The taste of others

Three’s company in the case of Maurizio Cattelan’s most recent publication for Three Star Books. It offers an indepth insight into Cattelan’s work. “Cattelan” (3) is arguably the best volume so far in offering a wide audience access to the master’s work.

Written in an engaging style by long-term Cattelan collaborator, and New Museum curator, Massimiliano Gioni, the volume recounts the many editions, and ephemeral projects spawned by the New York-based Italian artist. Gioni’s text goes much further than merely listing the works in catalogue raisonne form. In a tongue-in-cheek and magisterial style, perhaps not even penned by the author, and often writing about himself in the third person, Gioni demonstrates the delicate crossovers between friendship and work, the essential ingredients in the creation of an artist’s opus. Though the text (once again hand-painted calligraphy subsequently typeset) and images–also painted in miniature form–takes on an authoritative tone, the knowledge that Cattelan has been the generator of this volume, in form and content, reveal his his fluid entry into editorial, publishing, and other conventions usually not deemed “artistic.”
Illustrations are supplied masterfully by Chinese painter, Fu Site. The volume “Cattelan” (3) completes an ambitious series begun in 2007 by Three Star Books, though all await with great curiosity, whether the artist will continue to publish after his impending retirement.