“Tarzan & Jane” by Maurizio Cattelan is among the most emblematic photographic works from the early phase of the artist’s career. Executed as a colour photographic print mounted on aluminium, the work depicts two figures dressed as apes, seated in a composed manner within a domestic interior. However, it is precisely this contrast that forms the conceptual core of the work.
On the one hand, the reference to the mythical characters of Tarzan and Jane evokes the imagery of adventure and untamed nature. On the other, the scene unfolds within an orderly and quiet bourgeois interior. As a result, Cattelan constructs an ironic yet critical reflection on identity, disguise, and the individual’s adaptation to social conventions.
Furthermore, the choice of photography as the medium is far from incidental. Rather, it allows the artist to capture an ambiguous situation suspended between fiction and reality, heightening the sense of estrangement. The aluminium support further reinforces the idea of the work as a definitive object and of the image as an autonomous artwork.
Historically, the work belongs to a crucial moment in the artist’s development. During the early 1990s, the artist established a visual language based on appropriation, humour, and the questioning of cultural authority. Consequently, “Tarzan & Jane” by Maurizio Cattelan anticipates many of the themes that would later establish him as one of the leading figures of international contemporary art.
Description: Colour photographic print mounted on aluminium, H cm 76×49.5.
Notes: Work accompanied by a certificate of authenticity issued by Galleria Raucci/Santamaria, bearing the artist’s signature.
Provenance: Private Collection; Galleria Raucci/Santamaria.
Hammer Price: € 8.750,00
Auction 65 – December 6th 2023 – Contemporary Art – Design
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