Kitty City at Flanders Contemporary Art

What is it about cats that some people find so appealing and others find so appalling? Why are there generally two distinct animal camps: dog people and cat people? Why is it acceptable, in fact commonplace, to have one or two cats without arousing suspicion, but own multiple felines and you’re labeled the crazy cat lady?

Well within her right mind, artist Judy Chicago has made it a part of her life’s routine to keep cats—specifically six cats—at any given time. While collaborating with her husband, the photographer Donald Woodman, on the “Holocaust Project,” between 1985 and 1993, Chicago became interested in the treatment of animals, the “often callous disregard” for household pets and the distress placed on animals used in factory farming. In an attempt to make a difference—and to put some humanity into animal society—she and Woodman decided to care for half a dozen cats.

Chicago’s latest book, “Kitty City: A Feline Book of Hours,” and its watercolor originals that are on display at Flanders Contemporary Art, chronicle an average day-in-the-life of this lucky feline entourage who reside with the artists.
Over the years Chicago’s delivered some hard-hitting,
cutting-edge work—from her 1970’s feminist manifesto “The Dinner Party,” to examinations of war and religion in 1993’s “Holocaust Project,” to last year’s erotic “Fragments from the Delta of Venus.” Compared to these, “Kitty City” might seem like a departure for this creative intellectual, but take a closer look and it’s clear that Chicago is inextricably linked to this work. These cats aren’t just illustrative subjects, they’re family, and the bonds that exist among her and the pets is emotionally transcribed into her paintings.

Chicago began sketching her cat family in 1993–94, and later delved into research on Bestiaries, which, she explains, “were medieval texts using the imaginary adventures of animals to make a number of moral points about human life.” Because her work explores moral issues, the Bestiary format resonated with her and she spent nearly five years on the project that would become “Kitty City.”
The book and exhibit include historical anecdotes of her feline family, highlighted with sketches, watercolors and occasional photographs by Woodman. This vivid, illustrative history of her cats is a day-in-the-life pictorial of what Chicago calls her “Ca(ts)st of Characters.” From dawn to dusk (and all through the night) we get a glimpse of the cat shenanigans she deftly renders in warm and inviting watercolors.

Some are amusing (Romeo waking Woodman at 6 a.m. or Milagro lapping from the “I Can't Believe it's Not Butter” container); some are soothing (“Afternoon Siestas” depicts all six cats asleep); and some are somber (delicate Veronica hooked up to an IV, then peacefully laid to rest on a blanket in “Death Strikes Again”). The images embody the cyclical relationships we share with our pets.
Chicago also includes interesting “Feline Facts,” such as “Cats sleep almost two-thirds of their lives, more than any other species,” “Cats hear sounds two octaves higher than human beings,” and “Cats see their human companions as pseudo-
parents because they took over from their real mothers, providing them with food, drink, comfort and affection.”

As I write this review, two 10-week-old kittens are chasing each other at top speed through my apartment–scaling the sofa and tumbling in a heap on the floor. I rescued them from dire straits three weeks ago, taming the feral siblings with my domestic wiles and generous amounts of tuna. They’ve come a long way in just 21 days, moving from frightened, wild kittens living in a cage to playful mousers who have free run of the house. Now my landlord’s threatened to evict me if I don’t get rid of them, despite the fact that I had a cat for most of the six years I’ve lived here (he’s since passed away). I find this new “no pet” policy both puzzling and unjust.
I guess I could give them away, these little black fluff balls … find them a good home and stay in my clean, affordable Northeast haven, alone. Or I can take my chances in an expensive rental market … pack up the Powerbook and mousey toys, knowing I’ll have companionship and unconditional love this winter and beyond. So I ask myself, “What would Judy do?”

Kitty City: A Feline Book of Hours is on display through Oct. 22 at Flanders Contemporary Art, 3012 Lyndale Ave. S., Mpls., 612-344-1700. Hours are Tue.–Sat. 10 a.m.–5 p.m. and by appointment.