Contemporary art constantly challenges conventions, shakes consciences and sparks discussion. The scandals that emerge from this world tell a unique story, reflecting the limits and freedoms of artistic expression and pushing the public to reflect on the meaning of art itself. Over time, controversial events have brought works and artists to the center of global attention, leaving an indelible mark on the history of art. Below, we explore 10 of the most famous scandals that have shaken the contemporary art scene.
Gino De Dominicis , Second Immortality Solution
The twenty-sixth room of the 1972 Venice Biennale hosted the work of De Dominicis. The artist had placed in one corner a boy with Down syndrome with the writing “Second solution of immortality (the universe is still)” around his neck.
The historian Giuseppe Garrera, speaking about the work, said : "De Dominicis reproduces the vulgarity, the presumption and often the dullness of those who look at it. And this is a work that reflects the prejudices of the world".
It was precisely that world, in fact, that defined the boy on the chair as “mongoloid,” “disabled,” “subnormal.” The media coverage of the story was so suggestive that the boy’s own family, who had given permission to the artist to create the work, denounced him.
Marina Abramovic, Rhythm 0
It was 1974 when the famous performer Marina Abramovic he stripped himself of any right to Galleria Studio Morra in Naples. The artist had left around her 72 objects and instructions in which she declared the object of the performance and to take full responsibility for what she was doing. The performance consisted of remaining still, silent and half naked for six hours, letting people use her body and the objects around her with freedom.
At first the spectators simply watched, but little by little they became familiar with the situation, cutting off a lock of her hair, injuring her and even threatening her with a revolver.
Jeff Koons , Made in Heaven
In the 1990s, Jeff Koons and his partner Ilona Staller (better known as Cicciolina) scandalized the art world with a series of explicit works, Made in Heaven , aimed at examining the role of sexuality in visual culture.
Koons employed the photographic style creating the aesthetic of “glamour” images; blurring the lines between art and pornography. The artist challenged the conventions of artistic taste, encouraging his audience to make their own decisions about what is acceptable and the boundaries between aesthetics and vulgarity , dividing public opinion.
Paul McCarthy, The Garden
It was 1991 when Jeffrey Deitch inaugurated an exhibition that would go down in history: post human , which brought together the works of 36 artists. Paul McCarthy's remained in the minds of many; it depicted a standing man having sexual intercourse with a tree in a purely mechanical and repetitive act.
The work challenged the concept of acceptable art, forcing the audience to confront their own limits and taboos, and demonstrating that provocation can be a powerful means of expressing ideas. The spectator himself found himself in a situation that made him feel bad, embarrassed, a “voyeur”.
Orlan,Successful Surgery
Between 1990 and 1993 the French artist Orlan underwent nine surgical operations to modify her body, a performance broadcast live internationally about which Orlan herself stated:
" Between 1990 and 1993 I did not undergo nine operations. I organized, orchestrated and staged a series of surgical operations completely voluntarily [...] because I wanted to sculpt myself, build a new image by attacking the masks of the innate and questioning the notions of beauty. But I did not want - unlike what some very popular newspapers reported - to take as a reference figures such as Venus, Psyche, Mona Lisa, etc. ... Precisely because I wanted to criticize, dismantle, destroy these models. There is no reason to hide the transformations of the body because these show the decisions that a woman can make with her body and about her body".
The operations were broadcast publicly, raising questions about beauty, identity and body manipulation.
Peter Pavlensky, Sea
Pietr Pavlensky is famous for his political protest performances, often extreme and symbolic. Among them, the 2012 action stands out, in which, to denounce the arrest of Pussy Riot, accused of hooliganism for a performance against the Orthodox Church's support for Putin, he sewed his mouth shut in front of the Kazan Cathedral in St. Petersburg. Pavlensky also held up a sign linking the protest of the punk rock band to the Gospel. The action, inspired by the artist David Wojnarowicz who in 1989 He used the same gesture in protest against the Reagan administration's lack of interest in fighting AIDS, highlighting censorship in Russia, underlining the artistic repression and political control that stifles public expression:
“By sewing my mouth shut, I showed the situation of the contemporary artist in Russia, who lives in an environment where there is a ban on advertising, increased censorship and the suppression of public statements in contemporary art.”
Oliver Tuscan, Sentenced to Death
In 2013, Italian photographer Oliviero Toscani, known for his provocative campaigns, flew to the United States with the support of Benetton to create a series of photographs depicting men sentenced to death. The project, aimed at raising awareness of the issue of capital punishment, showed prisoners as human beings, beyond their status as convicts. However, the state of Missouri filed a lawsuit against Toscani for not having declared his purposes in advance, considering it an advertising campaign. The controversy sparked a wide debate on justice, communication and advertising ethics.
Banksy, Love is in the bin
The case where Banksy's artwork became a performance, and certainly a scandal, is the one involving the work Girl with Balloon. While this was auctioned in 2018 for the value of £1,042,000, the artist shocked everyone by triggering a self-destruct mechanism, similar to a paper cutter, that reduced the canvas to shreds, making Banksy's protest against the art system a unique and unrepeatable moment. The performance, which took the name Love is in the bin , was a powerful commentary on the commodification of art, reminding the public that art can and should also be ephemeral.
Maurizio Cattelan, Comedian
In 2019, Paduan artist Maurizio Cattelan made headlines again with an irreverent gesture typical of his modus operandi. At Art Basel in Miami Beach, Cattelan
Another artist Datuna, one Saturday morning took the banana and ate it, transforming the artwork into a performance entitled Hungry Artist .