TOILETPAPER
b. 2010Maurizio Cattelan is a contemporary Conceptual artist who began his career as a furniture-maker in Forlì, Italy. The “courtjester of the art world” was born in Padua, Italy, on September 21,1960. With no formal art training, he “considers himself an ‘art worker’rather than an artist.” Known for his macabre humour and interrogationof social mores, he derives inspiration fromthe Dadaist and Surrealist movements. His absurdist sculptures andinstallations often depict celebrities, art historical figures, ortaxidermied animals set in surreal scenes. His oeuvre engagescontroversial subjects such as suicide, anxiety, religiosity, and thedecadence of American culture.
He has participated in several Venice Biennales, the 2004 Whitney Biennial, and exhibited in numerous solo exhibitions, including atthe Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York; the Museum of Modern Art,New York; the Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles; and the CentreGeorges Pompidou, Paris.
Cattelan was recently thrust into the political spotlight when President Donald Trump requested a Vincent vanGogh landscape from The Guggenheim Museum and their chief curator, NancySpector countered instead with his 18-karat solid gold toiletinstallation entitled_America._
Pierpaolo Ferrari is an Italian photographer, born and raised in Milan, Italy. Working for agencies like BBDO and Saatchi& Saatchi, he has made a name for himself shooting for internationalclients like Nike, Sony, Heineken, MTV, Mercedes Benz, Audi, and BMW.
His art is instantly recognized by its colourful surrealism, which he accredits to the style to his early mentors. Requiring almost completecreative freedom when working for a client, he notes, “If you call me,and you have a picture in mind and you want me to do that picture—youneed to call someone else. Someone who is good at interpreting yourideas. We want to know the feeling that you’re going for, but after thatwe go our own way.” His work has been featured in advertisements forKenzo and Alitalia, and in publications including The New YorkTimes, Bloomberg Pursuits and Wallpaper*.
Courtesy Patricia Low Contemporary
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