The controversy is served (again): Comedianthe banana stuck to the wall that divided the art world in 2019, presented by conceptual artist Maurizio Cattelan at the Art Basel fair in Miami, was auctioned this Wednesday for 6.2 million dollars (about 5.8 million euros) at Sotheby’s in New York.
The buyer, a Chinese cryptocurrency entrepreneur named Justin Sun, will receive, along with the piece of fruit and the adhesive tape that holds it to the wall, a certificate of authenticity of the bananawhich has to be replaced more or less every seven days (according to the recommendations of the artist himself and the auction house).
Contrary to what is usually the case – that buyers of great works are anonymous – Justin Sun has identified himself and expressed himself like this: “This is not just a work of art; represents a cultural phenomenona bridge between the worlds of art, memes and the crypto community,” he wrote in a statement distributed by Sotheby’s.
“Also, in the coming days I’m going to personally eat the banana as part of that unique artistic experience.thus honoring its place in the history of art and popular culture,” he concluded.
With the auction, Sotheby’s reopens the great controversy generated by the Italian artist Maurizio Cattelan and his curious work in 2019 and, therefore, one of the great debates that exist in the artistic world: What is art and what is not?
The most expensive banana in the world
In one fierce bidding in which the million and a half dollars that Sotheby’s had estimated for the work was immediately exceeded, the auctioneer defined Cattelan’s piece as “the most expensive banana in the world.”
This Wednesday, Comedian It far exceeded the prices raised by three original editions of the work at the Art Basel fair in Miami, all sold for between $108,000 and $137,000.
The “public” presentation of the fruit led to a week of madness in 2019, in which the public gathered in front of the work every day to take photographs and It culminated with the artist David Datuna eating the banana as a ‘performance’.
Comedian It went viral on social networks, leading to multiple memes and the marketing of caps and t-shirts that had the banana in their prints, and also served as inspiration for other artists such as Sebastian Errazuriz, who put a glued dildo on sale for $12,000. to the wall with adhesive tape.
What is art and what is not?
The fame of Comedian -that It was exhibited at the prestigious Guggenheim Museum in New York.– and now, its sale at this exorbitant price once again puts into focus one of the great questions of the art world that experts have not yet been able to agree on: What is art and what is not?
Many wonder what the Italian wants to express with this banana: “For me, Comedian It was not a joke, but a sincere comment and reflection on what we value. At art fairs speed and business reign, so I could sell a banana like others sell their paintings. I could play within the system, but with my rules,” says the artist in a quote collected by Sotheby’s.
Some experts have interpreted the banana as a “transgressive” act that directly mocks the one who, with so much wealth he possesses, can spend 6 million dollars on a piece of fruit: “Comedian “It is a comment, not particularly subtle but very powerful, on richness and transience, but also, perhaps, on the ephemerality of art,” says the writer Miguel Ángel Cajigal Vera in his book ‘Another History of Art’ “El Barroquista.” “.
The author also points out the cultural references that make the banana a work of art, such as the fact that it is a banana – which in colloquial English “symbolizes madness”– or the paradox of the piece: “Whoever buys it knows that it will soon disappear and the value of his money will have evaporated.”
Perhaps it is the latter that will be in focus after the auction: the ephemeral value of moneywhich can disappear as quickly as a banana rots on a wall.