Montanaro - BANANA UNCHAINED #9

This work by Montanaro is a vibrant example of contemporary material Pop Art, acting as a sophisticated game of quotations and meta-narration. The artist does not simply represent an object, but stages a real "short circuit" between twentieth-century historic icons and provocations of the contemporary art market.

The work breaks the boundaries of classic two-dimensionality. The central element — the anthropomorphized banana with muscular arms — emerges forcefully from the background, creating a strong sculptural dynamism. The choice of the deep electric blue frame serves as a theatrical perimeter, transforming the painting into a kind of "scenic box" or a shadow box.

The material technique is evident in the use of several elements:

The central sculpture: finished with a glossy coating that recalls the finish of industrial plastics or vinyl.

The "Duct Tape" (Nastro adesivo): A fundamental material element that runs through the composition.

The object within the object: The small vinyl record with the Velvet Underground & Nico cover held in the hands of the banana.

Iconographic Interpretation: The "Banana-Inception"
The work is a triumph of pop semiotics. Montanaro interweaves three temporal and conceptual levels:

The direct reference to the cover drawn by Andy Warhol for The Velvet Underground. The 'most famous banana in art' becomes here a sentient subject that 'owns' its own image.

The pieces of gray tape in the background are a clear reference to Comedian, Maurizio Cattelan's banana stuck to the wall with tape. Montanaro seems to suggest that the banana has "freed itself" from Cattelan's tape, gaining muscles and its own will.

The muscular anthropomorphism: The arms that hold the disc suggest a vital force, almost as if defending the artwork's identity from being reduced to a mere consumer good or a viral joke.

Montanaro's work is ironic and sacrilegious. It uses a clean visual language, almost 'cartoonish', to convey a profound reflection on the concept of the Ready-made.

As Warhol turned the everyday object into an icon and Cattelan turned the icon into a perishable object, Montanaro reifies the quotation: his banana is neither real fruit nor a simple print, but a physical, muscular presence that asserts its place in the history of rock and figurative art. It is a work that speaks to those who know art history, yet it captures anyone’s gaze with its chromatic liveliness and its plastic strength.