Is new Melbourne gaffa-taped fruit art display bananas? See the state’s other divisive art moments

A common fruit duct-taped to a wall will be the star of a new NGV exhibition — but the banana art’s mysterious meaning may divide the public and Melbourne art scene.

NGV Senior Curator of Contemporary Art, Design and Architecture Ewan McEoin. Picture: Tim Carrafa

A banana gaffa-taped to a wall will be the star of a new exhibition at the National Gallery of Victoria.

The artwork has been shown around the world _ but is not permanent. The fruit is changed every few days with store-bought produce, and new tape securing it to the gallery’s wall.

“If something as modest as a banana can be presented at the NGV, it makes us realise that anything can be presented as art,” said Ewan McEoin, a senior curator at the NGV.

The Gallery is required to buy its own bananas, and then use duct tape to adhere it to the wall with specific instructions on the angles for the fruit and tape and height of display.

“The instructions are quite detailed in terms of the way the work is taped to the wall, the angle it’s taped, and the type of surface it can be displayed on,” Mr McEoin said. “There’s a whole set of parameters … so every time it’s presented it has the same symbolic quality.”

The conceptual work, titled Comedian, by Italian artist Maurizio Cattelan, debuted four years ago and has amazingly sold three times at Art Basel Miami for between $A188,000 to $A235,000 each time.

A banana gaffa-taped to the wall will be the star of a new NGV exhibition. Picture: Tim Carrafa

The banana will be changed every few days, at the cost of the NGV. Picture: Tim Carrafa

It will now be the centrepiece of the NGV’s free Triennial 2023 exhibition, with

the meaning and merits of the display ultimately left up to the public to decide on.

“It’s intended for the audience to bring their own interpretation to what that work might mean,” Mr McEoin said.

“Taking something as humble as a banana, an ubiquitous global item, and elevating that into an expensive work of contemporary art, raises the question of, ‘What do we value, and who determines what is valued as art?’”

Cattelan said in a statement: “Comedian is exactly like an apple for (artist Paul) Cezanne. Cezanne does it with brushstrokes, I do it with gaffa tape.”

Beyond that, Catellan has not explained the meaning behind his work.

Mr McEoin said Catellan’s instructions did not specify unique or unusual fruit for the display.

“We’re looking at the generic banana,” Mr McEoin said of the NGV’s fruit shopping list. “And standard silver duct tape.”

Comedian has had a controversial history and in Miami the artwork was peeled off and eaten by rogue performance artist David Datuna. Later on Instagram he posted: “I love Maurizio Cattelan artwork and I really love this installation. It’s very delicious.”

But the NGV hopes the work doesn’t tempt hungry art lovers.

“We’re anticipating it will become a destination work,” Mr McEoin said. “We also hope no-one takes it off the wall and eats it. The intention of the work is for it not to be eaten, but some people will always want to push the boundaries.”

NGV Triennial 2023 is a free exhibition that will feature more than 75 projects. It opens on December 3 and runs until April 7.

Make your own modern art and send us a picture. Email: [e-mail].

ngv.vic.gov.au/exhibition/triennial