Banana Duct Taped to Wall Goes For $120,000 at Art Basel in Miami

Categories Celebrity

Why didn’t we think of this first?!

A banana duct-taped to a wall at Art Basel Miami Beach fetched the whopping amount of $120,000 on Wednesday, with two more of the editions expected to sell for the same price or more.

The fruity creations were made by Italian artist Maurizio Cattelan — who hasn’t contributed to an art fair in 15 years — and presented by the contemporary art gallery Perrotin, which was founded in Paris.

Entitled “Comedian,” the masterpiece consists of a medium sized, ripe banana bought at a local Miami grocery store and a single piece of grey duct tape, according to a statement by the gallery.

The bananas are “a symbol of global trade, a double entendre, as well as a classic device for humor,” gallery owner Emmanuel Perrotin told CNN.

Perrotin added that Cattelan takes mundane objects and turns them into “vehicles of both delight and critique.”

The artist came up with the idea for the stunning display a year ago, according to the gallery’s statement. “Back then, Cattelan was thinking of a sculpture that was shaped like a banana. Every time he traveled, he brought a banana with him and hung it in his hotel room to find inspiration. He made several models: first in resin, then in bronze and in painted bronze (before) finally coming back to the initial idea of a real banana.”

Another one of Cattelan’s mind-blowing artworks was his 18-carat gold working toilet entitled “America” which sold for a mere $6 million.

It was stolen from the Bleinheim Palace in England in September by being ripped off a wall. It has yet to be recovered.

That banana might be super easy to swipe if logic follows. Better double up on that duct tape.

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