Mauritzio Cattelan caused a sensation at last year’s Art Basel Miami by duct-taping a $120,000 banana to the wall, titling it Comedian. He sold two $120,000 editions of the work, and raised the price for a third one to $150,000. Known as the art world’s reigning trickster, Cattelan has inspired a series of memes across the internet, including the most recent one, coming from the fellow artist Damien Hirst.
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Hirst said he actually tried to purchase the work from the Cattelan, but he was told a stern no. He also offered to swap it for one of his works, but sadly he was said no again. I was desperate to buy this artwork from Maurizio Cattelan, called “Comedian”, because I love it so much. – said Hirst via his official Instagram page. I asked my friend and curator Francesco Bonami to ask Maurizio if he had an A.P. he could sell me or if he would make me a special one? – he added.
Italian Art Curator, Francesco Bonami apparently felt sorry for Hirst and decided to make him the Banana artwork as a present and sent it to him. This is it now on my wall and I love it. – Hirst wrote proudly alongside several images of the banana duct-taped on his wall. He said the banana has to point the opposite way hahahahaha. – Hirst continued, addressing potential accusations of plagiarism, while Bonami posted the images on his Instagram with a title – The Banana is like the Crucifixion nobody has the copyright.
