Studio Job. Pussy Cats

From 05 September to 03 October, 2014 Carpenters Workshop Galllery will hold the themed solo show, ‘Pussy Cats’ from art collective Studio Job in its Mayfair space, in London.

The group founded by Dutch artists, Job Smeets and Nynke Tynagel will show the best and newest of its feline functional sculptures including the dramatic new work, Cat Fight made this year.

Cast in bronze and limited to an exclusive number of editions (8 + 3 artists’ proofs) the sculptures in Pussy Cats also have a dual function as lamps, fierce eyes taking the role of lights. Wild and nondomesticated, these cats are their own masters with their own rules. Though sometimes immobile, slightly dozing or meditating, they can also be on watch or leaping on their prey. As if philosophers, they seem to take an objective look at the world which surrounds them.

Since 2000 Studio Job has been observing everyday life and creating pieces that embody their nature and simplicity. As a result they have managed to develop their own universe made of inanimate objects to which they give a soul.

Job Smeets and Nynke Tynagel are both graduates of the Design Academy Eindhoven now based in Antwerp and the Netherlands. Their collaboration has created highly expressive, mainly one-off or limited edition works, from the outset.

Often cast in bronze or, later, crafted from laser-cut marquetry, the physical potential and malleability of the materials they use is pushed to the hilt. Their approach is more in keeping with that of traditional guilds than anything industrial. For Studio Job, creation is pre-eminent over definition.

Opulent, intricate and ironic, Studio Job combine an extraordinarily high level of craftsmanship with extreme ornamentation. They reference both the traditional and the topical, the organic and the artificial. This narrative conveys a tension between good and evil, exploring the different facets of each. Their iconography is at once heraldic and cartoon-like, monumental and yet somehow primitive.

Cats,

We love our cats Paula & Jambe Blanche.

‘Paula’ is an orphan from a village called ‘Echt’ in the southern part of The Netherlands.

‘Jambe Blanche’ is a 17-year-old belle dame. She was born in the basement of our first studio and has four white legs but that may not be a surprise. Both our cats are black and white, spotted like Dutch cows.

In fact, we only allow black and white spotted cats into our house in the forest. But even more importantly, they must be female. In Dutch a female cat is pronounced ‘poesje’ which is a sweet nickname for a ‘vagina’.

To a certain level, I believe, cats are autistic. They can’t really understand people’s emotions and can be quite ruthless. They kill birds, butterflies, mice and sometimes a mole, then they come home and sleep in our bed. Some say that cats are closely related to humans. Do they have a point?

Peut-être que oui, peut-être que non...

Job Smeets, Summer 2014