Weird Stuff

Jimmy Cauty – Splatter Exhibition – Looney Tunes

posted by Chris Valentine

What would happen if the Warner Brothers cartoons that we all loved in our youth were given a bit more “realism”? Well, for starters, Daffy Duck getting his head blown off wouldn’t be so “clean”. Artist Jimmy Cauty uses this theme in his Splatter exhibition, located at The Aquarium Gallery in London. The characters from the popular Looney Tunes series have been included in artwork described as “unrelenting acts of blood and discomfort never previously witnessed on the Cartoon Network.”

<em>What's up, Motherf*cker!</em>

What's up, Motherf**ker!

The 51 year old Cauty said this about his Splatter exhibition:

“People have been saying since the 60’s that cartoons should show the consequences of violence, or kids will get the wrong idea. Its very difficult to shock kids these days – you have cartoon characters being shot in the head and walking off cliffs, so we have decided to replace them with something more realistic. I’m a parent myself, and if I saw pictures like that I would think of something kids would really love, because it’s no holds-barred violence. The idea actually came from my 15-year-old son, who suggested I do some artwork showing what cartoons are really like by showing their real consequences.

Splatter will also feature an eight-minute film with short scenes of “extreme cartoon violence”.

James Cauty - splatter - Exhibit - 01

James Cauty - splatter -The Aquarium

Gallery owner Steve Lowe said this about James Cauty’s work:

“It’s amazing work, and from the reactions we’ve had to it so far, children have loved it. I’m not sure if their parents have been too happy about their children loving it, but kids were very excited by it all, which is interesting because art is never normally aimed at children. It should be a very successful show, and will raise lots of questions about violence in the media and in our culture. We are constantly fed images of violence in this country, but we will have to see how people react when the show opens.”

The name James/Jimmy Cauty may seem familiar to some of you. That’s because he was one half of The KLF, co-founder of The Orb, and that guy who burned a million quid!

Other sources for this article: UK Telegraph, James Cauty official page

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