FU027 I Only Have Mews for Eyes by Matt McCarthy

20 x 16

That time I f’d up by creating a cat that was too f’d up. I used to make a bunch of what I call trippy cat pieces as a palate cleanser from my normal giant cat works. It amused me to imagine the weirdest, most disturbing cats possible. These trippy pieces would routinely get popular on Instagram because people either loved or hated them, but you know what they say, "Any attention is good attention."

One day while sourcing images for my work, I found this adorable picture of a kitten meowing. I thought it would be perfect for a trippy cat piece and I racked my brain trying to think of a new and exciting way to make this cat strange. Then it dawned on me: What if I replaced this cat’s eyes with its cute meowing mouth? The result was a disturbing blend of cute and horrific. It was perfect!

Excitedly, I posted this picture to Instagram fully prepared to get tons of comments and to go viral. Fast forward a few hours later, I’m checking my notifications on Instagram and see a bunch of comments about the piece being restricted. Sure enough it was reported for disturbing content and there were even people in my DMs accusing me of animal abuse. For a clearly photoshopped picture. My account got taken down while it was investigated and eventually the app overlords decided it was just art, not real, and didn’t actually require a sensitive content warning.

Turns out that sometimes in an attempt to make something f’d up you might actually f up. 

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Matt McCarthy is an analog and digital collage artist who uses cats as his primary subject matter. His surreal creations feature domestic felines (usually at a gigantic size) perched on top of buildings, stalking through cities, and generally just being cats. McCarthy views his work as surreal postcards from an alternate timeline and he attempts to create works that shock and delight while also honoring the animals humans have cherished for millenia.

McCarthy’s work has been featured widely in print and online and he’s worked with major companies and brands to create content in his signature style. You can find his work on social media @mrmattmccarthy, on the web at mrmattmccarthy.com, and for sale on Etsy at mrmattmccarthy.etsy.com.

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