Feline arty? Cinema Cats are on display for Coastal Currents

Montague Armstrong (Jude Montague and Matt Armstrong) have created a purr-fectly playful new exhibition, ‘Cinema Cats’, at the Electric Palace cinema for this year’s Coastal Currents. Pop along to see the artworks, says Annie Waite, and enjoy a selection of cat-themed films too. Here, we chat with Jude Montague about the upcoming show.

To launch the cat-themed exhibition, on Thursday 31 August, the Electric Palace cinema is showing Kedi, a magical documentary about street cats, told from a cat’s eye perspective. The evening screening will also include a live musical performance from Andy Cordle, Matt Armstrong and Jude Montague, performing together for the first time.

Bringing together cello, double bass and violin they will accompany one of the earliest films to feature a cat in top billing: The Sick Kitten.

“The track will include live coding using ‘Tidal Cycles’ developed by Alex McLean to manipulate samples of cats miaowing and voices imitating cats. The sound piece will be taken further by live improvisation,” says Jude.

Conveying humour

So how did the Cinema Cats exhibition idea come into fruition?

“Humour is important to me, in arts both visual, audio-visual.” says Jude.

“This does not mean art has to be considered comedy to contain humour. But I like a certain attitude, fun and life that we associate with comic attitude. This is one of the keys in picking Cinema Cats as my topic for an exhibition at the cinema. I have been fascinated by cinema posters for many years, and for this show I have put cats or cat symbolism with designs taken from this field.”

Cinema poster art

Jude has also been interested in cinema posters for many years. She trained as a film historian and worked in the Reuters archive for many years, cataloguing and researching audio-visual material from the international collection.

“I am particularly drawn to the innovative collage of the Polish and Czech schools, the 1960s and 1970s stand out for me, but I also love the complex group paintings of Thai posters, where there is so much action and so many figures painted together in an impossible tableau,” says Jude.

You can see the influence in the Cinema Cats artworks, although they don’t have the exact look.

“They are really one-off prints that I have made in my studio on the Kings Road and walk somewhere between fine art and illustration. One poster is ‘The Wicker Cat’ with a little red cat playing the part taken by Edward Woodward,” she says.

Other films that worked well for posters, Jude says, are The Birds by Alfred Hitchcock, and Psycho, with a cat paw clawing a curtain.

Special allure of cats

Cats and other animals feature regularly in Montague Armstrong artworks – what is it that draws you to creating art about these creatures?

“I like to watch cats, domestic cats and follow their activities. The way they move with their flexible bodies is a source of entertainment for me, I could watch them for hours. They seem to possess special powers to relax their pet humans, and when one is sitting on your knee purring it seems irreverent to disturb it. It’s very understandable but also disturbing when you discover how many cats the Ancient Egyptians sacrificed at the temples. The cats would have had great value as a sacrifice because of their divine qualities,” says Jude.

Jude mentions that the most famous artist to anthropomorphise cats and draw them repeatedly was Louis Wain. He drew large-eyed cats and kittens inspired by animals he knew. He became seen as a leading authority on them, and was elected president of the National Cat Club.

“That’s frightening to think an artistic obsession can lead to other real life roles. I plan to carry on watching my cat George, and letting him prevent me from doing too much by allowing him to sit on my lap,” Jude quips.

Exhibition opening times

Get a first view of the exhibition if you book to see Kedi on Thursday 31 August, showing at 11am and 7.30pm. The evening screening includes a live musical performance from Montague Armstrong and Andy Cordle alongside the short films.

The Cinema Cats exhibition will then be open for view throughout this year’s Coastal Currents festival, 30 mins before each public screening at the Electric Palace cinema, 39a High St, Hastings.

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