tag tema
One of Maurizio Cattelan’s most important works is ‘Him’, a wax reproduction which from behind looks like a kneeling child, but which turns out to be Adolf Hitler. Exhibited at Palazzo Grassi in 2006, ‘Him’ is a representation of Hitler praying and asking forgiveness for his sins. Despite being a symbol of modern evil, Adolf Hitler appears completely innocuous. After an initial moment of stupor, we are led to see him as any man, and to ask, even if just for an instant, if evil can be transformed into goodness. The artist does not ask us to love him or pardon him but communicates an obvious and important thing: that we are human beings. In a tragi-comic dimension, Cattelan thus exorcises evil by means of a joke: the perfect arm against the violent errors of history.
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