Friday, December 6, 2019

A Banana Duct-Taped to a Wall Just Sold for $120,000


A banana duct-taped to a wall sold for $120,000 at Miami's Art Basel this week.

The piece, called "The Comedian," was created by the Italian artist Maurizio Cattelan.

Emmanuel Perrotin, the gallery owner from where the piece was sold, told CBS News that Maurizio's work is not just about objects, but about how objects move through the world.

This is the best evidence yet that we are still in the Federal Reserve money printing boom phase of the business cycle. You never see this kind of nuttiness during the bust phase.

According to CBS News, the artist did not provide any instructions for buyers on what to do when the banana starts to decompose. The Miami Herald, though, reported that owners can replace the banana, as needed.

In 1961, Manzoni sold 90 small cans labeled “Artist’s Shit (Merda d’Artista) for roughly $30. In 2016, the Milan-based auction house Il Ponte Casa d’Aste reportedly sold one of the cans for nearly $300,000.

In 2017, he created "America" an 18-carat-gold toilet. It sold for $6-million and this summer was stolen from England's Blenheim Palace.

-RW

UPDATE

Via Miami Herald:

The London-based White Cube gallery in the booth next door to Galerie Perrotin removed a floor installation because the crowd to see the banana was just overwhelming.

Perrotin installed a silver rope line in an attempt to keep the crowd in check Saturday afternoon. Four Miami Beach police officers also gathered outside the gallery to keep order.


3 comments:

  1. “The Comedian”. “Mierda de Artista”. Cattelan has titled these pieces for what they are. A joke and shit. What does that say about the customers? I’m guessing Cattelan understands that those that paid for these “works of art” have shitty taste and are the butt of his joke. Emmanuel Perrotin, the gallery owner is also laughing all the way to the bank.

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  2. https://www.thetruthaboutguns.com/for-sale-the-libertarian-listing-price-75000/

    ReplyDelete
  3. I'm going with money laundering.

    ReplyDelete