La Nona Ora (The Ninth Hour) is a 1999 artwork by Maurizzio Cattelan.
It represents Pope John Paul II lying on the ground after being stuck by a meteorite.
It’s an artwork I’ve seen on different occasions, the first time at La Monnaie de Paris, and that stayed with me. Profoundly.
Cattelan is one of my favorite contemporary artist (and creative director). I will forever remember the shock I felt, approaching one of his pieces from behind at the Pompidou Center in Paris, a small sculpture looking like a kid on his knees, turning around it in order to see it from the front, and all of a sudden realizing it’s not a kid, but Hitler praying. A powerful piece, about the origins and nature of evil, and how and if society can come to terms with it.
Like with many artworks, the artist says little about La Nona Ora, and leaves the door open to a lot of interpretations.
Some have seen it as suggesting that even the most established seats of power can become vulnerable. (Emmanuel Perrotin)
Some other possible messages are interesting to me, the controversy always triggered by religion, the weight of sin, and guilt, in our society, “A man who carries a burden on his shoulders on behalf of all mankind” (Cattelan), and more importantly, an artwork that crystallizes some of the taboos in contemporary society by staging the tension between the sacred and the profane. (Paul Nyzam).
“Deep down”, explains Paul Nyzam, “La Nona Ora questions the role of the artist in society and questions the limits of irreverence and transgression in a world in which freedom has been elevated to sacred status. This piece of work packs a punch and recalls the words of René Char: « What comes into the world and disturbs nothing deserves neither consideration nor patience ».
At my level, my hope is that this newsletter, by paying homage to Cattelan in its intention, contributes to disturbing something and adds a zest of irreverence and transgression, by showing that even the most established seats of power can become vulnerable.
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