Maurizio Cattelan Quotes

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Maurizio Cattelan

Profession : Artist

Birth : September 21, 1960

It's not my job to tell people what a work means.

Maurizio Cattelan

Contemporary art will never achieve the audience of football, pop music, or television, so I think we should stop comparing its possible area of influence to that of big mass-media events.

Maurizio Cattelan

Every work of art is a great promise of escape and, therefore, like an open invitation.

Maurizio Cattelan

Laughter is a Trojan horse to enter into direct contact with the unconscious, strike the imagination, and trigger visceral reactions.

Maurizio Cattelan

I think that laughter and death are closely related: comedy is the quintessential human reaction to the fear of death. It's probably linked with the fact that we are the only animals who know we must die.

Maurizio Cattelan

Provocations are like a Molotov cocktail. They only work one time out of ten, but when it works, it can also be dangerous for the arm that is throwing it. It's the price that has to be paid.

Maurizio Cattelan

Sometimes I see myself as a locked box - very detached from myself and others. But I feel lucky, because I am the owner of my time, and you cannot buy time.

Maurizio Cattelan

Stuffed animals are sad and scary; they have humorous and tragic qualities.

Maurizio Cattelan

Art should be able to be innovative without compromising itself. That's why I believe artists should have bigger preoccupations than checking the price tags on their work or becoming curators' darlings.

Maurizio Cattelan

I would describe myself as a tallish, shy, middle-aged man who equally loves his work and his freedom. And a good liar!

Maurizio Cattelan

Damien Hirst knows how to drive super-fast cars... I love my bicycle.

Maurizio Cattelan

I am not an artist.

Maurizio Cattelan

When you place art in the shops, it's a way to make it more accessible.

Maurizio Cattelan

I produce so little that the works have to be editioned. Otherwise, I don't survive. Also, editioning is relevant for communication. If you make three new works, it means that nine objects are available. Three people talking about your work is fine, but nine makes a difference.

Maurizio Cattelan

I never talk about my work as a joke.

Maurizio Cattelan

I'm terrorized by a fear of failure. Failure is always there.

Maurizio Cattelan

What's the point of our life? Everything seems absurd until we die, and then it makes sense.

Maurizio Cattelan

It's even more of a torture not to work than to work.

Maurizio Cattelan

The best art is on the street.

Maurizio Cattelan

Truth is so hard to tell, it sometimes needs fiction to make it plausible.

Maurizio Cattelan