CATS

The title of this stunning painting is in the painting, nested within the greater visual feast. But as dazzling as CATS is, Harriet was not content merely to leave it at that.

In viewing Harriet Young's paintings, especially in person where the dominant perception is one of a mesmerizing totality, emotion triumphs over analysis, and the mind’s eye is too busy being seduced to bother with anything else that may be going on. She does this in CATS, and we'll leave it to the observer to fully sort this out. Suffice it to say that at its core, there is a subplot here about lust and desire. Harriet’s dot camouflage gets a little more strategic where it needs to, but it’s a fake cover-up.

We didn’t set out to highlight the salacious side of Harriet Young’s art. In fact, in the beginning we weren’t even aware of it. Since Hollywood and Vegas aren’t usually thought of as hotbeds of carnal restraint, maybe we should have suspected as much going in. Anyway, all of that is beside the point. In the end, the intent is to go where the artist is taking us, and in CATS she is taking us for a ride on the Libido Express. All aboard.

(Note: the musical CATS was first performed on the London stage in 1981, and opened in New York in 1982, long after Harriet had left Las Vegas. It obviously belongs in a “Broadway” category, but until we can find more paintings to populate it, we’ll be keeping CATS here.)