City Kitty is a New York-based Street Artist who creates unique, one of a kind pieces, often featuring the cats he’s become so well known for. He’s amazingly prolific for an artist whose work is all hand-done, rather than relying on prints.

Over the years, I’ve often been asked about City City, and recently I went over to this elusive artist’s studio to learn more about his process. While I photographed him working on one of his large-scale pieces—as well as our collaboration for the Murder Lounge’s Downtown Denim show—we talked about his perspective and the origins of City Kitty.

                                  [City Kitty at work in the studio]

TheDustyRebel: First, I’m curious to know the origin of City Kitty? Where does the name come from and how did it come to be?

City Kitty: A few years ago I lived in Bushwick, Brooklyn, in a building that used to be an old factory. There was a large abandoned lot next door, with stray cats that were always having litters of kittens. I grew up in a house with 5 cats, and I tried to sort of adopt these neighborhood strays, but they never let me get anywhere near them. I created the City Kitty image to honor these little gangster kittens of NYC. The Spanish version is in honor of the Dominican and Puerto Rican neighborhood I was living in. If these cats were to speak, I’m pretty sure it would be Spanish. 

 [East Village, NYC]

TheDustyRebel: Why do you choose to work on the street? 

City Kitty: I have worked at galleries for years, and became disillusioned at what I learned about how the art world works, in terms of hierarchy, politics, etc. Street Art and Graffiti is refreshing to me, with its accessibility to the masses and lack of imposed rules.

[Large hand-done piece in Bushwick, Brooklyn]

TheDustyRebel: From your experience, how has the Street Art scene change over the years?

City Kitty: I’d say the first thing that comes to mind is the diversity of what is actually being put up on the street. Growing up, spray paint was definitely the dominant medium, but now its really varied. On any given wall you can find stickers, wheat-pastes, stencils, etc. This diversifying also applies thematically, to what people are saying—political, comical, beautiful work, etc.

                                          [190 Bowery, NYC)

TheDustyRebel: Over the past few months, City Kitty has had more of a social media presence, joining Instagram and being more active on Facebook. How has it been, interacting with fans and seeing how often people snap photos of your work?

City Kitty: I make artwork because I love making it and putting it up for others to see. But being an artist can be lonely. I paint by myself, and I usually go out to put things up in the streets alone. So it has been kind of fun to find pictures of my work on these sites that other people have snapped, and to know that there is an interest in what I’m doing. Now I’m becoming known as a guy that draws cats. It is a bit weird to me because I had become used to anonymity. I think it’s pretty funny, but I don’t know how I feel about it. I guess it’s kind of a double-edge sword.

                               [One of City Kitty’s free art pieces]

TheDustyRebel: You put out a lot of hand painted boards that people can take off the street. How did that start? What’s the motivation? 

 City Kitty: I like that people can find it and bring something home with them. I do a lot of work as a carpenter, and they are made from off-cuts from jobs. This is a practice I learned from Army Of One.

[ed.: Army Of One (aka Jef Campion) was a New York Street Artist who occasionally left free art in the street. He sadly died early this year. ]

                [Woodward Gallery Project Space - 132 Eldridge Street]

TheDustyRebel: All of your work is one of a kind. Is that important to you? That you put up pieces that are all individual and handmade rather than copies?  

City Kitty: I think this stems from my background in painting and Fine Art. I didn’t really feel comfortable delving into street art until I found a way to bring the handmade and individual aspect into everything I created. Silkscreen printing has become a major part of my practice, and allows me to make multiple prints efficiently, which I then draw into individually.   

                                        [City Kitty Gremlins]

TheDustyRebel: Over the years, I’ve seen Muppets, Ninja Turtles, Star Wars characters, the band members from Kiss… I even found a City Kitty of myself, recently. How do you choose your City Kitty variations? 

City Kitty: I look for strong iconic features that will translate recognizably when adapted to the City Kitty icon. I just have fun with it, and allows me to mix things up and keep it interesting. It gives me an excuse to make some throwback pieces in homage my childhood.

                                 [City Kitty at work in the studio] 

TheDustyRebel: How planned out are the large-scale pieces? From watching you work, it appears you create as you go.

City Kitty: I work in a particular style, but try to keep the planning to a minimum.  Sometimes I go in knowing how big and with a rough idea. But i try to keep it more about free association and discovery throughout the process.

TheDustyRebel: Can you explain the Murder Lounge and the upcoming show, “Downtown Denim ” in Jersey City?

City Kitty: The Murder Lounge is an art collective that I became involved with shortly after moving to NYC. It is made up of myself and three other artists: Dave Tree, Victor Cox, and Sergio Coyote, who met I during the Fountain Art Fair. At first we primarily just showed our work together at Fountain and other venues. Each of us makes very different styles of artwork, and we were often asked about why we hadn’t made any collaborative work as a collective. This project is a response to that question. I got the denim from a fashion retailer that I worked for, and brought it to Dave Tree. He suggested that this be the material that we work on. We later decided to expand the project beyond our Collective, and initiate collaborations with some of the great artists we have met through Fountain Art Fair and beyond.

More: City Kitty, Street Art, Interviews