Maurizio Cattelan Returns with Major Paris Show 'Not Afraid of Love'

Maurizio Cattelan, who announced his retirement from the art scene in 2011, is making a major comeback with 'Not Afraid of Love,' a new project at the Monnaie de Paris curated by Chiara Parisi. The exhibition runs from October 21, 2016, to January 8, 2017. Contrary to expectations, it is not a retrospective but a site-specific installation within the historic 18th-century mint. Cattelan, known for provocative works like the golden toilet at the Guggenheim, has selected existing pieces that gain new meaning in this context. The show is described as 'post requiem,' closing a cycle of exhibitions at the Monnaie that included Paul McCarthy, Marcel Broodthaers, and Jannis Kounellis. No new works are presented, but a special artist's book will be inserted into the catalog of his 2011 Guggenheim show 'All.' Visitors arriving in underwear receive free admission, a gesture questioning authority. Parisi, the curator, praises Cattelan's ability to engage non-art audiences and his parodic genius, though she notes his indifference to criticism. The exhibition is not accompanied by a traditional catalog but by a 'matryoshka' of paper, extending Cattelan's recurring theme of doubling.