Since the early 1990s Maurizio Cattelan has been internationally recognized for his humorous and ironic works which provoke and challenge the limits of contemporary value systems. In choosing symbols whose representations offer complex systems of intertwined meaning, Cattelan's work refuses to take a precise moral or ideological position. In 2011, just as his retrospective at the Guggenheim Museum in New York opened, Cattelan declared himself retired from the world of art. After a five year hiatus, Cattelan returned with a site-specific work installed at the same museum.

Cattelan's work has been exhibited widely, including, recently, at Leeum Samsung Museum of Art, Seoul, South Korea (2023); UCCA, Beijing, China (2021); Pirelli HangarBicocca, Milan, Italy (2021); Blenheim Palace, UK (2019); La Monnaie de Paris, France (2016); Fondation Beyeler, Riehan, Switzerland (2013); Whitechapel Gallery, London (2012); Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York (2011); The Menil Collection, Houston, Texas (2010); DESTE Foundation for Contemporary Art, Athens, Greece (2010); Kunsthaus Bregenz, Austria (2008); and Tate Modern, London, England (2007).

He was a finalist for the Guggenheim Hugo Boss Prize in 2000. In 2004 he recieved an honorary degree in Sociology from the University of Trento, Italy, and in 2005 the Arnold-Bode prize from the Kunstverein Kassel, Germany. In 2009 he was awarded the Quadriennale di Roma Prize.