The Birth of Venus by Sandro Botticelli: (with Cat). Image via Fat Cat ArtBack 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
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
Utagawa Kuniyoshi, Fat Cat and Giant Snow Cat. Image: Fat Cat Art
Edward Hopper, Ginger Morning Sun. Image: Fat Cat ArtNo 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)
- About the Author
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The founder of downthetubes, which he established in 1998. John works as a comics and magazine editor, writer, and on promotional work for the Lakes International Comic Art Festival. He is currently editor of Star Trek Explorer, published by Titan – his third tour of duty on the title originally titled Star Trek Magazine.
Working in British comics publishing since the 1980s, his credits include editor of titles such as Doctor Who Magazine, Babylon 5 Magazine, and more. He also edited the comics anthology STRIP Magazine and edited several audio comics for ROK Comics. He has also edited several comic collections, including volumes of “Charley’s War” and “Dan Dare”.
He’s the writer of “Pilgrim: Secrets and Lies” for B7 Comics; “Crucible”, a creator-owned project with 2000AD artist Smuzz; and “Death Duty” and “Skow Dogs” with Dave Hailwood.
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