Gagosian is pleased to announce Maurizio Cattelan’s first solo gallery exhibition in more than two decades, opening at 522 West 21st Street on April 30, 2024. Similar to America—a functional solid gold toilet that he installed at the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York, in 2016—Cattelan’s new project will once again confront the contradictions of American society and culture, and also touch on a sensitive issue confronting the world at large.
Born in Padua in 1960, Cattelan is one of the most provocative figures in the art world. Often dismissed as a prankster, he is a deeply political artist whose work investigates issues that affect us all. In Sunday, his debut solo exhibition at Gagosian, Cattelan will affirm his ability to address art history and current affairs simultaneously, presenting them as two parallel but paradoxically convergent tracks. Cattelan is, in the words of the exhibition’s curator Francesco Bonami, “the most famous Italian artist since Caravaggio.” While the claim may seem overblown, the popularity of the artist’s recent exhibitions at UCCA Center for Contemporary Art, Beijing, and the Leeum Museum of Art, Seoul, confirm his ability to engage both art-world audiences and a global public.
MAURIZIO CATTELAN, Sunday, April 30th–June 29th, 2024, Gagosian
Curated by Francesco Bonami
Opening reception: Tuesday, April 30, 6–8pm
Cattelan’s work will also be on view as part of the Vatican’s exhibition for the Holy See Pavilion at the 60th Biennale di Venezia (April 20th–November 24th).
About the artist
Maurizio Cattelan was born in Padua, Italy, in 1960, and lives and works in Milan and New York. Collections include the Museum of Modern Art, New York; Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York; Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles; Castello di Rivoli Museo d’Arte Contemporanea, Turin, Italy; and Migros Museum für Gegenwartskunst, Zurich. Exhibitions include Felix, Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago (2002–03); Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles (2003); Museum Ludwig, Cologne (2003); Now, Musee d’Art moderne de la ville de Paris/ARC at the Chapelle des Petits Augustins, Ecole nationale superieure des Beaux-Arts, Paris (2004); Museum für Moderne Kunst, Frankfurt am Main, Germany (2007); New Works, Tate Modern, London (2007); Kaputt, Fondation Beyeler, Riehen/Basel (2013); Victory Is Not an Option, Blenheim Palace, Woodstock, England (2019); and We, Leeum Museum of Art, Seoul (2023). In 2011, Cattelan’s work was the subject of All, a retrospective at the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York. The Last Judgment, his first solo exhibition in China, was on view at UCCA Center for Contemporary Art, Beijing, from 2021 to 2022. His work has also been featured in the Biennale di Venezia (1993, 1997, 1999, 2002, 2003, 2011, and 2024); Manifesta 2, Luxembourg (1998); Istanbul Biennial (1998); and Whitney Biennial, New York (2004). In 2002, Cattelan cofounded the Wrong Gallery, New York, and in 2010, he cofounded TOILETPAPER, a biannual visual magazine.
