The contemporary art exhibition “Cats Are Taking Over”, organized by Sandwich Gallery and Fildas Art Foundation, through Catena for Art Program, brings together 45 artists and artistic groups from Romania, China, France, Poland, Spain, Australia, and the USA.
“Cats Are Taking Over” is the first exhibition in the contemporary art pavilion of Villa Catena (Str. Radu Calomfirescu 15), a new cultural space recently inaugurated in Bucharest. The event marks a premiere for this space that aims to generate a warm formula for understanding art. The exhibition is curated by Alexandru Niculescu and Daniela Pălimariu, co-founders of the Sandwich gallery.
“The exhibition uses the cat as a pretext – a symbol of intimacy, mystery and irony. “Cats Are Taking Over” is an incursion into the universe of charismatic domestic felines, often considered too trivial for “serious” art, which thus claim their place in contemporary creation. From flatmate to cultural symbol, from mystical symbols to simple everyday presences, who else would be more suitable as the main character in an exhibition about the contrasts of the present moment? Through traditional techniques such as painting, ceramics, sculpture, or through conceptual works, audio, immersive installations and inflatable sculptures, the works thus brought together outline a complex image of the challenges of the present, functioning as a collective catalyst whose stimulus is, apparently, a simple pet. Its hypostases are among the most varied: the leader cat, the fetish cat, the totem cat, the feminist cat, the anatomy of the cat, the cat as an institutional critic, the medicine cat, the Dacian cat, and the sacred cat.” (curatorial text)
The exhibition includes works created especially for this occasion, as well as pieces from private collections. Through this joint initiative, Sandwich and Fildas Art Foundation, through the Catena for Art Program, open a new, invigorating dialogue between the public and contemporary art, highlighting a building-monument and questioning, with humor and critical spirit, the way we relate to the exhibition space and art in general.
Participating artists: About 28, Mihaela Ioana Atomei, Liliana Basarab, Marcel Broodthaers, Dan Basu, Radu Boeru, Anastasia Calinovici, Tudor Ciurescu, Coady, Vuk Ćuk, Bernat Daviu, Stoyan Dechev, Ecaterina Cristescu Delighioz, Pola Dwurnik, Mari Eastman, Elian, Giles Eldridge, Bianca Ferăstrău, Dimitrie Luca Gora, Dumitru Gorzo, Tobias Hild, Sorin Ilfoveanu, Peter Jecza, Martin Goya Business, Sarah Lucas, Olivia Mihălțianu, Nico Mureș, Marta Mattioli, Giuliano Nardin, Trine Lise Nedreaas, Jin Ningning, Radu Pandele, Dan Perjovschi, Alexandru Rangă, Cristian Răduță, Natasha Shulte, Francisc Șirato, Anaïs Touchot, Andrei Tudoran, Dan Vezentan, Mihaela Vezentan, Zhang Zhihui, Béla Zoltán.
The exhibition partners are the French Institute, Neurohope, Krupa Foundation, and Senso Arte.
The exhibition can be visited until July 30, 2025. Admission is free.
Opened in 2016 in Bucharest, Sandwich is an art space inspired by an 11 sq m residual space, located between two industrial buildings, capitalizing on limitations as creative resources. Since its debut, the gallery has constantly challenged the conventional definition of art space, functioning as an active environment and an instigator engaged in the contemporary art scene. Sandwich proposes an inclusive vision of art, in which process, dialogue and relationships built over time play an essential role.
Fildas Art Foundation was founded in 1996, out of love for art and the desire to support artists. Through the Catena for Art Program, the Fildas Art Foundation has been constantly involved in supporting the visual arts, but also in promoting cinema, theater, music and literature. Within this program, Fildas Art Foundation organizes exhibitions and supports cultural events, actively contributing to the affirmation of Romanian artists and their projects, giving them visibility and recognition.
