Mr Chat

First floor / Size : 310 x 390 cm/ Suppport: Metal Doorway /Aerosols / 2012

“It was Popof who invited me to paint in the buildings in Pantin as part of the “Eté du Canal” summer festival. I had a quick stroll round and set my sights on a doorway onto the exterior gangways, telling myself it was visible from the Canal de l’Ourcq and that maybe my work would manage to remain. Since I only had the one afternoon there, I didn’t try anything too complicated. I painted the cat’s head, which has sort of turned into my logo. Just my basic model – a childlike cat with a rigid, toothy grin. He’s engaging, he’s friendly, but he’s nobody’s fool. First comes the tracing, then the filling in and the outlines – and hey presto: one more Mr Chat.”

M.CHAT

Mr Chat is a graphic creation of French-Swiss artist Thoma Vuille. His childlike acrylic paintings of smiling cats first started appearing in various cities outside Paris in 1997, finally touching down on the rooftops of Paris in the early 2000s. Mr Chat went on to become the unifying thread in Chris Marker’s 2004 documentary, Chats Perchés (The Case of the Grinning Cat). The film was screened at the Pompidou Centre – and to mark the occasion, with the full blessing of the Centre, the entire forecourt was covered by a gigantic portrait of the smiling yellow cat. Since then, Vuille, his reputation as a street artist assured, has been travelling the world, painting and taking part in festivals and exhibitions.

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