WebFind: Russian Fat Cat Conquers the Worlds of Fine Art… and Game of Thrones

The Birth of Venus by Sandro Botticelli: (with Cat). Image via Fat Cat Art The Birth of Venus by Sandro Botticelli: (with Cat). Image via Fat Cat Art

Back in 2011, Russian artist Svetlana Petrova decided fine art simply didn’t have enough cats in it – so she’s added her own. Literally, her own, because Zarathustra, is her cat, and clearly very fond of art, so Svetlana decided to entertain her big ginger feline’s interests by adding him to some classic portraits and masterpieces.

Since the project launched, Zarathustra has expanded his interests into more spheres of human culture through a YouTube Channel, inserting himself into Game of Thrones, indulging in Space Cat Karaoke and offering tips on what a cat should do if invited to a Royal Wedding. Heck, there’s even a whole strand of “Famous Movies Improved by Cats“…

Zarathustra of Fat Cat Art, at work on a new movie earlier this year. Image via Fat Cat Art

Zarathustra of Fat Cat Art, at work on a new movie earlier this year. Image via Fat Cat Art 

Svetlana inherited the much-loved and well-fed Zarathustra from her late mother, who’s inspired Fat Cat Art, images of recreated paintings, and are all available for sale from the project’s official web site. There’s even a collection of some of them, published by Penguin.

Svetlana and Zarathustra take part in art exhibitions across the globe as a result of the project’s success.

The secret of Mona Lisa’s smile revealed... Image: Fat Cat Art The secret of Mona Lisa’s smile revealed… Image: Fat Cat Art
Utagawa Kuniyoshi, Fat Cat and Giant Snow Cat. Image: Fat Cat Art Utagawa Kuniyoshi, Fat Cat and Giant Snow Cat. Image: Fat Cat Art
Edward Hopper, Ginger Morning Sun Edward Hopper, Ginger Morning Sun. Image: Fat Cat Art

No artist, living or dead, is safe from this cat’s paws.

“Our main passion is to sit for the great artists,” Zarathustra, 10 kilograms of pure undisturbed joy, informs site visitors. “Only great artists can appreciate Our generous body and sublime soul.”

 

Svetlana Petrova is an artist, producer and curator living in St. Petersburg, Russia, who graduated from the Faculty of Philosophy of St.Petersburg State University, where she discovered her talent for avant-garde costume and performance.

She created the site FatCatArt.com in 2011 and launched the Fat Cat Art project: an experiment to create an Internet meme combining art history and the spirit of LOLcats. Her “famous paintings improved by cats” went viral and became an Internet sensation.

Before launching Fat Cat Art, Svetlana created a theatre group L.E.M. in the 1990s, that presented a lot of cutting edge performances, touring in Europe. Some of the performances caused a scandal in Russia because of their satirical combination of political and erotic content.

 

Then she fell in love with video and animation, becoming the founder and the director of the International Festival of Animation Arts, “Multivision“, famous for its large scale public video installations at drawbridges over the Neva River, which also features the annual “Cats and the City” viral cat animation and fiction films competition.

If you’ve not seen this before then Fat Cat Art is great fun and well worth checking out – for both cat and art lovers!

Check out Fat Cat Art at https://fatcatart.com | Facebook | Twitter | Instagram | Tumblr | YouTube

Famous Movies Improved by Cats

Buy Fat Cat Art: Famous Masterpieces Improved by a Ginger Cat with Attitude on Amazon UK (Affiliate Link)



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