Cat Art Opens In Wellesley

WELLESLEY, MA — Cats. The furry critters are beloved and hated for their characteristic aloofness and goofy or ninja-like stealth. They've been depicted across the centuries in popular art from Cleopatra's pal to Chat Noir posters to that cat on your favorite T-shirt. Caturday, Saturday, Wellesley College's Jewett Art Gallery invites you to come check out local artists' contemporary take on felines and all things cat.

"A Cat May Look" is a small survey - there are 22 works - of the ways that cats may be represented in art today, according to the gallery. "The inherent character of cats, the relationships between people and cats, and the place of the cat in society and culture are all potential starting points for the work in this show."

Gallery Director Samara Pearlstein said she and a number of her colleagues in the Art Department at Wellesley College are self described cat people. She wanted to host a summer show and what better show to start with than one featuring contemporary cat art?

"Basically no one was around this summer to stop me," she joked recently. But really, it might be the purrfect (ahem) exhibit for a summer experiment.

The show is actually an experiment beyond just the popular theme, the gallery decided to have an open call for art. "It's actually quite rare," said Pearlstein: As is hosting a summer show. The plan is to see how this works as a way to see if something like this could happen again.

She said she wasn't sure what to expect when she put out the call for artists. "I was prepared to only get four submissions and then have to create the rest myself," she said.

But that was put to rest when more than 50 people submitted art. She winnowed the number down to 22. Some of the submissions come from people who live or work in Wellesley, though not all, and every piece in the show has something to do with cats, related to or referring to "cathood," she said.

"There are more ways to think of cats than any of us ever dreamed of," she said.

All types of media are represented. Everything from video to sculpture to portraits. Some are more straightforward, other pieces are more conceptual.

One particular surprise she said was a sculpture where artist Christian Meade envisioned an enormous cat and created a scratching post and cat toys blown up to fit that bigger view.

One of the benefit to the summer open gallery is just things like this. "You get a lot of work that you don't expect and you get a lot of work from different places - and not just different location," she said.

With the regular strict programming, she said, the circle of artists who are put on display come from MFA programs.

"But when you get an open call like this you get a lot of people who are making art on their own but are making wonderful work so it's a great opportunity to get their work into an exhibition where it might not otherwise happen."

She said she's fallen in love now with cat art she had no idea existed before the show.

The details on the exhibit:

Opens Saturday, July 15 and runs through August 10.

Gallery hours are seven days a week 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.

Admission is free and parking is free in the garage during the summer, or you can take the train.

Jewett Arts Center, 106 Central Street, Wellesley

Tel 781.283-2044

Have a story idea? Send a tip to reporter jenna.fisher@patch.com

Image at the top Courtesy of Pearlstein, depicting Sarah Malakoff's Untitled (fur wall) digital C print 24 x 20"2012