“This Kolossal Kat, that Massive MOG” at the Grundy Art Gallery in Blackpool until August 13 is a major new exhibition by Turner Prize-winning artist Mark Leckey featuring works that epitomize Leckey’s long-standing interest in Felix the Cat, the first known broadcast image.The artist’s giant blowup “Inflatable Felix” 2013 and his 2008 16mm film of the cat’s tail are showcased in the exhibition along with a major new art installation titled “FEELINTHECAT” which was commissioned by the Arts Council Collection to mark its 70th anniversary this year.Inspired by a found photograph of an actor wearing a Mickey Mouse costume at Disneyland, Leckey‘s “FEELINTHECAT” invites visitors to enter a giant cardboard speaker fashioned roughly in the shape of Felix’s head, where they can watch a video involving Felix and the artist.Also included in the exhibition is the artist’s seminal film “Fiorucci Made Me Hardcore” 1999 which shows archival footage of British nightlife from the late 1960s to the early 1990s, linking to Blackpool’s prominent role in the history of the Northern Soul underground music and dance movement.According to the Gallery, Felix takes on a number of roles in Leckey’s work, including as a motif for broadcasting, an avatar for the artist for whom the idea of turning into a cat is something that incites both fear and desire, as well as a reference to the subculture of “furries” or “furry fandom.”“Mark Leckey has consistently explored the space where visual art meets popular culture, and collapsed traditional distinctions between the ‘high’ and the ‘low’. His work is amusing; it makes you laugh but it can also be very moving,” said Grundy Curator Richard Parry.“There’s also a deep understanding of the changes that are afoot in the digital age we live in, of how the internet is fundamentally reshaping our relationship to each other, and to the things and images we encounter in our daily lives.”
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