IN PICTURES: Maurizio Cattelan at the Guggenheim

Today inaugurates Maurizio Cattelan’s retrospective “All” at the Guggenheim. I was invited to the opening party, where photography of the exhibit was permitted as an exception to the rule. The structure of the exhibit is quite unconventional, which is fitting for such an unconventional artist. Over 130 works created by Cattelan since 1989 are featured hanging haphazardly from the great domed ceiling of the museum. Nancy Spector, Deputy Director and Chief Curator, writes, “The exhibition is an exercise in disrespect: the artist has hung up his work like laundry to dry.” One of the riggers who I met this evening told me that it took about five months to install the whole thing, and it was quite a feat of engineering, as each work had to be balanced with all the others. Each sculpture, seemingly so out of context, invites the viewer to imagine how it was originally conceived and displayed.

Untitled 1998, from the Castello di Rivoli Collection in Turin

Clockwise from far left, Untitled 2007, originally shown at KÃ ¶lner Synagoge, Stommeln; Untitled 2007 from the Menil Collection in Houston; Untitled (Stephanie) 2003; Untitled 2004, originally shown at La Fondazione Nicola Trussardi, Piazza XXIV Maggio, Milan, Italy.

“Him” 2001, originally shown at FÃ ¤rgfabriken, Stockholm, Sweden

“Now” 2004, originally shown at the Musée d’Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris

Clockwise from top right, Untitled 2001, originally shown at Museum Boymans Van Beuningen, Rotterdam, Netherlands; “Ave Maria” 2009 originally shown in Museum fà ¼r Moderne Kunst, Frankfurt, Germany; Untitled 2009, originally shown at the Tate Modern in London; “L.O.V.E.” 2010, originally shown at Piazza Affari, Milan

Maurizio Cattelan: All
The Guggenheim Museum
1071 Fifth Avenue
(at 89th Street)
New York, NY
November 4, 2011 – January 22, 2012