South Korean Student Eats Banana from Maurizio Cattelan's Art Exhibit; What's the Reason?

A South Korean art student munched on a banana that was part of an artwork by Maurizio Cattelan.

Cattelan's "WE" art exhibit included a ripe banana glued to a wall, which he titled "Comedian" and presented at the Leeum Museum of Art in Seoul.

Noh Huyn-soo, an art student from Seoul National University, ate the banana artwork and then tacked the peel on the wall. The Leeum Museum of Art eventually replaced the peel with a new banana, according to the BBC.

The student's companion recorded the eating of the Maurizio Cattelan banana artwork, which lasted for around a minute.

According to a spokesperson, the Leeum Museum of Art confirmed that it would not pursue legal action against the student, who claimed to have eaten the banana because he was "hungry" because he skipped breakfast.

The banana artwork is being replaced every several days, according to CNN.

Not The First Time Someone Ate Cattelan's Banana

This is not the first time a visitor had eaten a banana off Maurizio Cattelan's "Comedian," which became famous when it sold for $120,000 at Art Basel Miami Beach in 2019. Artist David Datuna, in a similar occurrence, took the banana artwork down from the wall during his Miami show, per Euronews.

David Datuna remarked on Instagram, "I really love this installation," after a video of him eating the banana went viral. During a subsequent press conference, he explained that the incident had been presented as an artistic performance rather than vandalism of the artwork of Maurizio Cattelan.

The Leeum hosts Maurizio Cattelan's first solo exhibition in South Korea until July 16.