Cat Art Occupies a Niche at Wellesley’s Jewett Art Gallery
Photo: Batya Pearlstein views "A Cat May Look," an art exhibition curated by her human.
Cats are a four-legged study in paradoxes. They purr. They can cuddle and frolic with their owners like toddlers discovering the world around them. But they can also be standoffish brooders, independent and willful.
This cat character is the theme of an eclectic art exhibition from the Wellesley College Art Department named “A Cat May Look.” The exhibit, which was highlighted in the Boston Globe’s “The Ticket” art listing on July 21, will run until Thursday, August 10, inside the Jewett Arts Center. A reception for the 22 artists—some of whom are Wellesley faculty and staff—and cat lovers is scheduled for Friday, August 4, from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m.
Samara Pearlstein, Gallery Director, said her motivation for staging this exhibit was to strike a light-hearted tone and encourage people to focus on the life of cats.
“Cats can be incredibly joyful,” said Pearlstein, a cat owner. “They are beautiful and very independent. They live in the moment.”
Works on display:
Corrin Barnes, No Touching, watercolor, acrylic, colored pencil on paper, 2017
BJ Beck, Always on the Wrong Side of the Door, oil on wood panel, 2017
Allison Cekala, Cassie (1992-2004), wood box, keys, locket, cremation ashes, 2017
Meg Duguid, Box, single-channel video, 2012
Gerard Euell, Coco, archival inkjet print, 2017
Emily Harris, Self Portrait with Woman, oil on paper, 2016
Cody Justus, Note (Cat Power), acrylic and gouache on unprimed canvas, 2017
Catherine Kehoe, Olive, oil on linen on panel, 2017
Sarah Malakoff, Untitled Interior (B in white room), digital C print, 2011; Untitled Interior (fur wall), digital C print, 2012
Nancy McCarthy, Coco #1, watercolor on paper, 2017; Coco #3, watercolor on paper, 2017
Christian Meade, BIG D E N G CATTO, cardboard, acrylic, felt, catnip, 2017 (pictured below); BIG BOI, felt and catnip, 2017
John Neylan, My Life as a Cat, single-channel video, video game modification of Grand Theft Auto V, 2017
Liza Oliver, Olympia, archival inkjet print, 2017
Samara Pearlstein, Batya in Gold, archival inkjet print, 2016
Katherine Ruffin, Put Me Down, Let Me Out, and Feed Me Now, letterpress printed wood and metal type on Mohawk superfine paper, all 3 pieces 2017
Judith Schutzman, Hovering, ink and watercolor on rice paper, 2016
Kimberley A Shaw, Emmy the Loopy and Local resident in the Crusader-era fort in the town of Akko, Holmes stereocards and two different stereoscopes, 2012 and 1999 respectively
Angi Shearstone, Orange You Glad (You Have an Orange Cat)?, watercolor and watercolor pencils on illustration board, 2015
Carl Vestweber, Family Tension, Leia in the Garden of Earthly Delights, and Business Meeting in the Garden of Earthly Delights, mixed media on paper, all 3 pieces 2017
Andrew MK Warren, Zoe, Jamaica Plain, MA, archival inkjet print, 1997; B, Rotterdam, NL, archival inkjet print, 2014
Julie Weaver, Cat Scratch, oil on canvas, 2014
Thomas Ray Willis, Beach House, canvas, wood, acrylic gesso, metal staples, cat litter, plastic litter scoop, 2017
