It has happened again. Maurizio Cattelan’s famous artwork Comedian, a ripe banana duct-taped to a wall, has been eaten by a museum visitor again. According to CNN, the incident took place earlier this month at the Centre Pompidou-Metz in eastern France, during the exhibition Dimanche Sans Fin. A visitor peeled the banana off the wall and ate it before museum staff intervened. “The security team acted swiftly and calmly, in line with our internal guidelines.”
A Banana Repeat Performance
This is not the first time someone has eaten a banana. Back in 2019, at Art Basel Miami Beach, artist David Datuna made headlines when he ate the banana in front of visitors. He called it a performance titled “Hungry Artist.” The banana was replaced with another one bought at $120,000.
This became a trend that went on. In 2023, an art student at Seoul’s Leeum Museum ate the piece. However, he was saying he skipped breakfast and the banana looked fresh, as reported by CNN.
Now, in 2025, the banana has been eaten again. But this time, it took part in an edition of Comedian that they auctioned off in late 2024 for $6.2 million to Chinese crypto entrepreneur Justin Sun. After buying it, he also peeled and ate the banana, telling Barron’s, “It tasted better than a regular one.”
Even with the attention, Maurizio Cattelan doesn’t seem bothered. According to CNN, the artist joked that the latest banana-eater misunderstood the concept by not also consuming the duct tape and the wall. The artwork’s instructions allow people to replace the banana whenever needed. What’s valuable is not the fruit itself, but the certificate of authenticity and the performance the fruit has.
The Centre Pompidou-Metz confirmed this, telling CNN that Comedian is “one of the most consumed works of art in the last 30 years,” and that the banana was replace it after they eat.
