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
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  • CUTE

    Somerset House, until 14 April

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.

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