Locally known street artist, Phil Musen—a SCAD alumnus who has turned cat paintings into his calling card—is bringing his cats indoors as Gallery Espresso is hosting an exhibition of his work.
You could say art runs in Phil’s family. He began learning to create from his grandmother during his childhood.
“I started taking any art class I could. I focused on it in high school and eventually got into SCAD,” he explains.
But it wasn’t until years after graduation that Phil truly found his niche in the crowded art community of Savannah.
“I was working in farming for a while,” he says. But for Phil, this wasn’t where his passion resided. “I had tried to make it as an artist before and failed. I did a lot of hard and unrewarding work, and I thought I should try out being an artist one more time. I thought that I should try out the street artist route.”
Phil moved his art operation outside and began painting at some of Savannah’s most famous locations, most notably Forsyth Park. Times were tough at the beginning of his attempt at making it as a street artist.
“It is easy to become a street artist, but hard to become successful at it. I started out just painting landscapes and stuff, but I wasn’t selling enough to feel confident about it,” Phil remembers. But in a stroke of good fortune, he discovered the key to his now famous street art operation.
His ex-girlfriend at the time, was a cat lover.
“I was painting a picture of some cats drinking martinis to give her and ask her back out. It was supposed to just be a cute painting you’d give to your girlfriend, but when people saw me painting it, everybody wanted to buy it. I made a few more just to test out the theory, and they sold right away” This began the feline frenzy.
Phil saw a market and began rapidly expanding his portfolio of cat art. He places cats within bizarre and unexpected landscapes and settings such as ancient Rome, futuristic robot worlds, and the time of the dinosaurs.
“I try to paint things I like, it keeps the paintings interesting for me. That’s why I paint stuff like history, dragons, and whatever else I find fun. A lot of times, I am trying to be mildly clever. People often see cats in people’s home windows, but what other types of windows could a cat be behind? A submarine has a window, a giant robot has a window,” he laughs, “Sometimes the cat is only a tiny part of the painting, but, as long as it is in there somewhere, it continues the theme.”
His quirky style is fast becoming an institution in Savannah.
“I didn’t think it would last as long as it has, but I keep on pushing the boundaries with it,” he explains.
That being said, Phil also creates art on a variety of other topics. For those interested, his entire portfolio which includes both paintings and ceramics can be seen on his website philmusen.com. Fans of his work should keep their eyes peeled as he can often be seen around town creating his art pieces.
For art and cat lovers alike, Phil’s whimsical work is a must see. The show is on display through Jan. 3 at Gallery Espresso downtown on Bull St.