Hi Folks,

Its been a crappy weekend as I was laid low with the Norovirus. Not pleasant and I certainly wouldn’t recommend it. Quite spoiled my anticipation of flying home to Scotland today. The one highlight of the weekend was a news story I spotted which, at first, I thought was a spoof.  Subsequent digging revealed it was absolutely true.   Not sure if its hilarious, or very sad. Its certainly ridiculous. What is it?  Let me introduce you to the ‘Comedian’

The Golden America

If you have read some of my earlier pieces, you may recall that I have a difficult relationship with art. I don’t really get a lot of it.  For instance, the solid gold toilet called ‘America’  by controversial Italian artist, Maurizio Cattelan. It was on loan from the Guggenheim to Blenheim Palace in the UK when it was stolen and is doubtless now so many gold bricks, if you’ll pardon the pun.  I thought that was a bit far fetched and struggled to see how it was art? Even performance art. Mind you, in 1917 a French artist, Marcel Duchamp exhibited a porcelain urinal at an art exhibition in New York.  At least Cattelan’s work was all gold and shiny with some residual value, so I guess things have moved on.

America, the golden loo at Bleinham Palace

But what has this got to do with the “Comedian”?

The Comedian

Well, our old friend Maurizio has been at it again.  The ‘Comedian’ is his new piece and comprises…………?  A banana stuck to a wall with duct tape.  Seriously. Just an ordinary banana.  Apparently he wanted to make a sculpture shaped like a banana and toyed with various materials for it. Resin, bronze, but none seemed quite right.  Then, in a sudden flash of realization, it dawned on him. A banana is supposed to be a banana. So, he carefully chose a banana, locally sourced from a Miami supermarket,  and stuck it to a wall. Simple.

The Comedian on display in Miami

So what is it all about? Who knows. Apart from Cattelan himself, perhaps.  Well according to art critic Andrew Russeth, from ART News, “Comedian is an object lesson in the excesses of the art world, the absurdity of the art market, and the gaping inequalities that now define the global economy.”  He might have added its a tasty and healthy snack too.

But snack or no snack, I don’t think anyone will be in a hurry to eat this particular banana as; and this is where it gets really bonkers, its been sold.  Not for $1.00 at the supermarket.  No, Mr Cattelan has sold his installation to a private French collector for  – wait for it – $91,000.  Yes, that’s not a typo. $91,000.  Think that’s bad, then get this. He sold a second to another French collector for another $91,000. It gets worse.  Realizing he is onto something after getting a 3rd commission for the piece, the price has gone up.  This 3rd banana is expected to be sold to an American Art museum and is expected to fetch between $114,000 to $150,000. You couldn’t make this up.

Have a Banana

Just to stress, these are perfectly ordinary, if incredibly expensive bananas.  Hence,  you may have spotted the obvious flaw with these installations as did I.  My bananas at home seem to last no more than a few days before turning an unpleasant dark brown and eventual black color. Leave them any longer and there is a chance of mushy, moldy banana oozing down your wall.  Not to worry, each installation comes with instructions on how to ‘replace the banana every few days’ in order to maintain its original appearance.  Personally, I would want the artist to come along and do the replacing himself.

The “Artist” Maurizio Cattelan

What if you didn’t get the angle of the banana quite right? Or  if the duct tape lost its stickiness and you had to replace with a different color? And what if; and this is a biggy to my mind, what if some nefarious person were to sneak in and replace  the banana with one of their own, stealing the original banana?   Who would be able to spot the fake??  This is a minefield.

Currently, ‘Comedian’ has been on display at the Perrotin Gallery at Art Basel in Miami. Its a huge hit? People have been queuing to get selfies with the work. I would like to think this is out of a sense of the ridiculous, but I am not convinced.

New Fruit and Veg School

Could this be the start of a whole fruit related art movement?  What could be next? Apples? I think I could quite fancy a few Kumquat stapled to the door. I may need to copyright that idea just in case. Then we could see a  divergence into more vegetable related art. The mind quite literally boggles.

If nothing else, ‘Comedian’ cheered me up during a weekend I am otherwise keen to forget. As for the name, well, don’t know what you think but I reckon its incredibly apt and should relate to the artist as much as the piece as for sure he is having a laugh.

Graham Wannabe, 8th Dec 2019.