Chinese Crypto Billionaire Eats Banana Installation He Bought for $6.2 Million

Chinese entrepreneur and head of the Tron blockchain network Justin Sun, who recently bought Maurizio Cattelan's installation ‘Comedian’ at Sotheby's for $6.2 million, ate a banana that was part of the work. This is reported by Agence France Presse.

Before eating the banana from Cattelan's work, Sun gave a speech about conceptual art and cryptocurrency to dozens of journalists and celebrities at one of Hong Kong's most expensive hotels.

‘This is much better than other bananas. It's really delicious,’ said Sun, taking the first bite.

Justin Sun is a Chinese crypto entrepreneur and art collector. Last year, the US Securities and Exchange Commission charged him with selling unregistered securities. The case is ongoing.

Maurizio Cattelan is an Italian artist known for his hyper-realistic sculptures and installations. Due to his satirical approach to creating works, he is called the joker of the art world.

His installation Comedian was first presented to the public in 2019. It immediately became a sensation and provoked discussions about what art is.

Twice, the banana that was part of the installation was eaten by visitors to the exhibition. The first time was in 2019, when a performance artist removed the banana from the wall after the work was sold for $120,000 at Art Basel in Miami.

For the second time, in 2023, a South Korean art student treated himself to a banana at Seoul's Lium Museum of Art. The museum promptly replaced the banana in the installation.