roberto montanaro - BANANA UNCHAINED

Andy Warhol claimed that 'in the future, everyone will be famous for 15 minutes,' and this work suggests that some icons are destined to last much longer, engaging with each other across the decades.

We are faced with a tactile artwork of striking visual intelligence, enclosed in a 'shocking pink' frame that screams Pop Art from every corner. The artist orchestrated an impossible and surreal encounter between two of the most famous fruits in art history: Maurizio Cattelan's 'adhesive' banana (Comedian, 2019) and Andy Warhol's 'peeled' banana (cover of The Velvet Underground & Nico, 1967).
The brilliance of the work lies in its action. We are not dealing with the static (and costly) banana by Cattelan hanging on the wall awaiting decay. Here, the fruit has come to life. The work is a story of liberation: the white, three-dimensional sculpture of the banana has broken the silver adhesive tape – a symbol of its commercial and media imprisonment – gaining not only freedom but also humanity, represented by the appearance of two small arms.
What does a banana just freed from the yoke of contemporary conceptual art do? It pays homage to its origins. Holding the Velvet Underground vinyl in its hands, the protagonist seems to say: 'Before being a $120,000 joke, I was a rock icon.' It’s a delightful 'meta-reference': the sculptural banana looks at the graphic banana, closing an artistic circle that spans half a century.
The use of materiality is managed with wisdom. The contrast between the smooth, white finish of the fruit-sculpture and the rough, torn texture of the adhesive tape creates a tactile dynamism. The choice of total white for the body of the banana (instead of realistic yellow) elevates it to a statue, a pure symbol, while the color explodes only in the frame and the record cover, focusing attention on the cultural message.
This work is an irreverent and highly cultured pastiche. It’s a piece that doesn’t just decorate but elicits a clever smile. It transforms the sterile controversy surrounding contemporary art into a playful celebration, reminding us that art, before being a market, is rebellion and citation.