Collection: Cattelan, Maurizio

The sculptor and installation artist Maurizio Cattelan , born in 1960 in Italy, enjoys a reputation as a humorous contemporary artist. With macabre humor, Cattelan caricatures the art world and social values. The wax sculpture of Pope John Paul II struck by a meteorite, titled La Nona Ora (The Ninth Hour)  is one of his best-known works. Cattelan is a self-taught artist who adds satirical and performative elements to his work. In 2000, Cattelan convinced his gallerist, Emmanuel Perrotin, to dress as a giant pink phallus for a month. In 2001, Cattelan created a sculpture of Hitler kneeling on the ground like a childlike, innocent person begging for salvation. One of Cattelan's most provocative works is his installation, which he created in Milan for the Trussardi Foundation. For this, children are suspended from a tree in a public park with ropes around their necks. Directed towards a critique of violence against children, the artist takes on the role of a circus ringmaster where cruelty and pleasure collide.

Cattelan is a curator, he supports the Wrong Gallery in New York and curated the Berlin Biennale 2006. He also publishes the satirical art magazine Charley  and Permanent Food  Cattelan writes for international publications such as Flash Art . Cattelan's works have been shown internationally at exhibitions such as Skulptur.Projekte in Münster, the Tate Gallery in London, the Museum of Contemporary Art in Los Angeles, and the Museum Ludwig in Cologne. He has participated in the Venice Biennale several times. Cattelan was nominated for the Hugo Boss Prize from the Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation in 2000, and in 2004 he received the Arnold Bode Prize.

Cattelan lives and works in Milan and New York.