“Try… Cats” – Another Homestory… | #viennacontemporary Magazine

March in Moscow does not feel like springtime. Most of the time it is cold and snowy, and there is hardly a motivation to leave one’s home… and one’s cat… Especially in Russia, these little friends are very popular…

Two weeks ago, four young Moscow artists – Alina Glazoun, Alexander Zhuravlev, Protey Temen, and Petr Kirusha – opened a “flat exhibition” about our dearest pets. It was Friday night, and the flat was crowded. Paintings, installations, and photos of cats were displayed on the walls and even watched you from the ceiling. “They don‘t need your care as they are quite well in the houses of their owners and can use almost the same civilization goods as humans,” read the exhibition text. I think every cat owner knows what the artists mean. It wouldn’t be contemporary art if the visitor wasn’t confronted with profound questions like: “What possibilities might civilization offer to cats?” or “Do felines become more intelligent because they live with humans or is this just our fantasy?” Furthermore: “How do our ideas of beauty and progress influence the evolution of our pets: Can we make, for example, patterns of fur more complex or have a conversation about abstract things with them someday? Probably one of the main questions that puzzles every owner of a pet: “Are there any boundaries to the evolution of living things?” Let’s think about this!

Instead of finger food and champagne, there was a stone-like caramel of Russian provenience in original Soviet cat design and, of course, milky drinks. All in all, it was a refreshingly sympathic little exhibition. I really enjoyed being there.