This NYC Artist Ate The $120K Banana At Art Basel Miami Beach

NEW YORK — New York City-based artist David Datuna, the man who ate a duct-taped banana that sold for $120,000 at Art Basel Miami Beach, says he has no regrets about his so-called "art performance."

Datuna went viral for the Saturday stunt, which he named "Hungry Artist" in an Instagram post memorializing his pricey snack.

The banana, a work by artist Maurizio Cattelan titled "Comedian," was duct-taped to Emmanuel Perrotin's outer gallery wall at the annual Miami art show. It sold for $120,000 to an art collector, according to the Miami Herald.

At a press conference in Manhattan Monday, Datuna bristled at a reporter's question on whether he felt bad about eating the banana, responding, "No, I'm not sorry. Why do I have to be sorry?"

"This was a cool performance," Datuna said. "I did this because I wanted to do it."

View this post on Instagram

“Hungry Artist” Art performance by me I love Maurizio Cattelan artwork and I really love this installation It’s very delicious #artbasel #artbaselmiamibeach #daviddatuna #Eatingabanana #Mauriziocattelan #Hungryartist
A post shared by David Datuna (@david_datuna) on Dec 7, 2019 at 11:38am PST

Datuna said he decided the morning of the stunt that he would eat the banana, then walked around the art show until he felt hungry enough. That afternoon, he pulled the banana off the wall, peeled it and started eating it.

"Are you kidding?" an official at the show asked Datuna. "Did you really do that?"

As he was led away by security officers, Datuna told the crowd, "See you after jail" — but police didn't end up arresting him.

Gallery representatives quickly replaced the banana with one volunteered by a fairgoer, the Miami Herald reported.

"He did not destroy the art work. The banana is the idea," Lucien Terras, director of museum relations for Galerie Perrotin, told the newspaper.

Datuna said Monday that his friends are now calling him "Banana Man," but he is also an acclaimed artist in his own right.

Perhaps best known for his interactive piece "Portrait of America," Datuna has shown at Art Basel Miami Beach and Smithsonian's National Portrait Gallery. In 2015, he was the subject of a documentary film that traces his journey from Tblisi, Georgia to today.

Datuna opened his own art space in a former taxi garage in Long Island City this summer, where he shows his own pieces alongside work by contemporary artists from across the world, none of which are for sale.

"It's good to bring something new," Datuna told Patch ahead of the opening in June. "We tried to do something interesting."

During the press conference Monday, Datuna called Cattelan, the artist responsible for the duct-taped banana, a genius. But that doesn't mean Cattelan's work is welcome at Datuna's art space.

Asked by a Patch reporter whether he would invite Cattelan to show at his Queens gallery, Datuna said no. He declined to elaborate.