MAURIZIO CATTELAN

Padua, Italy, 1960. Lives and works between New York and Milan

A controversial artist if ever there was one and a result of autodidactic training, he is one of the most representative artists within the contemporary art scene. The “enfant terrible” of the art world in recent times, he stands out for the irony, humour and provocative nature of his works, which are a reflection of the he at times respects yet at others transforms in a hallucinogenic version of its true self.
Using different media such as photography, dissected animals and waxworks, Maurizio Cattelan presents us with a coded reality in the form of a tragicomedy before which the public cannot remain indifferent. Despite the ironic and dramatic nature of his works, there is an underlying interest in human behaviour within present day society.

In his career as an artist, Cattelan has redefined the role of the artist in the current art world. The artist alongside an art critic and an exhibition curator has opened a gallery, Wrong Gallery in New York, which he himself defines as the “junk-room” of the art world. He is also to participate in the Berlin Biennial, extending this contemporary artist’s active fields.