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Banana artwork worth £90,000 eaten by 'hungry' rival artist

David Datuna shows the remains of the artwork 'Comedian' by the artist Maurizio Cattelan at Perrotin stand in Art Basel in Miami Beach, Florida, December 7, 2019.  REUTERS/Eva Marie Uzcategui
David Datuna shows the remains of the artwork 'Comedian' by the artist Maurizio Cattelan. (Reuters)

An art installation featuring a banana duct-taped to a wall which recently sold for £90,000 has been eaten by a rival artist.

The artwork “Comedian” by Italian artist Maurizio Cattelan was peeled and eaten by performance artist David Datuna on Saturday.

Speaking after the stunt, Mr Datuna said he admired the work but had been “hungry” during his visit to the international gallery Perrotin at Art Basel in Miami.

It comes just days after three buyers bought the limited-edition pieces of the banana art this week for $120,000 (£91,000).

A woman poses for a photo next to a banana attached with duct-tape that replaces the artwork 'Comedian' by the artist Maurizio Cattelan, which was eaten by David Datuna, in Miami Beach, Florida, December 7, 2019.  REUTERS/Eva Marie Uzcategui     TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY
A woman poses for a photo next to the installation. (Reuters)

"Art performance by me. I love Maurizio Cattelan artwork and I really love this installation. It's very delicious," Mr Datuna posted on Instagram.

Members of staff were said to have reacted angrily to Mr Datuna’s stunt.

But the banana was swiftly replaced and no further action will be taken and police were deployed to guard the replacement banana.

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"[Datuna] did not destroy the art work. The banana is the idea," Lucien Terras, a director at the gallery, told the Miami Herald.

Art Basel is one of the world's most high-profile contemporary art fairs.

The stunt on Saturday afforded a whole new meaning to gallery founder Emmanuel Perrotin’s comments earlier this week, when he said: “Maurizio’s work is not just about objects, but about how objects move through the world.”