Related News
Artist goes bananas and eats US$120,000 artwork
Print Edition
The move was bananas ... or maybe the work was just too appealing.
A performance artist shook up the crowd at the Art Basel show in Miami Beach on December 7 when he grabbed a banana that had been duct-taped to a gallery wall and ate it.
The banana was, in fact, a work of art by Italian artist Maurizio Cattelan titled 鈥淐omedian鈥 and sold to a French collector for US$120,000.
In a video posted on his Instagram account, David Datuna, who describes himself as a Georgian-born American artist living in New York, walks up to the banana and pulls it off the wall with the duct tape attached.
鈥淎rt performance ... hungry artist,鈥 he said, as he peeled the fruit and took a bite. 鈥淭hank you, very good.鈥
A few bystanders could be heard giggling before a flustered gallery official whisked him to an adjoining space for questioning. But the kerfuffle was resolved without a food fight.
鈥淗e did not destroy the art work. The banana is the idea,鈥 Lucien Terras, director of museum relations for Galerie Perrotin, told the Miami Herald.
As it turns out, the value of the work is in the certificate of authenticity, the newspaper reported. The banana is meant to be replaced. A replacement banana was taped to the wall about 15 minutes after Datuna鈥檚 stunt.
鈥淭his has brought a lot of tension and attention to the booth, and we鈥檙e not into spectacles,鈥 Terras said. 鈥淏ut the response has been great. It brings a smile to a lot of people鈥檚 faces.鈥
Gallery director Peggy Leboeuf said that no legal action was planned against Datuna.
鈥淗e was not arrested, but we asked him to leave the booth and to leave the fair,鈥 she said. 鈥淲e have his contact and everything, so we can go further, but I don鈥檛 think we will.鈥
With laughter on Monday after returning to New York, Datuna explained he waited two hours until 鈥淚 was hungry鈥 before eating the pricy banana artwork.
鈥淚t鈥檚 the first time one artist eats art of another artist,鈥 he said in a mirth-filled press conference.
In spite of the price, 鈥渋t tasted like a regular banana,鈥 said the Tbilisi-born Datuna, who has lived in New York for 22 years.
He added that he didn鈥檛 need the publicity. But he basked in his latest exploit, boasting that the video of his 鈥減erformance鈥 had generated 40,000 to 50,000 messages on Instagram, many of them congratulatory.
Datuna, who has never met Cattelan, praised the Italian.
Cattelan鈥檚 ideas are 鈥済enius,鈥 said Datuna. 鈥淏ut I like also what I did.鈥
Cattelan is perhaps best known for his 18-carat, fully functioning gold toilet called 鈥淎merica鈥 that he had once offered on loan to US President Donald Trump.
The toilet, valued at US$5-6 million, was in the news again in September when it was stolen from Britain鈥檚 Blenheim Palace, the birthplace of wartime leader Winston Churchill, where it had been on display.
Datuna has previously shown works at the Smithsonian Institute鈥檚 National Portrait Gallery in Washington and recently opened a gallery in Long Island City, New York.
In June 2017, shortly after Trump announced he would withdraw the United States from the Paris climate agreement, Datuna created a work with Trump鈥檚 name in dry ice on a Manhattan sidewalk.
The installation, titled 鈥渢his too shall pass,鈥 gradually melted as New Yorkers gawked at the work.
Datuna said he has planned his next surprise for the Super Bowl, the National Football League championship on February 2, also in Miami.
- About Us
- |
- Terms of Use
- |
-
RSS - |
- Privacy Policy
- |
- Contact Us
- |
- Shanghai Call Center: 962288
- |
- Tip-off hotline: 52920043
- 娌狪CP璇侊細娌狪CP澶05050403鍙-1
- |
- 浜掕仈缃戞柊闂讳俊鎭湇鍔¤鍙瘉锛31120180004
- |
- 缃戠粶瑙嗗惉璁稿彲璇侊細0909346
- |
- 骞挎挱鐢佃鑺傜洰鍒朵綔璁稿彲璇侊細娌瓧绗354鍙
- |
- 澧炲肩數淇′笟鍔＄粡钀ヨ鍙瘉锛氭勃B2-20120012
Copyright 漏 1999- Shanghai Daily. All rights reserved.Preferably viewed with Internet Explorer 8 or newer browsers.
