The art world was consumed, so to speak, by a single banana duct taped to the wall at Miami’s Art Basel exhibition earlier this month. The perishable art was produced by controversial artist Maurizio Cattelan You may recall his fully functioning 18-karat gold commode, titled “America,” in the news this fall when it was stolen from a restroom in Winston Churchill’s birthplace in England.
When two of Cattelan’s duct-taped banana artworks, from a limited edition of three in his “Comedian” series, sold for a reported $120,000 each, social media exploded with creative photos of bananas taped to walls, doors, windows, people’s torsos and the face of a model. Former San Diegan Brooke Shields duct taped a banana to her forehead and posted the photo on Facebook.
Model and actress Brooke Shields was in Miami where the Miami Art Basel exhibition included the duct-taped banana art of Maurizio Cattalon. Inspired, she later posted this photo of herself on her Instagram page.
Time magazine wrote about the craze, as did The Washington Post, The New York Times and several art publications.
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Now a local artist has capitalized on the craze. Austrian-born painter Adriana Zagorsky, who owns Zago Studio Gallery in Solana Beach, created a five-canvas series, called “Knock It Off,” of duct-taped items — a shoe, a soiled rubber glove, a zucchini, an empty water bottle and a candy cane.
The candy cane artwork, titled “Happy Anniversary Candy Cane” because it debuted 350 years ago, is mounted on an easel outside the gallery entry.
“Everyone is taking pictures of it and laughing as they walk by,” says Ethan Wayne, art director of the gallery at 415 S. Cedros Ave. He estimates that five times as many people enter the gallery just because of it.
“We want to have fun at this gallery, not be intimidating, and this has done the trick,” said Zagorsky, who signs her works with just her last name. She says the series took her about 45 minutes to produce, then she added humorous names like the one on her fake Gucci sneaker that she titled “Another Knock Off.”
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While it started as a joke, the duct tape art exhibition has created a buzz since it went up on Dec. 12, Zagorsky says. “People are taking photos, videos and selfies and posting them on Instagram.”
Taking a cue from Cattelan, Zagorsky priced her canvases at $200,000 to $350,000 each. However, she’s offering a deal to anyone who buys the entire series — all five for $1 million. “We have had several offers in jest thus far,” Wayne notes. Nevertheless, they hope a serious one might come in.
Art clearly begets art. Even Cattalon’s original banana fueled the creativity of New York performance artist David Datuna who, after waiting in line to take a selfie with the banana, peeled it off the exhibition wall and ate it.
Then he posted a video of his escapade, titled “Hungry Artist,” on Instagram with the caption: “I love Maurizio Cattelan artwork and I really love this installation. It’s very delicious.”
Purchasers of two banana artworks have publicly defended their expensive acquisition, explaining, in essence, that the uproar over what is and isn’t art adds to the caché and value of their investment. Likewise, a Perrotin Gallery spokesman assured the Miami Herald that the eaten banana didn’t devalue the artwork because the banana came with instructions for regular replacement and the artist’s certificate of authenticity.
So far, neither Zagorsky’s zucchini nor her candy cane have been eaten. She plans to keep them on exhibit through the holidays. “I see people go by and I hear them laugh,” she says. “It’s just a nice feeling.”
Kathy Soliozy Prout, holding the Gold Star Wives sign, is with U.S. Reps. Scott Peters, left, and Susan Davis, far right, and other Gold Star military spouses at the Veterans Day parade in San Diego.
(Courtesy photo)
Victory for spouses: With the Senate vote late Dec. 17 to repeal a government provision that has withheld money from military widows for years, Coronado Navy widow Kathy Soliozy Prout rejoiced.
She had hoped to be in Washington, D.C., when President Trump signs the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA). But the president recently tweeted that he plans to sign this “historic defense legislation” immediately, not leaving enough time for her to get a White House security clearance.
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For the past 14 years, Prout has been tirelessly rallying support for the repeal of the so-called widow’s tax, which affects up to 67,000 U.S. military surviving spouses, 1,500 living in San Diego County. On April 5, she and other Gold Star family widows met with Trump in the Oval Office to seek his support.
“The inclusion of the widow’s tax repeal in the NDAA was only possible through a persistent, unified voice,” said retired Lt. Gen. Dana Atkins, CEO of the Military Officers Association of America, on Wednesday. “MOAA’s 350,000 members have advocated aggressively in support of repeal, and we have worked in sync with fellow veteran service organizations.”
Prout says dates are being firmed up for a huge reception in Washington, D.C., in January. “We widows and FB (Facebook) members (who fought for the repeal) will fly in and get to meet in person.”
"Banana" - Google News
December 19, 2019 at 08:32AM
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Column: Famed artist's duct-taped banana art has inspired a knock-off exhibit in a Solana Beach gallery - The San Diego Union-Tribune
"Banana" - Google News
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