Lolcat: Teh Exhibishun – picture preview

The internet meme inspires yet another art show

James McKenzie-Blyth, Katnip Ninja

The Independent Online couldn’t quite contain itself when yet another press release about an exhibition of funny cats pinged into its inbox.

It was the third in as many months (following on from LOL of Cats: Felines, Photography and the Web and Reigning Cats and Dogs), but Lolcat – Teh Exhibishun (their spelling, not ours) takes the slapstick doings of our feline friends even further.

It goes back further too, claiming that as early as the 1870s British photographer Harry Pointer was creating comedic pictures of cats posed in silly situations with amusing captions -not unlike the lolcat internet meme that thrust cats and kittens into internet domination.

The exhibition press release says (and I couldn’t agree more) that “our appetite for these images –funny, fascinating and often downright bizarre- has always been insatiable”. But it asks if the lolcat phenomenon can ever truly be elevated to “the level of genuine art?”

A bunch of artists and designers have attempted to answer that question. The fruits of their labour will go on show at the Framers Gallery in January, curated by the graphic designer and owner of Miss Mustard Explosion the Cat, Jenny Theolin. All works are for sale and 50 percent of proceeds go to Battersea Dogs and Cats Home.

Click here or on “View Gallery” for a picture preview

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Lolcat: Teh Exhibishun is from 23 January to 15 February 2013 at the Framers Gallery, London www.theframersgallery.co.uk