Do You Want a Banana? Peel It Down and Go mm-mm-mm-mm

The story of the literal consumers of art

ArtCreativity
by Scott Stewart

In 2019, Maurizio Cattelan created a piece of art that was simply a banana duct-taped to a wall. Versions of it sold for $120,000.

Later in 2019, a performance artist removed the banana from the wall and ate it, saying he was a hungry artist.

In 2023, the same piece (a different banana) was on display in Seoul. A tourist grabbed the banana. He gobbled it down, saying he was hungry.

In 2024, the same piece (a different banana) was sold at Sotheby’s for $6.2 million. The buyer (a crypto entrepreneur) then ate the banana at a news conference. “Everyone has a banana to eat,” the buyer stated.

Which act do you find most creative?

  • The art itself?
  • The performance artist taking the first public bite?
  • The tourist taking the second public bite?
  • The entrepreneur buying the banana and taking the third and final bite?

You might find the eaters most creative: those rebels against overly pompous avant-garde artists. I don’t blame you. Eating a piece of art is pretty funny. And the conscious act of destroying a piece of art with a few bites is a great image.

However, the gallery owner in 2019 is recorded saying, “He didn’t eat THE banana. He ate A banana.” In fact, the 2019 gallery replaced the banana every 2-3 days.

It was the same in 2023. The art lived on because it required a piece of duct tape and a new banana.

The crypto entrepreneur who bought the piece for millions may have felt like he had the last word on the banana art. He may have felt like he was making a statement. But his statement had been made two times before him. And I don’t think eating the banana is the most creative act.

Maurizio Cattelan is an artist of satire. He is considered a prankster of the art world. With every banana eaten, every banana piece sold, his infamy grew.

I think Cattelan has had the last laugh. He created a piece that was a slap at the art world. His piece feels like it is almost begging someone to peel the duct tape off and peel the banana. The piece made him millions, and the cost was:

  1. A banana, unpeeled
  2. A piece of duct tape
  3. A wall

Above the piece in large print read the words “Maurizio Cattelan COMEDIAN,” and he is laughing all the way to the bank.

The title of this piece comes from lyrics in Tally Hall’s Banana Man