Cattelan's Banana as Defensive Weapon: Marco Bazzini's Opinion

In an opinion piece on Artribune, critic Marco Bazzini argues that Maurizio Cattelan's "Comedian"—a banana taped to a wall at Art Basel Miami—should be seen not as a threat to art but as a defensive gesture. Bazzini suggests the banana, sold to a collector, activates the imaginative capacity essential to art. He criticizes social media replicas as insincere and notes that the banana being eaten (whether staged or not) reminds us of its nutritional value. The piece references Francesco Bonami's description of the fair as "an inferno with different circles of openings, parties, and dinners that test individual dignity." Bazzini, an art historian and critic, lives in the countryside and has taught at academies and universities.