The guy who ate that $120K banana is a Long Island City artist
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Long Island City artist David Datuna, who created the piece “Moving Flag,” ate a $120,000 artwork off the wall in Miami on Saturday. Photo courtesy of Datuna.
By Victoria Merlino
A Long Island City-based artist shocked the art world over the weekend when he ate a $120,000 piece of art off the wall at the posh Art Basel Miami. That piece of art? A ripe banana duct-taped to a wall.
David Datuna, who opened a Long Island City art space in June, plucked the banana from the wall and took a bite, dubbing the action a performance piece titled “Hungry Artist.”
Artist Maurizio Cattelan created the banana-and-duct-tape artwork, titled “Comedian,” which has drawn huge crowds over the course of the annual art showcase, while generating controversy over its high price and value as art. The gallery that the banana was displayed in assured potential buyers that the art piece is the concept, not the physical banana, and that owners can replace the banana as necessary.
“I was a little bit hungry at the time,” Datuna told Dazed. “I had eaten nothing else that day, and I didn’t eat anything after either. I didn’t eat this day because I wanted to keep just my art banana inside my stomach. So now my body is 10% Maurizio Cattelan.”
Datuna’s pieces grapple with the intersection of art and social consciousness. His works have been featured in the Smithsonian, Lincoln Center and spaces in New York, including Washington Square Park.
Art handlers routinely swapped out new bananas when the old ones became overripe during the course of the gallery exhibition. After Datuna ate the banana, which is actually suspended on a nail, the section of the gallery was closed to viewers due to massive crowds and vandals at the site.
