Madness Around Maurizio Cattelan: Banana Memes, Golden Toilets – and Big Money Art Hype

Everyone has seen the taped banana or heard about the golden toilet – but do you actually know the artist behind the chaos? Meet Maurizio Cattelan, the man who turns trolling into Big Money and scandal into art history.

If you think contemporary art is boring, Cattelan is here to ruin that idea forever. His works look like memes, feel like pranks, and still sell for serious cash. The question is: Are you laughing with him – or at him?

The Internet is Obsessed: Maurizio Cattelan on TikTok & Co.

Cattelan is basically made for the algorithm. His pieces are instant screenshot material: a pope crushed by a meteorite, a banana taped to a wall, a real gold toilet. No long explanation needed – you just pull out your phone and hit record.

His vibe: provocative, darkly funny, super photogenic. Museums love him because people queue up just to take that one selfie. The internet loves him because every work feels like a meme you can walk into.

Want to see the art in action? Check out the hype here:

• Viral Art TikToks for Maurizio Cattelan
• Watch docs & works on YouTube

Scroll a bit and you will see it: reactions are split. Some comments scream "masterpiece", others go full "my kid could do that". That constant fight is exactly what keeps Cattelan so viral.

Masterpieces & Scandals: What you need to know

Cattelan built his name on works that are impossible to unsee. If you want to sound like you know what you are talking about, start with these three:

• "Comedian" – the banana on the wall
  A real banana, duct-taped to a white wall, first shown at Art Basel Miami with a wild price tag and instantly turned into a global meme. Someone even walked up, peeled it and ate it as a performance, and the work still lived on as a concept. It raised the ultimate question: are you buying the fruit, the joke, or the idea?
• "America" – the 18-karat gold toilet
  A fully functional toilet cast in solid gold, installed in a museum bathroom and open for visitors to actually use. Part luxury object, part political punchline about wealth and power. It became even more legendary when it was stolen from Blenheim Palace in England, turning the piece into a real-life art-world heist story.
• "La Nona Ora" – the Pope and the meteorite
  A hyper-realistic sculpture of Pope John Paul II, knocked to the floor by a massive black meteorite. Galleries showing it have faced protests and outrage, but also serious critical attention. It is shocking, theatrical and exactly the kind of image that burns into your brain and your feed.

On top of that, Cattelan has done everything from a giant middle finger statue in Milan to a giant realistic sculpture of a child version of Adolf Hitler kneeling in prayer. His works are not just "edgy" – they are designed to trigger strong reactions and long comment threads.

The Price Tag: What is the art worth?

Here is the part collectors really care about: Cattelan is firmly in Blue Chip territory. His works have achieved record prices at major auction houses like Christie's and Sotheby's, hitting the kind of high seven-figure sums that put him in the top league of contemporary art market players.

Even when the materials look "cheap" – like a banana, tape, or a simple prop – the value sits in the idea, the scandal, and the story. That story is what collectors and institutions are buying, and why his pieces keep showing up in museum collections and serious private holdings.

Market watchers treat Cattelan as a long-term name: he has been active for decades, is constantly discussed in the media, and appears again and again in big museum shows and biennials. Translation: not a short-lived hype kid, but an artist whose work has already entered the canon of contemporary art.

Let's place him quickly in art history terms – without the boring lecture. Cattelan comes from Italy, built his career from the late 20th century onward, and made his name by using prank-like gestures to talk about religion, politics, money and death. He is often compared to a stand-up comedian of the art world: every piece is a punchline, but behind it sits a very sharp social critique.

For young collectors, that means two things: you are not just buying an object; you are investing in a cultural reference point that keeps popping up in memes, textbooks and museum shows. And yes, we are talking Top Dollar for major works – this is not entry-level collecting.

See it Live: Exhibitions & Dates

Cattelan is represented by heavyweight galleries like Perrotin, which regularly feature his work in high-profile shows. His pieces circulate through museums and biennials worldwide, often in group shows that attract big crowds and social buzz.

Right now, exact upcoming exhibition dates for new solo shows are No current dates available based on public schedules checked at the time of writing. Large institutions and galleries do continue to show his pieces, but detailed future listings have not been officially confirmed.

If you want to catch his work IRL, your best move is to:

• Watch the artist page at his gallery: Maurizio Cattelan at Perrotin
• Check the official artist or studio info here: Official Maurizio Cattelan info

These sources update their exhibition lists, museum loans and fair appearances. If a new Must-See show drops, it will usually hit those pages – and then your feed – very fast.

Pro tip: when a Cattelan work appears in a major museum near you, don't wait. The lines for pieces like the gold toilet or the big-scale installations can get intense, and the selfie spots are crowded from open to close.

The Verdict: Hype or Legit?

So where do we land? Is Maurizio Cattelan just trolling for clicks – or is this serious art?

The answer is: both. He masters the language of the internet – shock, simplicity, punchy visuals – long before TikTok existed. That is exactly why his pieces became Viral Hits in the age of social media: they are built on clear, powerful images that anyone can understand in seconds.

At the same time, the art world takes him very seriously: his work sits in major collections, sells for high values, and is studied as a key example of late 20th and early 21st century conceptual and political art. He has turned the entire art system – galleries, collectors, museums, even outrage itself – into his raw material.

If you are into Instagrammable art that also makes you think about power, money and belief, Cattelan is your guy. If you love debates in the comments, his work will keep your group chat busy for days.

For young art fans and collectors, this is one name you should definitely know. Whether you see genius, trash, or something in between, one thing is clear: Maurizio Cattelan is not going away. And the next time a banana on a wall breaks the internet, you will know exactly who is laughing behind it.