Maurizio Cattelan
Encyclopedia : M : MA : MAU : Maurizio Cattelan
Maurizio Cattelan is an Italian artist born in Padova, Italy, in 1960. Cattelan did not attend art school but taught himself. He started his career in Forlì (Italy) in the eighties where he knew some local artists. Today he is one of the most popular Italian artists to have emerged internationally in the 1990s, and his reputation continues to grow. His art often combines sculpture and performance, but also includes, actions, text-pieces, magazines to mention some. He is said to be a master of provocation who shuns the media and abuses the art world. He is notoriously controversial.
Some consider him the king of the pranksters. He has been described by Jonathan P. Binstock, curator of contemporary art at the Corcoran Gallery of Art, in a Gene Weingarten interview, "as one of the great post-Duchampian artists and a smartass, too".
Most recently, Cattelan has taken on the role of curator.
Works
One of his most famous artworks is a sculpture of Pope John Paul II hit by a meteorite, titled La Nona Ora (The Ninth Hour), made in 1999. It was exhibited at the Royal Academy in London as part of the prestigious Apocalypse show.
In 2000 he persuaded his gallerist Emmanuel Perrotin to spend a month dressed as a giant pink phallus.
As part of the 2001 Venice Biennale, he erected a full sized HOLLYWOOD sign over the largest rubbish tip on Palermo, Sicily.
External links
- [La Nona Ora]
- [Weingarten article]
- [Maurizio Cattelan on the Italian webzine]
- [Maurizio Cattelan] Additional information on Maurizio Cattelan including artworks, articles, text panels and full biography details
- [Guardian Unlimited interveiw with Maurizio Cattelan]
From Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia. Original article here. Support Wikipedia by contributing or donating.
All text is available under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License See Wikipedia Copyrights for details.