Imagine walking into a prestigious museum, seeing a banana taped to a wall, and thinking, "I could do that." Well, someone actually did—but instead of just mimicking it, they took the whole thing! 😱
The Pompidou-Metz museum in eastern France recently reported a theft that is as absurd as the artwork itself. A banana, the centerpiece of Italian artist Maurizio Cattelan's provocative piece titled Comedian, has gone missing. A guard noticed the fruit was gone this past Saturday, and the museum officially reported it to the police on Sunday.
Now, before you ask: "It's just a banana, why the big deal?" Here is the tea: ☕ Comedian is a conceptual artwork that questions the very nature of art and value. While the banana itself is cheap, the idea is worth millions. In fact, in 2024, crypto founder Justin Sun paid a staggering $5.2 million for one iteration of the work, only to eat it in front of cameras in Hong Kong shortly after. Talk about an expensive snack! 💸
The museum has already replaced the banana (which is standard procedure, as the fruit is swapped every three days to keep it from rotting), but they aren't letting the thief off easy. While they didn't take legal action when a visitor ate the banana in July last year, this time they've filed a criminal complaint. Why? Because the perpetrator is unknown, meaning there's "no possibility of dialogue," and the museum feels it's a matter of respect for the art. 🖼️✨
This isn't the first time Comedian has been the target of a "hungry" admirer. Back in 2019 at the Art Basel show in Miami Beach, performance artist David Datuna ate the artwork because he felt "hungry." Cattelan, the artist, later joked that he was disappointed Datuna didn't eat the tape too. 😂
Cattelan is known for pushing boundaries. He also created America, a fully functioning 18-carat gold toilet. That piece also had a run-in with thieves; it was stolen from a UK exhibition in 2020 at the birthplace of Winston Churchill. It was broken into pieces, and the gold was never recovered. 🚽💰
Whether you think it's a masterpiece or just a prank, one thing is for sure: Maurizio Cattelan knows how to keep the world talking (and the guards on their toes)! 🌍💬
Reference(s):
Just too a-peeling? Controversial banana art stolen from French museum
cgtn.com
