Charlie

A cross between sculpture and performance art, Maurizio Cattelan's 2003 disconcerting work Charlie raises questions about the notions of memory and childhood. The silicone doll has natural hair and depicts a three-year-old child whose face is based on the artist's features. Mounted on a motorised tricycle, it rushes towards visitors, who must step aside to let it by.

Charlie is emblematic of work by Maurizio Cattelan, whose provocative, sometimes morbid creations, especially stuffed animals or dolls bearing his likeness, show us a weird, pathetic reality. A keen observer of society and taste, the Italian artist is a master at making viewers squirm and testing the limits of their tolerance.

Pierre Huygue's sculpture Charlie, which is in the Pinault Collection, was presented during the 2009 exhibition "Un certain état du monde ?" (“A Certain State of the World?”) at the Garage Center for Contemporary Culture in Moscow.