Kendall Jenner Models in Edgy Editorial by Maurizio Cattelan, the Viral Duct Tape Banana Artist
Kendall Jenner is imitating art.
The 24-year-old supermodel has a new editorial out that really puts her high-fashion modeling skills to the test. In the latest issue of GARAGE magazine, available worldwide on March 9, Jenner embodies provocative pieces by Italian conceptual artist Maurizio Cattelan, who many may know as the man responsible for the viral duct-tapped banana at last year’s Art Basel Miami Beach.
In the spread, photographed by Campbell Addy, Jenner dangles from a ceiling wearing a tulle skirt, appears to emerge from a white wall in a pink tweed jacket, poses alongside pigeons in a feather ball gown, sports extra-long hair extensions and much more — all of which are inspired by Cattelan’s avant-garde pieces.
According to GARAGE, the theme of the shoot is “unhinged.”
For the cover image, Jenner channels one of Cattelan’s famous statues featuring the bust of ’90s supermodel Stephanie Seymour, commissioned by Seymour’s then-husband, Interview magazine owner and socialite Peter Brant, in 2003.
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Just like the mounted statue, only the top half of Jenner’s body is visible as she poses nude starring directly ahead. The Keeping Up with the Kardashians star wears a very minimal makeup look and her long brown hair is styled wavy and parted down the middle.
In another photo, Jenner pays homage to Cattelan’s most famous pieces, in which he duct-taped a gallerist to a white wall. For the recreation, the supermodel rocks yellow tights, a cheetah-print pea coat with shoulder pads and a floor-length ponytail.
A GARAGE press release states: “Cattelan revisits some of his most iconic works in an editorial starring Jenner, a model even more famous than the artist’s $120,000 duct-taped banana.”
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Cattelan’s banana artwork, which featured a real banana fastened to a white wall using a single strip of duct-tape, was presented at Art Basel Miami Beach in December 2019.
The piece, which sold for $120,000, became a viral sensation, in part, thanks to performance artist David Datun took the banana straight off the wall and ate it.
Cattelan — who is known for creating satirical sculptures that make statements about pop culture — titled the work “Comedian,” and the piece marks his first in an art fair in 15 years, the gallery told CNN.
“In retrospect, the banana episode seems like a way to think about everything from fake news to viral fame to institutional distrust to wealth inequality,” GARAGE Editor-in-Chief Mark Guiducci said in a press release. “In the way that Jeff Koons was the artist of the glittery neon aughts, Maurizio Cattelan is the artist of our dystopian era. Like it or not.”
