Maurizio Cattelan

“Comedians manipulate and make fun of reality. Whereas I actually think that reality is far more provocative than my art.”- Maurizio Cattelan

Maurizio Cattelan is one of the many contemporary artists who uses humor and satire to his own disposal. I mean, just look at one of the pieces he is most known for, La Nona Ora , where he portrays the pope being stuck to the ground by a meteor. He picks controversial topics that are easy to poke fun at.

 

Born in Italy and based out of New York, Cattelan started his career making primarily wooden furniture in the 80's. Through that, he was able to meet some well known designers. He then began to promote himself by sending out portfolios to different galleries, which led to him gaining the opportunity to create sculptures rather than furniture. One of his early sculptures was of an ostrich that had its head underground and wore a costume of a figurine that had the giant head of Picasso and then added a Milanese gallerist to a wall with tape. It is even said that early in his career, “Cattelan convinced gallerist and notorious womanizer, Emmanuel Lapin to wear a giant pink rabbit costume shaped like a phallus to Cattelan's gallery opening.” Cattelan is and never was short of eccentric punchiness. He was ready to unleash the sattire as soon as he hit the scene.

During this time, Cattelan also started the Oblomov Foundation which is a commemorative plate with the names of 100 persons who gave him $ 10, 000 for a grant. It was hung up abusively on the wall of Accademia di Brera in Milan. The grant went to a young artist with only one condition: don't do show for one year. Then, in 2009 Pierpaolo Ferrari and Cattelan teamed up to create an editorial for W Magazine's Art Issue which resulted in one of Cattelan's most well known projects, “Toilet Paper,” a bi-annual picture-based publication.

“Every issue starts with a theme, always something basic and general, like love or greed,” Cattelan explained. “Then, as we start, we move like a painter on a canvas, layering and building up the issue. We always find ourselves in a place we didn’t expect to be. The best images are the result of improvisation.” Many images are rejected, he said, because they’re “not Toilet Paper enough.” What makes a Toilet Paper photo? “We keep homing in on what a Toilet Paper image is. Like distilling a perfume. It’s not about one particular style or time frame; what makes them Toilet Paper is a special twist. An uncanny ambiguity.”

Even in his 2D work, Catellan is still looking for that angle of humor through creating the unexpected. These images compared to his sculptures may not have as much specific underlying meaning, but they are still definatly getting at something. Cattelan, even in the beginning, was very focused on representing his topics in an unusual and uncanny way. A way that makes his audience think twice, and even chuckle a bit.

Though, what has really gotten him noticed is his 3D work. Through his taxidermic animals and life size wax figures, Cattelan has gained a large reputation for his humor. This also has to do with the scale works at. The taxidermic animals range from horses and donkeys to dogs, mice, and even pigeons! His reflects a larger than life quality both physically and conceptually through his use of unusual materials.

Particularly, Cattelan likes to poke fun at the order of things all around him. This could be anything from religion ( as seen in La Nona Ora) to the thing closest to him; the art world. What I find most interesting, is that when he pokes fun at the art world, he digs into art history and picks out past themes to portray his new point. This is much like what is done in his “Toilet Paper” annual. Since his start, Cattelan has derived the subjects of his work from very specific themes. What I enjoy most about his work though, is that he prefers to use simple puns in his work, making it more relatable to the general public. Which therefore, causes more investigation for his audience. He draws you in with the simplicity and then plays with your wit a bit to see if you really see what he is poking fun at in his works.

Works Cited

"Guggenheim." Collection Online. Web. 24 Apr. 2012. <http://www.guggenheim.org/new-york/collections/collection-online/show-full/bio/?artist_name=Maurizio Cattelan>.

"Guggenheim." Maurizio Cattelan: All. Web. 24 Apr. 2012. <http://www.guggenheim.org/new-york/exhibitions/past/exhibit/3961>.

"Maurizio Cattelan, "Oblomov Foundation" 1992 Courtesy: Galerie Perrotin, Paris." Galerie Perrotin. Web. 24 Apr. 2012. <http://www.perrotin.com/Maurizio_Cattelan-works-oeuvres-1432-2.html>.

"Maurizio Cattelan." The Menil Collection. Web. 24 Apr. 2012. <http://www.menil.org/exhibitions/MaurizioCattelanNew.php>.

"Photo Booth: Maurizio Cattelan’s Toilet Paper : The New Yorker." The New Yorker. Web. 24 Apr. 2012. <http://www.newyorker.com/online/blogs/photobooth/2011/11/maurizio-cattelan-toilet-paper.html>.

"TOILET PAPER MAGAZINE." TOILET PAPER MAGAZINE. Web. 24 Apr. 2012. <http://toiletpapermagazine.com/>.