Customer Reviews

Why Cats Paint

5 star:		(43)
4 star:		(17)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

My undergraduate work was in Fine Arts and Art History so I found this book hysterical. The writing style mimics most art criticism and art history pieces, so if you're familiar with that genre, you'll appreciate the genius of this book. It pokes fun at art critism while playing on most people's bafflement as to what constitutes art. This book is a joke, although it's so flawlessly constructed you can't be sure at first. The cat metaphor makes a great commentary on the ridiculousness of much art writing. Even if you've never been forced to read ridiculous art criticism, you'll appreciate this book if you love cats. This review is in memory of "Teenie" (1992-2000), my little calico girl.

The first time I saw this book, I thought it was such a riot that I couldn't stop laughing. But then, as the pages progressed, a small thought crept over me -- 'could this be serious?'

I am a person owned by cats - if one includes the kittens, I've had 19 cats officially (and another half-dozen stray hangers-on who know that food will be forthcoming). It had never occurred to me to give them paint! What would happen if I did?

The photography in the book is impressive. Working with children or animals in the best of settings is never easy for a photographer, but Heather Busch is to be commended for bravery, patience, and creativity that obviously rivals the cat-subjects of the text. Stunning colour shows not only the cats' creations, but the cats themselves, often matching their artistic styles in body as well as spirit (for example, Rusty, the orange tabby, likes to paint in a rustic manner; Wong and Lulu collaborate on interesting abstractions, etc.).

The text is written with ironic skill and creative flair by Burton Silver (cats may paint, but have yet to write...). Silver (the name of one of my cats, by the way) is a writer and art critic based in New Zealand, having written on subjects such as contemporary erotic Japanese paper sculpture.

In addition to going through a contemporary survey, the authors look at the history of cat art (including a Xois funerary discovery, ancient Egyptian art, medieval illuminations, and more). It also looks at the psychology of why cats paint (hence the title) -- the fascinating theory of Invertism is a case in point, which explains why cats lie on their heads looking at objects upside down approximately 3% of the day.

A funny book. A fascinating book. A beautiful book. My cats each give it paws up!

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.

If Christopher Guest dove into book writing and concepting I'm not sure that even his brilliance could touch the amazing, hysterically funny work contained within these pages. With so many touchy feely works on pets and art, this one is a refreshing work that manages to come across as both parody and respect. I love cats but I also love irony and satire: exactly the elements that Guest so deftly blends in his movies.

I cower at the utter absurdity and genius of abstract art in general and this rare little gem of a book.

Bravo!!!

Come on people, it's not really an art book. It's tongue-in-cheek fun for cat lovers. Evidence: check out Bootsie, the trans-expressionist on Pg. 72, Angel undergoing bovine hypnosis on pg. 85, and many more examples. If you still believe there is significant evidence of representational invertism in feline territorial demarcation activity, please take it up with Charlie, the Peripheral Realist; Ginger the Neo-Synthesist or Princess the Elemental Fragmentist. I'm too busy admiring Tiger, the Spontaneous Reductionist.

Starting with a review of the history of feline art, the
authors go on to explain how cats become artists, and how
their owners can help develop their gifts. The section on
the great contemporary cat artists is especially profound.
Excellent photography, not only of their art, but also of
the artists plying their craft, lends near-undeniable
credibility to the extensive research published in the text.

But be careful giving this book to either an artist or a
cat-lover---a strong sense of humor is mandatory!

I got this book today and got sucked into it immediately. I can't put it down. It's adorable! A completely endearing spoof of modern art, and still I find myself wanting to give MY cats paint! I think I especially like it because I have a B.A. in Art History (as well as two cats that own ME). I highly recommend it. It will definitely cheer you up if you need cheering (like I did)!

Its a really well-done joke, making fun of long-winded discriptions of modern art. This is a great book for people in the art world who have a well-developed sense of humor.

Why Cats Paints is a solemn, well-researched study of feline aesthetics - witness the extensive photos of the feline artists and their works. Er, well as least it is a very humorous, tongue-in-cheek study of feline aesthetics that will have any artist or cat lover rolling in laughter.

Despite the oil painting cat of the front cover, not all the art media is that chosen by humans - witness the 1993 work titled "How Now" where the media is scratched date post or the 1990 work "Passing Through" on an appropriated couch. An enjoyable romp through art commentary with excellent text and photos.

As a non-primate artist, I find myself struggling for credibilty within a homo sapien-dominant society. My exclusion from this book infuriates me; I have been painting with my paws for 10 years, and *not* with the anthropomorphic media the majority of the other cats use. Mine is a non-traditional approach steeped in the ancient rituals of animism which predate the appearance of you narrow-minded, talking monkies -- I swat at the flies which hover above my half-buried faecal matter, smearing my own personal excreta upon the surrounding vertical surfaces. I not only proclaim my dominance and territory this way, but I express the integration of necessity and ensoulment.

I am truly disheartened that I, a simple, "homeless" alley cat be discriminated against inclusion in this publication because I do not fit the priveledged, domesticated, bourgeois ideal. I refuse to wear a collar, and I beg freely at back alley kitchen exits. None of you talking monkies will ever claim me as a "pet," nor will I conform to your elitist dogma. I find your art criticism trite and superficial, a paeon to the Ivory Tower of academia -- completely detached from what it means to be feline, to teeter on the edge of survival.

May all my shed fur cling to your formalwear.

Lucius "Scruffy" Lickpaws

San Diego

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