This new exhibition brings together works that involve the artist’s long-standing interest in Felix the Cat, the first known broadcast image. Central to the show will be FEELINTHECAT, a major new work commissioned by the Arts Council Collection to mark its 70th anniversary this year.
The exhibition will see a profusion of images of the iconic cartoon cat. In addition to the new commission it will feature a host of works including Inflatable Felix (2013) a giant blow-up version, and earlier works such as Flix (2008), a 16mm film of the cat’s tail.
Alongside the main exhibition visitors will also be able to see Leckey’s seminal film Fiorucci Made Me Hardcore (1999), which has been described as ‘perhaps the finest portrayal of British nightlife ever captured’, and here nods to Blackpool’s part in the Northern Soul music scene, which was especially active in North West in the 1960s and 70s.
Mark Leckey (b. Birkenhead, Wirral 1964) has exhibited extensively at numerous venues internationally. He was awarded the Turner Prize in 2008 for his work Industrial Light and Magic. A further new commission of his work will be shown at the Liverpool Biennial 2016, and he will undertake a major solo exhibition at the Museum of Modern Art MoMA PS1 in New York later in the year.