Maurizio Cattelan Debuts in South Korea with the Largest Survey Since the Guggenheim Retrospective

Maurizio Cattelan lacks any formal training in art, but this didn't stop him from joining the art world after a series of odd jobs he had done previously. His unconventional trajectory has contributed significantly to his unusual artistic persona; known as an intruder and provocateur, Cattelan is an artist who is not afraid to cross boundaries and challenge stereotypes courageously. 

Many of his works may seem like an excessive performance of skill and wit, but perhaps this is exactly what the contemporary world needs, in order to become more self-reflective and critical. 

Bringing a selection of his most famous works together, the Leeum Museum of Art in Seoul presents the artist's first retrospective in South Korea under the title WE. 

The Works on View

The exhibition comprises 38 works covering three decades of the artist's career, from his first appearance in the 1990s up until now. It is the first solo exhibition of the Italian artist in South Korea and the largest survey of his work since his retrospective exhibition at the Guggenheim Museum in New York. 

Featured in the lobby and across the museum's three floors, WE presents sculptures, murals, photography, and installations that exemplify Cattelan's style and sense of humour.

Recognizable for his provocative and defiant take on serious issues, Cattelan created works that puzzled critics as much as the public. Some of them, such as the famous sculpture La Nona Hora from 1999, which depicts Pope John Paul II knocked over by a meteorite, even enraged some believers, further cementing the status of Cattelan as the contemporary art's bad boy. 

Besides the mentioned piece, the show also features his animal taxidermy works such as Ghosts, 2021, and Bidibidobidiboo, 1996, and variations of self-portraits, including Untitled 2001, Charlie 2003, and We 2010. His most stimulating works, such as Him, 2001, representing an effigy of Hitler, and Comedian, 2019, a banana duck-taped to a wall that provoked huge interest and criticism when displayed for the first time at 2019 Art Basel Miami, complete the selection at Leeum Museum of Art. 

Critical Hyperrealism 

Maurizio Cattelan's oeuvre is recognizable for its hyperrealism, making his pieces straightforward and easily readable. However, while the representation is realistic, the layers of meaning go much deeper than the surface of the work shows. 

While Cattelan revolves his work around the topic taken from pop culture and art history, he is also using the strategies of anecdotes of cynicism to strewn his works with a critical layer that shows uncomfortable truths.

However, instead of taking the role of an artistic messiah, the artist instead offers himself to ridicule, criticism, and accusations. The title of the show, borrowed from one of his pieces, questions who we are and what makes this we in the face of various forms of oppression. Besides humour and critique, Cattelan's works also encourage deeper conversations that would hopefully lead to greater solidarity.  

Maurizio Cattelan at Leeum Museum of Art

The exhibition WE will be on view at the Leeum Museum of Art in Seoul until July 16th, 2023. A lecture series, an image writing workshop, and a reading room that welcomes visitors to an archive of publications created by Cattelan accompany the exhibition.  

Featured image: Maurizio Cattelan - All, 2007, Carrara marble, Dimensions variable, Courtesy of Maurizio Cattelan