Nine Lives is a group exhibition that looks to examine the perennial motif of cats within art. Across generations and cultures, felines have been used as a vehicle for symbolism, with their presence pointing to myriad signs – ranging from rebirth, femininity, to the domestic, and most perhaps most ominous and alluring, black magic. In this presentation, we are exposed to the various ways in which artists both lovingly and often equivocally portray this ever elegant and mysterious creature.
Felines have long been subjects of human devotion. Within art, their presence can be traced back to the ancient Egyptians, for whom cats were not beloved supplicants, but revered deities. Today, cats remain an indelible symbol of intuition, independence and rebirth; qualities with equivocal connotations. Cats are considered harbingers of both good and evil. As spiritual guardians, their invocation is a protection from maleficent spirits, but in the hands of dark magic, they portend a dangerous unravelling. Perhaps it is this dichotomy which has sustained human interest in these mysterious and divine creatures.
Artists
