A museum-goer ate Maurizio Cattelan's "The Comedian" (2019)—a banana duct-taped to a wall—on display at the Pompidou-Metz in France. The museum quickly replaced the fruit, noting it is regularly changed per the artist's instructions. Cattelan joked the eater should have consumed the tape and skin as well.
This incident underscores the enduring cultural and market fascination with Cattelan's provocative work, which has been eaten multiple times since its 2019 debut at Art Basel Miami. The banana's $6.2 million sale at Sotheby's in 2024 and its viral history highlight how conceptual art challenges definitions of value, authenticity, and spectacle in the contemporary art world.