See Inside Maurizio Cattelan’s Highly Anticipated Berlin Show, Featuring a Sculpture Made with Human Remains
Maurizio Cattelan has opened a major exhibition titled “NIGHT” at Berlin’s Neue Nationalgalerie, curated by Lisa Botti in collaboration with museum director Klaus Biesenbach and the artist. The show coincides with Cattelan being named this year’s winner of the Preis der Nationalgalerie, with the museum citing his co-curation of the 2006 Berlin Biennale as a connection to the city. Works include the controversial “Him” (2001), depicting a kneeling Adolf Hitler, and new pieces such as “Purgatory” (2026), a reduced Brandenburg Gate, “People” (2026), featuring hundreds of pigeons on the ceiling, and “Dust” (2026), a fire extinguisher filled with human ashes. Cattelan described the exhibition as intentionally ritualistic, likening the museum’s space to a contemporary church.
From This Briefing
This story was covered in Monuments at Risk, Museums Under Fire