CAT HOLIC at Subway Gallery

CAT HOLIC at Subway Gallery

16 December, 2008
by: Katuschka

I blame myself really - my romanticised socialist notions (of the holding hands under rainbows in a dinky kibbutz kind) mean that I love the idea of Subway Gallery. The anomalous, kitschy art pod floating in the actual tunnel joining Edgware Station to Harrow Road, and the metaphorical tunnels in the minds of weary travellers via their subliminal art agenda, is a workable way of bringing art to the people.

With the economy going 'meh' and collapsing like a badly made soufflé, the increasing respect afforded to street art and the growing popularity of urban communes comes a more socially aware mindset. We want our art to reflect these times, to be inclusive and non-elitist.

Subway has a charming laissez-faire approach. Much like a bench or internet porn, it's free, it provides a service and it can satisfy certain cravings. So far, so good? Well, you'd think that with a decent amount of commuter traffic, a prominent display position and a cute gimmick, the art would be socially dynamic, intellectually engaging and achingly hip without falling into the baffling rent-an-artist situation 'Art on the tube' has fallen into. It's not like they'd just put up a few pictures of cats…or would they? 

Yes, and the LOLCat fan-base will be thrilled. Their new show, CAT HOLIC, has photographs of cats, cartoons of cats, cat board games, cat figurines, a Christmas tree decorated with photos of cats and paintings of – yes – more cats.

To be fair, there are deviations from the theme, for art lovers cannot survive on kitties alone. There are hairballs displayed in little Perspex ring boxes, alluding to the only precious symbol of loyalty your cat can truly offer - a choked up ball of its own detritus. The artist Alessandra Travagliati also illuminates the event with a selection of home-made lamps, including a penny lamp made from stamps and pennies, and a map lamp.

The exhibition is charming and cute, and if you like cats – or possibly own one and enjoy looking at it – then you're in for a real treat. Frankly though, I'm baffled. 'Why?' I whimpered inwardly as I caught sight of cat tote bags for sale and panettones under the cat Christmas tree. I feel as though I've arrived at the last dregs of a closing down sale at a PDSA shop.

In spite of this, Travagliati's photographs are not sickeningly twee. They aim to show cats as animals that walk the tightrope between domestic and feral, whilst maintaining (if your cat is anything like mine) an air of self-important indifference. The board games and figurines (and perhaps the Christmas tree – although I'm not sure what's going on there) are all attempts to wrestle the inscrutable feline nature into a cute and personable form. But to no avail; they will still be dragging in small bleeding trophies.

Perhaps Travagliati is some kind of evil genius who knows exactly what she's doing (although it's hard not to imagine her as The Simpsons' 'crazy cat lady'). After all, art is supposed to challenge our perceptions and make us question its existence; and really an exhibition full of cat paintings is no more bizarre than Sam Taylor Wood's Brontosaurus, an upside down Christmas tree, or a crack in the floor which injures patrons. Whether you apply some cultural value to it, or if you simply want to look at a cute cat on the way home, Subway have a win-win exhibition which gives commuters a little unpretentious culture for free.

Vive la Revolución!
     
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Katuschka