Georgia on my mind

Places can be promoted in myriad ways. You might establish a casino or a health spa-or, more effectively, dream up an amusement park that would destroy the heritage of the land but bring immediate revenues. As a reflection upon the purposes of an art exhibition within a precise context, Cattelan's idea is to promote the exhibition site itself, creating two functional characters very much related to the feeling of the place via history and contemporary mythology. Transforming Georgia O'Keeffe into a giant walking puppet, the artist is exploiting both the collective imagination of the art world and the pride of a community. He proves that using art as a tool for promoting and transforming a cultural environment can be as effective as exploiting ephemeral and destructive icons of popular culture. While making fun of his own context, Cattelan affirms the importance and positive impact of contemporary iconology.
Text written by Curator Francesco Bonami for the exhibition catalog.