The Internet loves nothing more than cats, but it’s rare that we look beyond the cute photos and memes to more seriously consider their place in our world. Flavorwire’s Highbrow Cat Week is an attempt to remedy that, with a series of pieces devoted to analyzing their impact on the cultural realm.
Great news: all of your favorite artists have eagerly contributed to a gallery show about cats. It’s true! “Art isn’t only for a meditative, aesthetic experience,” artist and curator Rhonda Lieberman says in a a press release. “It can also be a conduit for the redemption of pussycats and people.” The show opens June 14 at New York’s White Columns Gallery and is presented in partnership with Social Tees Animal Rescue, a non-profit organization that takes over 3,000 at-risk animals from kill shelters every year, gives them veterinary care, and finds them loving homes.
Fans of David Shrigley, Mike Kelley, Matthew Barney, Elad Lassry, and Andy Warhol will be pleased by the work on display, and “Meowrina Abramovic, Bruce Meowman, Jeff Maine Coons, Claws Oldenburg, Alex Katz, Frida Kahlico,” are also expected to appear. Here are a few highlights from the show.
Rita Ackermann. With No Roots Behind Them I, 1997. Collage on paper. 10.75 x 7 inches. Image courtesy White Columns.
Sam Roeck. Contemporary Art Sculpture for Cats #2, 2013. Oak, Plexiglas, carpet, linoleum. 52 x 30 x 30 inches. Image courtesy White Columns.
Graham Anderson. Untitled, 2009. Oil on panel. 50 x 37.5 inches. Image courtesy White Columns.
Marilyn Minter. Cat’s Eye, 2006. C-print. 86 x 60 inches. Image courtesy White Columns.
Bella Foster. The Mandolin Concerto, 2013. Watercolor on paper. 8 x 6 inches. Image courtesy White Columns.
Cassandra MacLeod, Over Here Over There, 2013. Oil on canvas. 18 x 24 inches. Image courtesy White Columns.
Freecell with Gia Wolff, (rendering of cat structure), 2013. Image courtesy White Columns.
John Hiltunen. Untitled, 2013. Collage on paper. Image courtesy White Columns.