Maurizio Cattelan (Contemporary Artists) [Paperback]

Francesco Bonami (Author), Nancy Spector (Author), Barbara Vanderlinden (Author), Massimiliano Gioni (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: May 1, 2003 | Series: Contemporary Artists

This comprehensive monograph documents the work of Maurizio Cattelan, the best-known Italian artist to have emerged internationally in the 1990s. His work has featured in three editions of the Venice Biennale (1993; 1997; 1999) and in major venues worldwide, including The Museum of Modern Art, New York (1998); and the Tate Gallery, London (1999). Cattelan creates sculptures that mock the art system and even the artist himself, with considerable wit and audacity. Poking fun at art history (with, for example, a giant, Disneyland-type figure of Pablo Picasso greeting visitors at New York's Museum of Modern Art), monumentality (with a tomb-like marble epitaph listing all the football matches lost by the England team, exhibited in a prominent London gallery), his native Italy (in a major exhibition celebrating new Italian art, Cattelan created a rug forming a map of his country - inevitably trampled and soiled beneath museum visitors' feet), and often makes fun of himself and his own inability to be a responsible, "serious" artist. Part jester, part accuser of the contemporary art world, part thief, Cattelan also conveys a lonely desperation behind the humour and sarcasm in his unconventional works.

Editorial Reviews

From the Publisher

This comprehensive monograph documents the work of Maurizio Cattelan, the best-known Italian artist to have emerged internationally in the 1990s. His work has featured in three editions of the Venice Biennale (1993; 1997; 1999) and in major venues worldwide, including The Museum of Modern Art, New York (1998); and the Tate Gallery, London (1999). Cattelan creates sculptures that mock the art system and even the artist himself, with considerable wit and audacity. Poking fun at art history (with, for example, a giant, Disneyland-type figure of Pablo Picasso greeting visitors at New York's Museum of Modern Art), monumentality (with a tomb-like, marble epitaph listing all the football matches lost by the England team, exhibited in a prominent London gallery), his native Italy (in a major exhibition celebrating new Italian art, Cattelan created a rug forming a map of his country -inevitably trampled and soiled beneath museum visitors' feet), and often makes fun of himself and his own inability to be responsible, "serious" artist. Part jester, part accuser of the contemporary art world, part thief, Cattelan also conveys a lonely desperation behind the humour and sarcasm in his unconventional works. --This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.

About the Author

Maurizio Cattelan is Italy's best-known young artist, an artist with a strong international audience. His galleries are: Anthony d'Offay, London, Dering Street, London W1, [phone]; Marian Goodman, 24 W 57th Street, New York, NY 10019, tel. [phone], fax [phone]; and Emmanuel Perrotin, 30 rue Louise Weiss, 75013 Paris, tel. [phone], fax [phone]. Francesco Bonami (Survey) is Artistic Director of the 2003 Venice Biennale. Formerly Manilow Senior Curator at the Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago, his many previous curatorial roles have included Manifesta 3 (Ljubliana, 2000). American Editor of Flash Art from 1990 to 1997, Bonami has followed Cattelan's work for many years, and wrote on the artist in cream, Phaidon Press, 1998. Nancy Spector (Interview) is Curator of Contemporary Art at the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum in New York. Her exhibitions there have included Felix Gonzalez-Torres (1995), Robert Rauschenberg: Performance (1997) and Andreas Slominski (1999). Spector is a regular contributor to Artforum, Parkett and frieze magazines, and is one of the 10 contributing curators to cream 3 (Phaidon, 2003). Barbara Vanderlinden (Focus) is an independent curator who founded and directs the independent exhibition space Roomade in Brusssels. In 1998 she was co-curator (with Maria Lind and Robert Fleck) of Manifesta 2 (Luxembourg), the international exhibition which included, among others, a new work by Maurizio Cattelan. For his Artist's Choice Cattelan has chosen two texts: an extract from Portnoy's Complaint (1969), on the angst and sexual anguish of growing up, by American novelist Philip Roth, winner of the National Book Award and the National Book Critics Circle Award; and some excerpts from... Or Not To Be: A Collection of Suicide Notes (ed. Marc Etkind, 1997) an anthology of real suicide messages from the anonymous and the world famous. Massimiliano Gioni (Update) heads the American US desk of Flash Art International and is a noted independent critic and curator, recently nominated as curator for the Italian Pavilion for the 2003 Venice Biennale. Gioni is also Maurizio Cattelan's closest collaborator, often acting as the artist's spokesman and even standing in for the artist as his alter-ego. Author's Residence: Francesco Bonami: Chicago; Nancy Spector: New York; Barbara Vanderlinden: Brussels

Product Details

• Paperback: 212 pages
• Publisher: Phaidon Press; Min edition (May 1, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0714843067
• ISBN-13: 978-0714843063
• Product Dimensions: 6.3 x 5.5 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 14.1 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #349,698 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars MINI Book...Hard to see images!, December 29, 2005

By 

Mark G. Mcleod "mark" (Liverpool, NY United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Maurizio Cattelan (Contemporary Artists) (Paperback)

Beware that this is a mini book, which makes looking at Cattelan's artwork almost impossible. Cattelan is an incredibly funny, satiric, conceptual sculptor. His work makes fun of the gallery system in an intelligent way but also moves beyond the criticism of art politics. Some of his work has recently earned the presitgious title of "controversial" (the images of himself hanging from a tree). I put Cattelan in the same category as Manzoni, Fontana...great book but I would order the bigger one.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Good Series Good Book, September 23, 2001

By A Customer

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Maurizio Cattelan (Contemporary Artists (Phaidon)) (Paperback)

This is a good series from Phaidon and Cattelan is a good choice for inclusion. There's lots of information here on his early work from the days before he became an 'art star.'

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Cattelan, Quater the Size Double the fun, October 16, 2009

By 

Benjamin J. Divin (Missouri) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Maurizio Cattelan (Contemporary Artists) (Paperback)

This book is a must have for any fan of Maurizio Cattelan. When Phiadon Press asked the artists if they could publish a book on him in a series of books on contemporary artists, he insisted the book be one quarter size of all the others in the series. If you think that is interesting, wait until you see the rest of the images, and read the interviews, WOW. This guy is amazingly intelligent and defined in his methods and concepts.

The book unfortunately is just not enough info on the artist, but there is not one printed book yet that does have all the info, but this is a great book for anyone who is interested in learnig about this fantastic contemporary artist.