“Another planet”

Black, white, and ginger, big and small, fluffy and short-haired, in palaces and cottage backyards, some pampered in beds, some cats perching on a fence… It is rather a world of cats, not one cat. Besides, they come from various epochs and countries, because the exhibit masterminds offer the audience images of purring pets on the 17th-21st century canvases.

“The fact that such exhibition is taking place in March is logical, because the International Cat Day was celebrated on March 1,” says the exhibit curator Oleksandra KALINICHENKO. “The name ‘Cat’s World’ has a double meaning: on the one hand, it is the name of the centerpiece of the exhibition, A Cat’s World by Ukrainian artist Yevhen Leshchenko, and on the other, the majority of displayed works show not the cats alone, but also the world they live in.”

The basis of the exhibition is formed by works from the gallery’s storeroom collection, and a lot of them are being exhibited for the first time. According to the curator, contemporary Lviv-based artists Serhii Savchenko, Volodymyr Bohuslavsky, Roman Romanyshyn, Serhii Hai, and Oleh Denysenko enriched and diversified the exhibition with their works, which fit in nicely with the canvases from the storeroom.

Kalinichenko adds that the exhibition can be divided into several theme groups, which uncover various “worlds” of a cat: fairytale magic, nocturnal, domestic, feminine, or even “another planet.” The exhibition also includes a video clip, which gives an opportunity to look inside a cat’s world through the eyes of outstanding artists of the past and present. And of course, to cheer up in the process.

The exhibition “Cat’s World” is open through April 15.