Installation by artist Maurizio Cattelan at the New Museum

The first time I saw the work of Italian artist Maurizio Cattelan, it was in the form of a taxidermied horse that was mounted several feet above my head on the wall of the New Museum. Cattelan is notorious for his controversial sculptures and often sprinkles them with strong doses of religious sarcasm and political irony. If the art world handed out superlatives, he would surely be a contender for the title of class clown. Par Peur de l’Amour depicts a sculpture of an elephant dressed as a Klansman, and Him is a miniature sculpture of Hitler shown on his knees in prayer. La Nona Ora (“The Ninth Hour”) depicts Pope John Paul II being hit by a meteorite.

At the “Younger Than Jesus” opening, I briefly met a curator named Massimiliano Gioni. He was well dressed, well groomed, and very polite. When he walked away, I asked a mutual friend who he was. “Well … he’s often Maurizio Cattelan” was the reply. As it turns out, Cattelan is fairly well known for sending Gioni in his place. As Cattelan once explained, “We haven’t split, just multiplied. For me there’s no secret meaning or deceit behind this gesture; it’s just a way to solve a problem. I don’t know how to talk in public, so someone else can go and do it better. And when Massimiliano answers, he also copies, recycles, and invents. The fact is that I am terribly scared of boredom. To hear someone else describe your work is always a surprise. And I think people need more doubts and fewer certainties.”

(L) Massimiliano Gioni and (R) Maurizio Cattelan

This month, Cattelan has teamed up with photographer Pierpaolo Ferrari to create an editorial for W’s Art Issue. The inspiring spread, which includes many powerful images — models discarded in a pile on a marble floor, a slab of meat cut into the shape of the United States, a peace sign engulfed in flames, etc. — also features model Linda Evangelista. When asked about working with Cattelan, she replied, “It was a hell of a lot of fun. I have to say, he wasn’t what I was expecting. He’s just so, I don’t know, like a boy — so fun and enthusiastic and jolly. … I never got a clear answer about what he wanted, and it’s sort of like his art. It’s up for you to interpret.”

Images from Cattelan’s collaboration with Pierpaolo Ferrari for W’s Art Issue

W’s creative director, Dennis Freedman, also speaks very highly of the final product and notes that “there are certain reflections on the current economic crisis, there are issues of salvation, redemption, sexuality, and current news. These are such loaded images. … In the end I think it presents a very powerful statement from an artist about the world we live in.”

SOURCES: “Killing Me Softly: A conversation with Maurizio Cattelan,” “Linda Evangelista’s Secret Poultry Past,” Maurizio Cattelan

PHOTO CREDIT: pepecasals.files.wordpress.com, wmagazine.com, frassoni.com, globartmag.com