Overview

• On July 12, a gallery visitor at Centre-Pompidou Metz removed and consumed the banana component of Cattelan’s “Comedian.”
• Security personnel intervened calmly and reinstalled the work within minutes, treating the fruit as a replaceable part of the display.
• Cattelan’s guidelines specify that the banana and tape are perishable and should be regularly replaced without affecting the artwork’s authenticity.
• The artist noted his disappointment that the visitor did not also eat the duct tape and banana skin that form integral elements of the piece.
• Since its 2019 debut, “Comedian” has been eaten in Miami and Seoul and even after a $6.24 million sale in 2024, highlighting its critique of art-market speculation.