook account to connect
with the Korea JoongAng Daily
help-image Social comment?
s
lock icon

To write comments, please log in to one of the accounts.

Standards Board Policy (0/250자)