Kat

Kat, an activist for animal rights, started pasting posters in the streets and alleys of Montreal in 2014, a few years after arriving here from her native France. Her recurring theme of anthropomorphic creatures with animal masks quickly got her noticed by local fans of street art. Her characters are often held captive by chains or strange contraptions, or are placed behind bars – in the image, or literally pasted behind the bars of alley windows and doors. The artist explains her choice of iconography in these words: “On one side we are all hiding behind a mask when we are in society and choosing what we want to show from ourselves to others. Sometimes it’s to protect ourselves from not showing emotions to look stronger or just to keep safe in our secret garden. On the other aspect of the human being, we all have a connection with an animal. It can be a physical or similar personality, an attraction or an aversion, a fear…”

Since the end of 2016 Kat has broaden the range of social issues tackled in her art, but she has also more or less taken a break from working in the streets. The work shown in the gallery below therefore mostly spans the years 2014-2016. For more information on the artist, and to see what she has been up to since 2016, check out www.katstreetart.com as well as her Instagram page.

L’artiste d’origine française Kat s’est mise aux collages dans les rues et ruelles de Montréal en 2014, quelques années après son arrivée à Montréal. Elle s’est immédiatement fait remarquer par les amateurs de street art pour son thème récurrent, des créatures anthropomorphiques portant masques d’animaux. Ses personnages sont souvent prisonniers de chaines ou se trouvent derrière des barreaux (dans l’image ou littéralement derrière de vrais barreaux de fenêtres et portes de ruelles). L’artiste, qui a à coeur la lutte contre la cruauté envers les animaux, explique ainsi ses choix iconographiques (ma traduction): “D’abord, nous portons tous un masque lorsqu’en société. Nous choisissons ainsi quelle facette de notre personnalité nous désirons présenter aux autres. Nous agissons ainsi par protection, pour avoir l’air plus fort, pour se sentir plus sécure. De plus, chacun de nous a une certaine connection avec un animal. Cette connection peut être due à une ressemblance physique ou de personalité, ou le fruit d’une attirance ou répulsion envers l’animal en question.”

Depuis la fin de 2016 Kat a ajouté quelques causes sociales à son art, mais elle a aussi à toutes fins pratiques cessé d’exposer dans la rue. Les oeuvres présentées dans la gallerie ci-dessous datent en conséquence majoritairement de la période 2014-2016. Pour plus d’information sur l’artiste, ou pour voir son travail en studio depuis 2016, vous êtes invités à jeter un coup d’oeil à www.katstreetart.com ainsi qu’à sa page Instagram.


pasted work

On one of the info boards for the 2019 edition of Mural Festival.

Posters for the 2018 edition of the Under Pressure Festival. See below for close-ups.

Close-up of one of the posters for the 2018 edition of the Under Pressure Festival.

Close-up of one of the posters for the 2018 edition of the Under Pressure Festival.

In a Plateau alley.

In a Plateau alley. Notice the stitch around the mouth, the cuts and the fake blood.

In a Plateau alley.

In a Plateau alley.

In the Plateau.

In the Plateau.

In Plateau End.

In Mile End.

In the alley between St-Laurent and Clark.

In the alley between St-Laurent and Clark.

In the alley between St-Laurent and Clark.

In the alley between St-Laurent and Clark.

Near Clark

In the alley between St-Laurent and Clark.

In the alley between St-Laurent and Clark.

In the alley between St-Laurent and Clark.

Well hidden at the back of a narrow dead-end alley.

On an abandoned Mile End building.

In the alley between St-Laurent and Clark.

Near St-Laurent.

In the alley between St-Laurent and Clark.

In an alley off Mont-Royal. The paste-up on the right is by Swarm.

At the back of the LNDMRK offices.

In the alley between St-Laurent and Clark.

In the alley between St-Laurent and Clark.

In the alley between St-Laurent and Clark.

In the alley between St-Laurent and Clark.

On the George General d’Auto Reparation abandoned garage.

On St-Dominique.

On the George General d’Auto Reparation abandoned garage.

In the alley between St-Laurent and Clark.

In Parc des Amériques. Also visible in the bottom left corner is a paste-up by ROC514 with Cup O’Joe.

Collaboration between Kat (left) and Labrona (right) found in Centre-Sud.

Collaboration between Kat (left) and Labrona (right) found in Centre-Sud.


painted work

Kat’s contribution to the 2016 edition of the Under Pressure Festival. Unlike most of Kat’s work, this piece was all painted on location.

Official work on St-Laurent. See below for a different angle.

Official work on St-Laurent. See above it for a different angle.

More from the above official project on St-Laurent.


installation

Kat created a selfie booth/installation for the 2016 edition of Mural Festival with the aim of bringing awareness to animal rights.

Pour l’édition 2016 du Festival Mural Kat a créé une installation dans le but de sensibiliser les visiteurs au sort des animaux en captivité.

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