Maurizio Cattelan

Born: 1960

Hometown: Padova, Italy

Lives and Works: New York, NY

Education: Honorary degree in Sociology, University of Trento, Trento, Italy, 2004

Maurizio Cattelan Bio

About The Artist

Famed jokester and recently retired artist Maurizio Cattelan created works that frequently satirized popular culture, authority figures, and the art world itself. His work La Nona Ora (1999) featured a meteorite striking Pope John Paul II, a heavenly missile colliding with God's presumed chosen representative. Another Fucking Readymade (1996) allowed Cattelan to thumb his nose at art history and the law alike, Cattelan having stolen another artist's work to fill his own exhibition. Controversial and wildly popular, his works lampooned icons and societal conventions, as serious in their implicit critiques as in their humorous irreverence. Cattelan has seen his works exhibited at the Venice Biennale and the Whitney Biennial as well as at numerous institutions, including Centre Georges Pompidou, the Tate Gallery, and the Museum of Modern Art.