Herbert Brandl, Untitled, 2017. Oil on canvas, 120x90cm. Courtesy Galerie nächst St. Stephan Rosemarie Schwarzwälder, Vienna. © Photo Markus Wörgötter.

Press release, February 2022

Cats vs. Cucumbers, celebrity cats, cute kittens and the soothing sound of a purring cat. Cats rule the internet with an overwhelming number of videos and images of cats and their dualistic character: The cat is cuddly, sneaky, seducing and aggressive, inviting and completely its own.

Internet cat memes as a moment of relief in everyday stress is, however, only a snapshot of contemporary mainstream culture. In the history of art, the cat is well represented as the subject of studies for many artists and the list of artists who have been photographed with their cats is very long – Matisse, Salvador Dali, Pablo Picasso, Frida Kahlo, Gorgia O’Keefe, Warhol and Ai Wei Wei, to name a few.

CAT is not an exhaustive exhibition about the symbolic meaning of the cat, its confident attitude or a complete historic journey through the ancient Egypt, mythology, superstition, and witch burnings. Neither is it about the importance of the domesticated cat as a mouse catcher, beloved pet and internet king. Artist and co-curator Camilla Thorup and SPECTA are looking forward to presenting an eclectic exhibition of works by a great variety of contemporary artists, who have all embraced the cat as a motif, pointing to some of the above-mentioned aspects of this many facetted animal.

Thordis Adalsteinsdottir (IS), Bianca Maria Barmen (SE),Kinga Bartis, Agnete Bertram, Luca Bjørnsten, Anders Bonnesen, Herbert Brandl (AU), Anders Brinch, Marcel Broodthaers (B), Mathilde Digmann, Hannah Epstein (CAN), Frances Goodman (ZA), Malene Hartmann Rasmussen, Peter Holst Henckel, Søren Hüttel, William Kentridge (ZA), Heine Kjærgaard Klausen, Ragnhild May, Fie Norsker, David Risley (UK/DK), Miho Sato (JP/UK), Johannes Sivertsen, Faranak Sohi (IR/DK), Anna Stahn, Lisa Strömbeck (SE/DK), Birgitte Støvring, Trine Søndergaard, Svend-Allan Sørensen, Sarah Thibault (US), Camilla Thorup, Anne Torpe, Emma Tryti (SE), Mette Vangsgaard, Albin Werle, Maya Stefania Wibling, Jongsuk Yoon (KOR/DE).

The exhibition is curated in collaboration with artist Camilla Thorup.

Opening: Saturday March 5, from 1-4pm.
Exhibition period: March 5 - April 23, 2022.
Opening hours: Tuesday to Friday, 12-17.30. Saturday, 11-14 and by appointment.