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The Squid Art Gallery

© Jen Longshaw

WWW not only stands for the World Wide Web but can also represent the Wild Weird and Wacky. Certainly many web sites out there are just that - out there! In Cyberland there are pages devoted to subjects as diverse as spoon bending to antique watches. They're owned by computer geeks, trendy grandmothers, technological illiterates, eleven-year old Spice Girl fans and cats.

Yes, in a world that has spawned "Why Cats Paint" there are now also web sites owned by felines. Many are mundane diaries of the "my life as a cat" variety although there are the occasional wits who describe the joys of tuna. Shining out from this mêlée (or meows depending on which way you look at it) is "The Squid's Art Gallery" www.squidgallery.com a site that combines tongue-in-cheek humor with clever digital artwork.

Squid is a handsome Abyssinian who shares a birthday with Abraham Lincoln on February 12, lives with his human companion and mentor Bev and enjoys being pictured within some of the world's greatest works of art. What is so remarkable about these compositions are that they're not just reproductions with Squid superimposed over the top. Instead he is integrated so well that it looks as if the artist had actually painted him in as a catscape.

The four galleries see Squid in a variety of eras. He nestles in the Mona Lisa's arms, poses in Botticelli's "Venus and Squid" and takes part in Munch's "The Scream" although this perhaps should now be renamed "The Yowl". Even Vincent Van Gogh's remarkable "Sunflowers" are enhanced by Squid intently admiring their beauty. When you see "Umbrellas" with an impressionistically painted Squid sheltering from the rain along with several elegant Parisian ladies you have to ask the question "Why didn't Renoir think of adding a cat to the original?" Certainly from now on whenever I see these masterpieces in their usual state I will always feel there's something missing. And for a new variation on xeroxing your rear end check out the "cat scan". No longer just a medical procedure these consist of Squid having his face scanned for immortality.

Cats can truly be regarded as living works of art; even while they sleep they never strike an unnecessary or vulgar pose. This probably stems from their innate sense of superiority over their human companions. Like Royalty they know they're constantly on display and must put their best paw forward.

That isn't to say that felines don't possess a sense of humor. After several millennia of living with us they've had to develop one in order to maintain their sanity. This perhaps accounts for Squid's knowing look from the canvas. He realises that we shouldn't take life so seriously. Even works of art so famous that even the most steadfast philistine recognises them, can be fun.

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