A visitor to a French museum bit into a fresh banana worth millions of dollars taped to a wall last week, exhibitors said on Friday, in the latest such consumption of the conceptual artwork.
Italian artist Maurizio Cattelan, whose provocative creation entitled “Comedian” was bought for $6.2 million in New York last year, said he was disappointed the person did not also eat the skin and the tape.
After the hungry visitor struck last week, “security staff rapidly and calmly intervened,” the Pompidou-Metz museum in eastern France said.
The work was “reinstalled within minutes,” it added.
“As the fruit is perishable, it is regularly replaced according to instructions from the artist.”
Cattelan noted the banana-eater had “confused the fruit for the work of art.”
“Instead of eating the banana with its skin and duct tape, the visitor just consumed the fruit,” he said.
Cattelan’s edible creation has sparked controversy ever since it made its debut at the 2019 Art Basel show in Miami Beach.
He has explained the banana work as a commentary on the art market, which he has criticised in the past for being speculative and failing to help artists.
The New York Post said the asking price of $120,000 for “Comedian” in 2019 was evidence that the market was “bananas” and the art world had “gone mad.”
It has been eaten before. Performance artist David Datuna ate “Comedian” in 2019, saying he felt “hungry” while inspecting it at the Miami show.
Chinese-born crypto founder Justin Sun last year forked out $6.2 million for the work, then ate it in front of cameras.
