COLLECTION NAME:
Undergraduate Thesis Collection
Record
Title:
Maurizio Cattelan's 'Comedian' and Its Ironic Significance in the World of Conceptual Art
Creator:
Steele, Bradley A.
Subject:
Thesis (B.F.A.) -- Art History
Subject:
Savannah College of Art and Design -- Department of Art History
Rights:
Copyright is retained by the authors or artists of items in this collection, or their descendants, as stipulated by United States copyright law.
Abstract:
"In December of 2019, news spread rapidly through mainstream media that a banana strapped to a wall with duct tape had sold for $120,000. The now famous work, aptly titled 'Comedian', was created by Maurizio Cattelan for the 2019 Art Basel Miami Beach. This thesis will examine the origins and evolution of site-specific conceptual art works that manage to supersede the typical trajectory and reception of material artworks. Works like 'Comedian' are often delegitimized for their apparent lack of labor and aesthetic beauty. However, as seen in Marcel Duchamp's 'Fountain' of 1917, conceptual works that consider the very idea of the work more valuable than its form manage to carve out space for avant-garde art of future generations that deliver more expansive ideas as far as what can and cannot be considered an artwork. This thesis will use 'Comedian' as a primary case study and will reference the work of Marcel Duchamp as well as the artistic and intellectual characteristics already established in the oeuvre of Maurizio Cattelan that led to the success of 'Comedian' as an exemplar of conceptual art. Even evident in the initial works of Cattelan, the artist values irony and humor as a method of delivering works of art to a specific audience. The location, material and receiver of the work is always carefully considered. Cattelan values controversy and public reaction, which he is deliberately able to extract in order to resolve his own hypothesis about a social issue, contemporary belief system, or questioning of the zeitgeist. Through his reflective and sometimes self-reflexive works, public reaction and engagement are operatively what Cattelan achieves with site-specific conceptual works like 'Comedian', as did his 20th century predecessor Marcel Duchamp with the display of 'Fountain'. Additionally, a deeper art historical appreciation can be garnered for 'Comedian' by seeing it as a continuation of style of the Italian Arte Povera movement, which used unconventional materials of the everyday in order to subvert the overbearing commodification of art." --Abstract
Keywords: Art Basel Miami Beach, Arte Povera, 'Comedian', conceptual art, contemporary art, 'Fountain', Maurizio Cattelan, Marcel Duchamp, sculpture, site-specific
Keywords: Art Basel Miami Beach, Arte Povera, 'Comedian', conceptual art, contemporary art, 'Fountain', Maurizio Cattelan, Marcel Duchamp, sculpture, site-specific
Publisher:
Savannah, Georgia: Savannah College of Art and Design
Date:
2023-05
Format:
1 online resource: 1 PDF (Thesis, 41 pages, color illustrations)