OCA preloader logo
Contem[furry] Art: Feline Aesthetics - The Open College of the Arts

To find out more details about the transfer to The Open University see A New Chapter for OCA.

Contem[furry] Art: Feline Aesthetics thumb

Contem[furry] Art: Feline Aesthetics

painting-cat

We are all familiar with child art prodigies such as Aelita Andre and even Thai elephant paintings but recently there has been an increasing demand for Cat Art.
Cat intelligence has been widely underestimated and recent studies have shown that not only do they have fantastic memories they have an ability to communicate on a visual and oral capacity.
Given the opportunity cats can record and represent the world around them. Dr Arthur Mann proved that cats are capable of making crude representational works but for some unknown reason, often render them upside down – a practice known as Invertism. The most accessable information on what cat painting is all about can be found in ‘Why Cats Paint’ by author and critic Burton Silver and photographer/curator Heather Busch. This clearly written work analyses the work of 12 major cat artists and attempts to uncover their possible motivations. As they say in the preface to their book, it is their hope that by exploring the marks that cats make, they may stimulate interest in a unique feline way of perceiving the world and perhaps derive valuable insights from it.
One reviewer writes;
“Several theories of feline art have been put forward over the years, and this volume may serve as an excellent introduction to the uninitiated. Influential feline artists are discussed and their work reprinted in glorious detail. There is, however, a strong bias towards the mainstream of cat art. Important, indeed vital, underground movements are completely ignored. The street art of alley cats is sadly overlooked, perhaps reflecting the authors deference to the curators of that ivory tower, the Museum of Non Primate Art.
Also lacking is any serious discussion of Queer Theory, so vital in the deconstruction of any mammalian artistic representations.
Yet in spite of these flaws, Why Cats Paint remains an important and influential volume that no connaisseur of feline aesthetics can afford to ignore.”

So do all cats paint and how can you determine if your feline is the next Picatso or Juan Miaow?
Only a very small percentage of domestic cats are known to paint. While about 60% of domestic cats (USA data), will demarcate their territory with claw marks on trees, furniture etc, perhaps only 0.001% will take paint on their paws and apply it to a surface.
The best way of determining whether your cat has artistic ability is to carefully observe it in certain situations. For example, does it sit and contemplate the marks it makes in its litter tray? Are the marks curved or aesthetic in any way? Does it make marks on the wall with the fine litter left on its paws after using the litter tray?
Does it scratch in just one place on the furniture as if constructing an on-going artwork? Does it take great care in arranging and presenting its prey or parts of prey? Does it like to play and make patterns with its dry cat food? Does it like to watch TV and can it recognise other animals on the two dimensional screen? If you show your cat a picture of cat food from a cat food advertisement will it sniff at it? Does your cat make territorial claw marks on trees? If you make marks in the same places your cat does on trees or furniture, does it show interest?
Cats which don’t mind getting their paws wet such as Birmans, are more likely to take to painting than other breeds but there appears to be no one breed which is more “artistic” than any other. If you can answer all of these 10 questions with a yes, then you may well have a cat that will paint.
One such owner is Abby Surdd and her cat Mittens;
‘Mittens likes to go for a more abstract look with her paintings. The 4 year old tabby likes to use pastel colours and often leaves her artwork for days before returning to complete it.’

unnamed


Posted by author: Joanne

13 thoughts on “Contem[furry] Art: Feline Aesthetics

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Back to blog listings