Italian artist trio Canemorto serving up fish market performance in New York

The Italian artist trio Canemorto is reprising its irreverent fish market installation and performance, staged in Milan last autumn, in New York. The Italian gallery Matta, co-founded by three former Massimo de Carlo employees, partnered with the New York gallery Gratin to bring Canemorto Fish Market to Manhattan.

The anonymous members of Canemorto are at work transforming Gratin’s East Village space into a facsimile of a functioning fish market. From 10 October to 12 October, shoppers can stock up on fish drawings presented like their consumable counterparts—packaged in actual oil, frozen, fileted and more. All works on offer are priced below $200, except for one family-sized “Special Pack Large”. Canemorto’s three masked members will also work to lure customers from the streets into the gallery, acting the part of fishmongers.

“We play a lot on the border between reality and fiction,” say the three Canemorto members. The artists hail from Milan, Como and Brianza and formed their trio nearly two decades ago, when they were young art students. The members remain anonymous to honour the collective—and for legal purposes. Their early endeavours tended to test the limits of the law, like a 2015 project that involved painting images of Canemorto’s invented canine patron saint, “Txakurra”, throughout Lisbon.

“All our work is based on this fictional evolving story, like a cartoon or a television series,” the Canemorto members say. “Each project is like a new episode.” Those projects increasingly bridge guerilla and fine art, from a pizzeria offering pies shaped like Txakurra in Ghent, Belgium in 2017, to a more traditional exhibition of plein air paintings in Reggio Emilia, Italy last year.

The first iteration of Canemorto Fish Market drew inspiration from Milan’s historical claim to having the freshest seafood in Italy, ironic considering the city sits around 100 miles inland. In addition to honouring Canemorto’s blend of fact and fiction, the format also highlights similarities between hawking fish and selling art.

Canemorto’s New York fish market will largely replicate its Milanese predecessor, from the fish counter to the authentic deli number dispenser and nautical decorations. The trio arrived in New York with suitcases full of the fishy drawings they will be offering—many of which feature Txakurra’s silhouette—as well as fishermen’s nets to hang in the gallery.

The artists spent their first four days in the city scouring second-hand stores for further fishy props. “It was not that easy, actually,” they said. “It was also a funny challenge, because it enabled us to immediately go all around the city in places where normally you wouldn’t go the first days.”

The trio has more space to fill, as Gratin is larger than the they had in Milan. “In America you always go wide,” they said. The group has updated its New York offerings accordingly. “We put some more focus on the special packs, family packs where you can get more products together.”

While the project’s origins are Milanese, it is a natural fit in New York City, with its rich nautical history and deeply rooted Italian American heritage.

After three days of frenzied fish-mongering, Canemorto Fish Market will conclude on 12 October with a final auction selling off any leftovers, as well as a few prized catches the artists have set aside. The trio is uncertain whether or not they will reprise the project again, but they are at work on a mockumentary about its New York iteration that will debut in cinemas as part of an eight-part series at a later date. In the meantime, anyone wanting a piece of the action will have to head to 76 Avenue B ready to haggle over bespoke seafood art.

Canemorto Fish Market, Gratin, 76 Avenue B, 10-12 October