On Kimba, Cat Kinetic Art and Cryptic Camouflage

Untitled Tissue Mixed-Media Piece

by Kimba the Cat circa 11/11/2011

circa 11:10-11 a.m.

     Animals have made contributions to the evolution of human art throughout our history and continue to make valid forays into the post-post Modernist Movements though they go largely under-recognized. We find undeniable inspirations from their works. Whether the in the Lissajous master dance configurations of Parakeets in flight, the stick and trunk Mandalaesque sand drawings of the Indian Elephant, the confounding geometric and sinistral abstraction webs of Spiders, the colorful brush and palette knife action paintings of Chimpanzees, Termite Terra-Form Architecture, the Honeybee's Hexagonal Hive...among many others and I invite you to seek out the others - animal contributions rate on par with some our best artistic works in the broadest range of fields. We are privileged through their efforts to delve into Nature's profound spiritual and creative soul.

     Felines for example are often under-rated in terms of their artistic endeavors due mainly to the terrifying ritualistic blood n' guts slash carcassian aspects of their oeuvres and the fact that little is left to appreciate. Particularly if you were the object of the hunt...often no more than a lone, rocking eyeball's oblique view as the last tendon is torn from socket, leaving only a grinning Yoricqesque skull to reflect with on the Art itself. These are usually the last body parts you want to go to for critique as they generally if not wholly offer the least objective of Feline Art.
     Moving beyond the victim-slash-slash buyer's = crise-de-conscience remorse crowd, or the Animal Planet's spectator sportster's Lunatic Fringe, I submit you can, in the comfort of your own home witness the creation of many worthwhile three dimensional art works that rival many of the better Abstract Expressionists.
     All you need is handful of mossy Beggar's Velvet, a roll of Papier de Toilette and patience.
     Take the recent works of my kitten cat Kimba. Here by way of introduction is brief video of Kimba the artist warming up to attack the "blank canvas" roll with the Artist Studio Method-ist like tuning of her inner Lion Queen:

Kimba taking no Prisoners

getting ready for the "Blank Canvas" roll aka Charmin's ,

-especially the Pink Moccasin

Artist Wannabee Matisse taking

a stroll through Kimba's

Work in Progress

Does it look 'finished' ?

After working and reworking the canvas Kimba finally left the room, signaling that the work was complete-had gone as far as it could go. It was now for the critics and the world to judge.

Passer-Buyer contemplates Kimba's

'Untitled" finished oeuvre.

    I mentioned that the work reminded me of Bruce Lee's "Fists of Fury" and that suggested to Kimba that the Piece might be entitled "Paws of Fury". Well her reaction was mixed. You can hear her reaction for yourselves as Lion Queen is getting post-work out massage:

Kimba's reaction to the working title "Claws of Fury

     Needless to say the piece was to remain 'Untitled'

     On the nature of cryptic camouflage. In one case it is the use of patterns or colors in an environment to blend in so as to avoid detection by predators like a Doe in the Sundewed Thicket of Leaves.

     In a second case, we imagine the reverse whereby patterns or colors are used to hide the predator from its prey like the Tiger in the Sundewed Thicket of Leaves.

     And in a third case we can imagine the inverse of cryptic camouflage -or cryptic camouflage inversion where someone - very human here- goes out of their way in overt declaration of independence to make make an unusually bad fashion statement like a man-mannequin in a tailored suit, cut-offs and sock less Clogs at a special Charity Event in a Darkly Lit Leafless Thicket of Martini Glasses, Swizzle Sticks and Marble floors where the click and clack of Clogs sound like a Thicket Symphony of cricket castanets bound to drive you insane!.... But I digress.

Kinetic Cat Art After-Party

      The deeper point about the cryptic coloration dealt not with my cast of cats-all black and perfectly suited to the night hunt. But that not all blacks are the same. If you take a closer look, Passer-Buyer aka Misses Ludlow is a rust black, Wannabee Matisse is Cobalt black, and vinegary artiste Kimba is black on black - India Ink black. That's if you noticed how many different cats there were in the first place. Their are many shades of colors in black as their are in white. Rembrandt, Caravaggio, Delacroix, Kline among others..... Kimba give us insight into this important observation to artists and others.

In Contemplation of a Black Hole

Oil on canvas 24" x 36"

Pereira 2001

Einsteins' Brain - Inside Dark Matter

1991 - Enamel/Oil/ Mixed-Media on Glass

Pereira