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Maurizio Cattelan and Pierpaolo Ferrari for Toilet Paper
Untitled
Next to the High Line at West 18th Street and 10th Avenue
For High Line Art, Cattelan and Ferrari have selected an image that at first perfectly blends in with nearby advertisements, but when viewed carefully, encourages a variety of free associations. The image depicts ten female fingers that initially appear to be detached from their hands by mysteriously popping out of a blue velvet background. Like an illusionistic trick performed by a magician, this eerie image highlights the deceptive power of photography, sketching an ambiguous visual tableau reminiscent of Surrealism. Like a Man Ray photograph, the image conjures a dreamlike atmosphere of a film noir, while at the same time it speaks of the city as a projection of dreams of opulence.
Founded by Maurizio Cattelan and Pierpaolo Ferrari in 2010, Toilet Paper is a magazine in pictures without words which investigates our contemporary obsession with images and the way in which commercial photography constructs desire and manipulates our vision. In Cattelan and Ferrari’s carefully constructed photo shoots, the vocabulary of fashion and commercial photography is at the same time celebrated and parodied, by creating what can seemingly be described as advertisement stripped bare of any product.
About Toilet Paper
Maurizio Cattelan and Pierpaolo Ferrari founded Toilet Paper in 2010. Cattelan and Ferrari began the picture-based publication after working together on a series of photo shoots for international art and fashion magazines. All concepts and images for Toilet Paper are by Maurizio Cattelan and Pierpaolo Ferrari, and was initially published by Deste Foundation for Contemporary Art in Athens, Greece. There are currently six editions of the magazine in circulation.
About Maurizio Cattelan
Maurizio Cattelan (b. 1960) lives in Milan and New York. His works have been exhibited internationally at venues like the Museum of Modern Art, New York; the Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles; the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York; Centre Georges Pompidou, Paris; Tate Modern, London; and the Warsaw Zachçeta National Gallery, Poland; among many others.
About Pierpaolo Ferrari
Pierpaolo Ferrari (b. 1971) lives in Milan. As an advertising photographer Ferrari has worked with Nike, Audi, Mercedes, Samsung, Ray Ban, Alpha Romeo, Vespa, Campari, MTV, and the Biennale of Venice, among others. In 2006, together with Federico Pele, he created the art magazine Le Dictateur. For several years now, he has been doing fashion photography, including Uomo Vogue.
Support
High Line Art is presented by Friends of the High Line and the New York City Department of Parks & Recreation. High Line Art is made possible by Donald R. Mullen, Jr, with additional support from Vital Projects Fund, Inc. High Line Art is supported, in part, with public funds from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the City Council and from the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of Governor Andrew Cuomo and the New York State Legislature. In-kind sponsorship for HIGH LINE BILLBOARD is provided by Edison Properties.
