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Euronews
2 days ago
- Entertainment
- Euronews
Cattelan's ‘Comedian' banana eaten again at French museum in Metz
It's happened again. Someone walked into a museum, spotted Maurizio Cattelan's banana-taped-to-a-wall artwork, and decided to tuck in. This time, the setting was the Centre Pompidou-Metz in eastern France, where the infamous 'Comedian' (2019) has been on display since May as part of a major retrospective marking the museum's 15th anniversary. A visitor reportedly peeled the banana off the wall and ate it, before security 'rapidly and calmly intervened,' according to a statement from the museum on Friday. The gallery didn't seem especially bothered. 'The artwork was reinstalled a few minutes later,' it said, adding that the banana is a perishable item and is 'regularly replaced according to instructions from the artist.' Cattelan, never one to miss an opportunity for deadpan commentary, told French news agency AFP he was disappointed the visitor hadn't fully committed. 'Instead of eating the banana with its skin and duct tape, the visitor just consumed the fruit,' he said, adding that they had 'confused the fruit for the work of art.' This is at least the fourth time 'Comedian' has been consumed since its debut at Art Basel Miami Beach in 2019, where it made headlines and prompted eye-rolls in equal measure. The original version was sold for $120,000 (€103,000) by Galerie Perrotin – and not long after, performance artist David Datuna plucked it from the wall and ate it, saying he was simply 'hungry.' Since then, 'Comedian' has become one of the most talked-about – and eaten – pieces of conceptual art in recent memory. In 2023, an art student at Seoul National University helped themselves to the banana during a Cattelan show at the Leeum Museum of Art, also citing hunger. And in 2024, Chinese tech entrepreneur Justin Sun bought an edition of the work at Sotheby's for $6.24 million (€5.3 million), then ate the banana at a press conference nine days later. A post shared by David Datuna (@david_datuna) Despite the snackable nature of the work, each sale includes a certificate of authenticity and detailed instructions for replacement – meaning what's on the wall is technically never the original banana, but part of the artwork's ongoing life cycle. 'For now, it is perhaps the most-eaten artwork of the last 30 years,' the Centre Pompidou-Metz quipped in its statement. So far, no police reports have been filed and no bans have been announced. For now, the fruit's back on the wall – and it may only be a matter of time before someone else gets peckish.
Hypebeast
3 days ago
- Entertainment
- Hypebeast
Maurizio Cattelan Can't Keep a Banana on the Wall
Summary It was only a matter of time before someone took another Cattelan's infamous banana artwork 'The Comedian' has once again been consumed and this time at the Centre Pompidou-Metz in eastern France. The fruit, taped to a wall as part of the museum's current exhibitionEndless Sunday, was swiftly devoured by a visitor over the weekend. Security responded quickly. Within minutes, the banana was replaced, business as usual. Artnet reported: 'In a characteristically tongue-and-cheek retort, the Italian artist-provocateur said he was disappointed the banana muncher did not also consume the work's skin and tape. The museum-goer, Cattelan noted, had clearly 'confused the fruit for the work of art' and hadn't gone far enough.' Since its debut at Art Basel Miami in 2019, 'The Comedian' has sparked debate, confusion and no shortage of social media engagement. Originally sold for up to $150,000 USD with a certificate of authenticity, the piece has since been eaten multiple times from a viral act by artist David Datuna in Miami to a hungry student at Seoul's Leeum Museum in 2023. Despite the drama, institutions remain unfazed. The banana, after all, comes with clear replacement instructions. According to the Pompidou-Metz, the work will continue to hang until the exhibition ends in 2027. Centre Pompidou-Metz1 Parv. des Droits de l'HommeCS 90490, 57000Metz, France
BBC News
3 days ago
- Entertainment
- BBC News
Banana artwork at museum gets eaten... AGAIN!
Have you ever been on a school trip and felt a little hungry?Well, one visitor to a museum in France took their cravings a little too decided to tuck into a banana taped to the wall, that was part of an installation by Italian artist Maurizio Cattelan. And, it's not the first time that the fruit in the artwork has been eaten!However, according to staff at the museum, the work was "reinstalled within minutes". The incident occurred at the Pompidou-Metz museum in eastern artwork, called Comedian, consists of a ripe banana duct-taped to a hungry visitor decided to take a bite into the fresh artwork, valued at tens of thousands of all was lost though, as museum staff explained: "As the fruit is perishable, it is regularly replaced according to instructions from the artist."It's not the first time that the fruity artwork has been enjoyed by members of the edible creation has sparked controversy ever since it made its debut six years 2019, performance artist David Datuna ate one of Mr Cattelan's art pieces on display at an art gallery in Miami, in the in 2023, a South Korean art student tucked into the banana, at an exhibition in the country's capital, said he was "hungry" after skipping breakfast and suggested that the installation was taped in order to eaten.
CTV News
3 days ago
- Entertainment
- CTV News
Someone has eaten artist Maurizio Cattelan's US$6 million banana
"Comedian" by Italian artist Maurizio Cattelan is pictured. Italian artist Maurizio Cattelan's artwork featuring a fresh banana taped to a wall has been eaten by a visitor to a museum in France. (Jean-Christophe Verhaegen/AFP/Getty Images via CNN Newsource) Italian artist Maurizio Cattelan's artwork featuring a fresh banana taped to a wall has been eaten by a visitor to a museum in France. The piece, titled 'Comedian,' was eaten by a gallery-goer at the Centre-Pompidou Metz in eastern France on July 12, according to a statement from the museum, published Monday. 'The security team acted quickly and calmly, according to internal procedures,' the gallery said in the statement. 'The artwork was reinstalled a few minutes later,' it said, adding that the banana is 'only a perishable element' that is replaced on a regular basis according to Cattelan's instructions. Centre-Pompidou Metz said the artist was disappointed that the visitor had considered the fruit itself to be the artwork, instead of eating the skin and the tape that held it in place as well. The gallery has not filed a police report. 'Comedian' is intended to demonstrate the 'absurdity of financial speculation and the fragility of knowledge systems that underpin the art market,' it said. This is not the first time the artwork has been eaten. In 2019, when Cattelan unveiled 'Comedian' at the Art Basel Miami art fair in Florida, performance artist David Datuna grabbed the banana from the wall, before peeling and eating it in front of hundreds of stunned fair attendees. This became one of the art world's biggest viral moments and the work sold — with replacement banana — for US$120,000 at the fair. Then, in 2023, an art student took the banana from a wall at the Leeum Museum of Art in Seoul, South Korea, and ate it. And in November 2024, Justin Sun, a Chinese collector and founder of a cryptocurrency platform, acquired 'Comedian' for US$6.24 million at auction — before eating the banana. 'For now, it is perhaps the 'most-eaten' artwork of the last 30 years,' Centre-Pompidou Metz said in the statement.
CNN
3 days ago
- Entertainment
- CNN
Someone has eaten artist Maurizio Cattelan's $6 million banana – again
Italian artist Maurizio Cattelan's artwork featuring a fresh banana taped to a wall has been eaten by a visitor to a museum in France. The piece, titled 'Comedian,' was eaten by a gallery-goer at the Centre-Pompidou Metz in eastern France on July 12, according to a statement from the museum, published Monday. 'The security team acted quickly and calmly, according to internal procedures,' the gallery said in the statement. 'The artwork was reinstalled a few minutes later,' it said, adding that the banana is 'only a perishable element' that is replaced on a regular basis according to Cattelan's instructions. Centre-Pompidou Metz said the artist was disappointed that the visitor had considered the fruit itself to be the artwork, instead of eating the skin and the tape that held it in place as well. Related video Collector eats world-famous $6.2M banana The gallery has not filed a police report. 'Comedian' is intended to demonstrate the 'absurdity of financial speculation and the fragility of knowledge systems that underpin the art market,' it said. This is not the first time the artwork has been eaten. In 2019, when Cattelan unveiled 'Comedian' at the Art Basel Miami art fair in Florida, performance artist David Datuna grabbed the banana from the wall, before peeling and eating it in front of hundreds of stunned fair attendees. This became one of the art world's biggest viral moments and the work sold — with replacement banana — for $120,000 at the fair. Then, in 2023, an art student took the banana from a wall at the Leeum Museum of Art in Seoul, South Korea, and ate it. And in November 2024, Justin Sun, a Chinese collector and founder of a cryptocurrency platform, acquired 'Comedian' for $6.24 million at auction — before eating the banana. 'For now, it is perhaps the 'most-eaten' artwork of the last 30 years,' Centre-Pompidou Metz said in the statement.
