Laura Gascoigne

Like swallowing a pack of Parma Violets: CUTE, at Somerset House, reviewed

It was hard to separate the art from the merch – other than by size

‘The cat sitting in its favourite basket out in the blizzard, the Himalaya’, 2020, by Karen Kilimnik. Courtesy the artist, Sprüth Magers and Galerie Eva Presenhuber  
issue 03 February 2024

It’s funny how badly some 1960s films have dated. Watch What’s New Pussycat? today and you feel faintly sick. Never mind the chorus line of high-kicking cartoon cupids in the title sequence, what about the lyrics of Tom Jones’s theme song? ‘So go and powder your cute little pussycat nose…’ Yuck.

Tim Berners-Lee, asked what uses of his invention he hadn’t foreseen, replied with one word: ‘Kittens.’

But if you think we’ve moved on, you’d better not visit CUTE. Coinciding with the 50th birthday of Japanese cartoon character Hello Kitty, Somerset House’s latest exhibition – ‘a landmark exploration of the irresistible force of cuteness’ – takes as its starting point the craze for funny cat memes unleashed by the internet. Tim Berners-Lee, when asked what uses of his invention he hadn’t foreseen, replied with one word: ‘Kittens.’ His response is quoted at the start of the show in a gallery of rainbow-coloured cosplaying kitties designed using AI by Graphic Thought Facility.

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