The Guggenheim Museum in New York makes available for use a toilet made of solid gold. The 18-carat bathroom fixture is an artwork by Maurizio Cattelan, now available for public use in the Manhattan museum.
The Italian artist is known for his controversial installations and contempt for the art world. At his first solo exhibition, Cattelan closed the gallery and left a sign on the door that said “Back Soon.” In 2011, after hanging his remaining works in the atrium of the Guggenheim, the fifty-five-year-old artist announced his retirement.
But the gold toilet, entitled “America,” represents his comeback. Cattelan, like an aging action hero, returns to condemn the world.
“America” is inspired by Marcel Duchamp, who signed a urinal and presented it as an artwork at the Armory Show of 1917. Ninety-nine years later, Cattelan’s toilet seems to advertise the poverty of the artist’s imagination and the Biblical wealth that the museum commands.
Read More: CNN
