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Maurizio Cattelan — “ What I’m really interested in is the notion of complexity, the idea that there are no fixed roles and definitions. Everyone is forced to change roles every single moment of his life…No one should be able to tell if it’s an artwork or a critical and curatorial statement.” - Maurizio Cattelan
Maurizio Cattelan

“ What I’m really interested in is the notion of complexity, the idea that there are no fixed roles and definitions. Everyone is forced to change roles every single moment of his life…No one should be able to tell if it’s an artwork or a critical and curatorial statement.” - Maurizio Cattelan

This large-scale work consists of thirty individual sheets of paper bearing a handwritten statement by Cattelan himself, rendered in ink and pen. By fragmenting his own words across multiple parts, Cattelan blurs the boundary between artwork and artist's statement, forcing the viewer to question whether they are encountering an object, a declaration, or a curatorial gesture. The piece embodies its own thesis, collapsing fixed definitions of authorship, medium, and meaning into a single, self-referential act.

Medium
ink and pen on paper (in 30 parts)

🔨 Auction Lot

Contemporary Art Day Sale

October 17, 2013

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About this work

Maurizio Cattelan, “ What I’m really interested in is the notion of complexity, the idea that there are no fixed roles and definitions. Everyone is forced to change roles every single moment of his life…No one should be able to tell if it’s an artwork or a critical and curatorial statement.” - Maurizio Cattelan

This large-scale work consists of thirty individual sheets of paper bearing a handwritten statement by Cattelan himself, rendered in ink and pen. By fragmenting his own words across multiple parts, Cattelan blurs the boundary between artwork and artist's statement, forcing the viewer to question whether they are encountering an object, a declaration, or a curatorial gesture. The piece embodies its own thesis, collapsing fixed definitions of authorship, medium, and meaning into a single, self-referential act.

Medium
ink and pen on paper (in 30 parts)
Seen at
Phillips, New York, London, Hong Kong

Related themes

Postmodern Art, Institutional Critique, Male Artist, Multiples And Series, Conceptual Art, Italian Artist, Fragmentary Work, Introspective Mood, Contemporary Art, Monochromatic, Established Artist, Provocateur, Text-Based Art, Ink on Paper, Multi-Part Work, Black and White

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