maurizio cattelan's major exhibit at the monnaie de paris

maurizio cattelan returns to the art world after a five year hiatus by staging a major exhibition — his largest in europe to date — at monnaie de paris. on view from now through january 8, 2017, ‘not afraid of love’, curated by chiara parisi, puts a selection of cattelan’s most famed work in dialogue with each other, forming a new perspective on the artist’s manifold oeuvre.

‘this exhibition is truly the first one, after the guggenheim exhibition, that brings together more than three works by me at the same time,’ cattelan says about ‘not afraid of love’. ‘it’s a special edition of the things I did before retiring. let’s say that it’s a post requiem exhibition like a poe story, I seem to be dead but I can still see and listen to everything around me.’

untitled, 2007 | stuffed horse
all images by zeno zotti

the exhibition at monnaie de paris sees the installation of cattelan’s most representative works around the neoclassical edifice’s 18th century salons. the pieces are staged as an itinerary through which a personal view of his artistic career is provided. the selected pieces are regarded by cattelan himself as some of the most important and emblematic of his opus. works on view include ‘all’, a series of nine sculptures made from marble made to look like bodies on the floor; an untitled sculpture of cattelan peeking out from a hole in the floor; and ‘others’, a flock of taxidermy pigeons that overlook visitors from different vantage points throughout the space.

untitled, 2001 | polyester resin, wax, pigments, natural hair

‘my pieces are less funny than they seem,’ cattelan explains. ‘I have been labeled as funny since my early days, but I am much more serious than people think, and am less ironic than my reputation would have you believe. what might have looked like a joke in the past seems more serious today.’

la nona ora, 1999 | polyester resin, silicone gum, pigment, natural hair, cloth, clothing, accessories, stone, carpet