Maurizio Cattelan: Art scene’s joker

One of his best known sculptures, ‘La Nona Ora' consists of an effigy of Pope John Paul II in full ceremonial dress being crushed by a meteor and is a good example of his typically humorous approach to work.

Cattelan's art makes fun of various systems of order - be it social niceties or his regular digs at the art world - and he often utilises themes and motifs from art of the past and other cultural sectors in order to get his point across

One piece called Novecento (1997) involving a horse named Tiramisu, once a racehorse, alludes to a sense of hopelessness and resignation. In 2004, the work titled The Ballad of Trotsky was sold to Bernard Arnault in New York for $2.1 million (£1.15 million)

Another popular work utilizing taxidermy and anthropomorphic features is Bidibidobidiboo (1996), a miniature depiction of a taxidermied squirrel slumped over its kitchen table, a revolver at its feet. The sort of human failure conveyed through these animals is a common theme across many of Cattelan's pieces

Frequently morbidly fascinating, Cattelan's dark humour sets his work above the simple pleasures of well-made visual one-liners

L.O.V.E (2011), a 36-foot white marble sculpture middle finger sticking straight up from an otherwise fingerless hand, pointing away from Borsa Italiana in Milan.

HIM (2001): a sculpture resembling a schoolboy kneeling in prayer, except that the head has been replaced with the realistic likeness of Adolf Hitler. The sculpture was frequently displayed at the end of a long hallway or at the opposite end of a white room, turned away from the viewer so that they wouldn't be able to recognize the individual until they advanced close enough