M. Chat
Encyclopedia
Graffiti
Graffiti is the name for images or lettering scratched, scrawled, painted or marked in any manner on property....
cat that originally appeared in Orléans
Orléans
-Prehistory and Roman:Cenabum was a Gallic stronghold, one of the principal towns of the Carnutes tribe where the Druids held their annual assembly. It was conquered and destroyed by Julius Caesar in 52 BC, then rebuilt under the Roman Empire...
, France in 1997. The graffiti appeared most frequently on chimneys, but was also sighted in other places, such as train platforms and at political rallies. The artist was originally anonymous, but in 2007 Thoma Vuille was caught in the act of creating the cat.
The yellow cartoon cat is characterized by its large Cheshire Cat
Cheshire Cat
The Cheshire Cat is a fictional cat popularised by Lewis Carroll's depiction of it in Alice's Adventures in Wonderland. Known for his distinctive mischievous grin, the Cheshire Cat has had a notable impact on popular culture.-Origins:...
grin. The cat is most often portrayed in a running pose, but has also been variously depicted waving signal flags, bouncing on a ball, sporting angel wings, and waving in greeting at the entrance to a train station. It is sometimes accompanied by the tag "M. Chat" in small letters.
A 2004 documentary, Chats Perchés (The Case of the Grinning Cat), by film maker Chris Marker
Chris Marker
Chris Marker is a French writer, photographer, documentary film director, multimedia artist and film essayist. His best known films are La jetée , A Grin Without a Cat , Sans Soleil and AK , an essay film on the Japanese filmmaker Akira Kurosawa...
, used the phenomenon of M. Chat's appearance across France as a springboard for a reflection on the state of the country post-9/11.
During a 2010 exhibition in Paris, Vuille claimed to have 60 cats across the French capital.
External links
- MonsieurChat.free.fr - A french website documenting appearances of the graffiti cat
- Chatting with Monsieur Chat at Paris graffiti show