Maurizio Cattelan
dal 7/6/2013 al 5/10/2013
Segnalato da
7/6/2013
Maurizio Cattelan
Fondation Beyeler, Basel
His multi-faceted oeuvre reflects society's paradoxes and alienation, as well as individuals' struggle to find their place in it. Critical and humorous but always profound, Cattelan concerns himself with a variety of themes. In the winter of 2011-12 Cattelan announced his retirement from the art world. This is only one reason why his project at the Fondation is being expectantly awaited.
Maurizio Cattelan is one of the most-discussed artists of our day. Back in the 1990s he
began to produce sculptures that surprised and astonished the public and the art world. His
multi-faceted oeuvre reflects society's paradoxes and alienation, as well as individuals'
struggle to find their place in it. Critical and humorous but always profound, Cattelan
concerns himself with a variety of themes, including politics, religion, power, identity, life and
death.
Cattelan's works can be simultaneously seductive and provocative, cheerful and depressing,
poetic and shocking. Only rarely does he reveal his intentions, preferring to play the perfectly
staged role of a witty provocateur. In the winter of 2011-12 the Solomon R. Guggenheim
Museum in New York honored him with a retrospective presentation of nearly all of the works
he ever executed. At the time of the exhibition Cattelan announced his retirement from the art
world. This is only one reason why his project at the Fondation Beyeler, on view from 8 June
to 6 October 2013, is being expectantly awaited.
Maurizio Cattelan was born in Padua, Italy, in 1960. After diverse part-time jobs, he found
recognition as an industrial designer and decided on a career in art after having seen a work
by Michelangelo Pistoletto, an important representative of Arte Povera. Without being
straightforwardly autobiographical, Cattelan's works convey their content by means of
personal emotional and psychological experiences. He himself serves as an exemplary
figure with whose weaknesses and conflicts the viewer can identify.
Cattelan's most recent solo exhibitions in the German-speaking area were held in 2007, at
the MMK Museum für Moderne Kunst and the Portikus, Frankfurt on the Main, then in 2008,
at the Kunsthaus Bregenz. The last Cattelan exhibitions in Switzerland were in 1999, at the
Kunsthalle Basel, and in 2000, at the Migros Museum für Gegenwartskunst, Zurich.
Friday, June 14, 6 – 7 p.m.
Public talk with Francesco Bonami and Massimiliano Gioni
Francesco Bonami is a curator, art critic and writer and artistic director of the Fondazione Sandretto Re Rebaudengo in Italy.
Massimiliano Gioni is artistic director of the Nicola Trussardi Foundation, Italy, and associate director of the New Museum, New York. This year he also serves as the director of the 55th Venice Biennale.
Image: Untitled, 2001, wax, pigment, human hair, fabric and polyester resin, 150 cm x 60 cm x 40 cm, Photo: Zeno Zotti, Courtesy, Maurizio Cattelan's Archive
Further information:
Elena DelCarlo, M.A. Head of PR / Media Relations Tel. + 41 (0)61 645 97 21, presse@fondationbeyeler.ch
Fondation Beyeler, Beyeler Museum AG
Baselstrasse 77, CH-4125 Riehen, Switzerland
Open every day, 10:00 a.m. – 6:00 p.m., Wednesdays, 10:00 a.m. – 8:00 p.m.
The museum is open on Sundays and on all public holidays.
Admission:
Adults CHF 25
Groups of at least 20 people and disabled visitors with ID CHF 20
Students, under 30 CHF 12
Family Pass (2 Adults and at least 1 child under 19) CHF 50
Children, aged between 11 to 19 CHF 6
Children under age 11, Art Club Members free admission