Banana Art
“Comedian” by Maurizio Cattelan, on display in Miami in 2019
Graham Bowley is an investigative reporter for the Culture Desk for The New York Times. He has covered the darkest of darks, and the lightest of lights in arts and culture, from the allegations against Bill Cosby to the opening of National Museum of African American History and Culture.
Bowley's writing style is somewhat analytical. This can be seen from quotes such as:
"In the case of “Comedian,” the subject is also the art world itself — and questions about who decides what constitutes art, and the huge amounts of money that is spent on it."
"The sly work’s simplicity enticed collectors to pay as much as $150,000 for it at a Miami art fair last fall, an act of connoisseurship that delighted them but astonished the many people who had not imagined that a, um, “sculpture” of fruit on a wall could command such a price."
Bowley cites his sources directly in text when talking about other art pieces and what other curators said about the specific pieces. The sources are reliable because they come directly from the curators who are in charge of upkeep on these pieces of art.
I would consider the overall reliability of this article to be very high. I also think the article is appropriately written. It gives the "Comedian" art piece and then also goes into what art is, and how to take care of it, and to some, the "Comedian" is just a banana but to others it is art. I also would call this article reliable not only because of Graham Bowley's impressive credentials, but also because of how many other curators and art pieces he bring into the article too. All the art he brigs in has something to do with food that normally wouldn't be art. He brings up fruits and vegetables on pedestals and even lasagna injected with heroin.
Bowley, Graham. “It's a Banana. It's Art. And Now It's the Guggenheim's Problem.” The New York Times, The New York Times, 18 Sept. 2020, www.nytimes.com/2020/09/18/arts/design/banana-art-guggenheim.html.
Hi Nate, I also wrote about this article last week, and I loved reading about it. It's funny to think that something as simple as a banana, and tape, can have such an impact on art. Something I wonder is what your thoughts are on about the famous banana? do you think it's art? or do you think it was made to mock art? There's a saying, "if everyone is beautiful, then no one is beautiful." so if everything is art, is nothing actually art?
ReplyDeleteHi Nate, I think you did a good job describing the authors writing style, it really helped that you included specific quotes to support that you thought it was analytical. I would like to know more about the authors credentials though. You mention that he has impressive credentials, and about a couple pieces that he wrote in the past, but not much is mentioned about what his actual credentials are beyond that.
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