A controversial exhibit using body parts from dead cats and baby dolls opens today, at the Canton Art Institute. The local exhibit may allow local art lovers to join the national debate over controversial art supported by tax money, an issue debated Wednesday, by the U.S. House of Representatives. The House refused to ban federal funds for artwork deemed obscene or indecent. Opponents argued that the issue was not censorship but how to spend public money. The national debate concerns an exhibit of 153 photographs by Robert Mapplethorpe -- 13 of which included images of sadomasochistic homosexual sex. The local debate concerns an exhibit of imaginary animal sculptures fashioned by Akron artist Stephen Paternite from freeze-dried animal parts and baby dolls. He said he was furious that museum officials would suggest censoring his work by requesting that he pull three of his most controversial displays.

`I was appalled that anything would be censored,' the 37-year-old artist said. He said he is an animal lover and hasn't actually killed any of the animals. He said he took them off the streets after they were hit by automobiles or bought stuffed cats at taxidermy supply houses or garage sales. Museum Director M.J. Albacete said he told Paternite that some museum visitors were upset over the cat displays, and he asked if Paternite wanted to withdraw those sculptures, but that he was not trying to censor Paternite's work. Albacete said he was merely trying to be sensitive to the community's feelings about `unique and unusual' art.

`I'm trying to do the right thing,' Albacete said. `I guess I needed his reassurance.' Albacete said he is surprised Paternite's displays would spark controversy. `This is not a Mapplethorpe,' Albacete said. `This is not a flag that is pasted on the floor for people to walk on. It asks us to alter the way we perceive the care and treatment of animals.'

The exhibit, Creature-Nites of Ohio, was created by Paternite and his two brothers. Paternite said the display shows the endless possibilities of creating new hybrid species of imaginary Ohio critters. A statement on the exhibit from Paternite said his interest in the environment and animals led to experiments with taxidermy and animal forms as sculptures.

One display in question is Kiddie Kat, which has the body of a cat with a baby doll head. The second, Kiddie Kat II, has the body of a doll with the head of a Siamese cat. The third, Robocat, is a freeze-dried kitten head and tail with a molded rubber body. Paternite said the Creature-Nites display has been shown before, but this is the first exhibit of Kiddie Kat I and II. Albacete, who describes Paternite's work as `creative and ingenious,' said the question of artistic freedom must always be defended. `Art is not there for our humor. It's there for our education. Sometimes it can be harsh,' he said.

Susan Dickson of the Ohio Arts Council said she has seen Paternite's exhibit, but not the Kiddie Kat sculptures. She said the council supported Paternite with a $5,000 grant. If Paternite was `harming animals to get his supply of animal parts, I think we'd have a problem,' she said. She said the exhibit will `rattle some people, but that's sort of the purpose of art.' Paternite says some of the displays are meant to be humorous, such as Primalsaurus Rex, a sculpture with duck's feet, dried owl claws, a doll head and plastic torso. Others are more serious. A collage of dead pigeons is a memorial to 106 pigeons killed in 1987 in Columbus. [Mechanicsburg Pigeon Massacre].

Paternite said he enjoys the controversy his work is provoking. `I like controversy,' he said. `It's the cement that binds most artwork.' Creature-Nites and two other exhibits, Historic Architecture in Canton, a photo documentation, and The Grand Canyon: A Painting by Joseph Digiorgio, will be presented in a reception from 6:30 to 9 p.m. today.

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All content © 1989 The Akron Beacon Journal and may not be republished without permission.
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My hat is off to Akron sculptor Stephen Paternite. He has given me a new appreciation of art. Finally, someone has discovered a good use for cats. You may have read Friday, about the opening of Paternite's exhibit of animal sculptures this weekend at the Canton Art Institute.

This story rated Page One because two of his works -- Kiddie Kat and Kiddie Kat II -- have set off something of a controversy among museumgoers. In both sculptures, Paternite fused the body parts of dead cats and plastic baby dolls. Kiddie Kat has a doll's head mounted on a cat's body. Kiddie Kat II, the sequel, is reversed. The cat's head and tail are attached to the doll's body. At least he got maximum use out of the materials at hand.

It should be noted that Paternite claims that he did not harm any of the cats in his exhibit. He found them dead along the side of the road. If Paternite's show attracts a large following, toy manufacturers may have a whole new product line -- and just in time for Christmas, too.

Imagine the possibilities:
The Siamese Barbie -- with a plastic chest, of course.
G.I. Tomcat.
Catsy-Wetsy.
Cabbage Patch Cats.

But most importantly, the artist makes a powerful statement with his work -- which is why it is referred to as `art' instead of `oooh, gross!' Anyway, to me he is saying that cats have contributed more to culture than dogs. I don't agree, though I will concede that felines have played a more prominent role in the world of art. Cats have been instrumental to the development of music -- i.e., guitar strings.

Cats also are featured in literature, notably in that best seller 101 Things to Do With a Dead Cat. And what is Spuds McKenzie but a rip-off of Morris the Cat and Garfield?

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All content © 1989 The Akron Beacon Journal and may not be republished without permission.
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