I LIKE CATS

On thick, roughly textured paper, a gallery of highly stylized felines created by over a dozen Indian folk artists in as many primitivist styles pose gracefully or are caught in mid-leap, staring steadily up at viewers with authentically catlike directness. The uniformly applied colors also seem to leap out, printed in a silkscreen process that gives them a lambent intensity that is heightened by sinuous, deep black lines defining each creature’s distinctive shape and finely patterned fur. Paper, printing and binding all done by hand, this numbered edition of a 2009 title is a multisensory delight, as pleasing to the hand as it is to the eye. The deep red reflects light, the inky black absorbs it and each line provides a tactile experience, all demonstrating eloquently what is lost in the mass production of an art book. “Thin cats…Fat cats…Saintly cats…Brat cats,” as Ravishankar’s minimalist and sometimes arbitrary captions suggest all cavort across these pages. The slow cats (one red, one green) march in stately fashion; the dazed cats (done in an intricate pattern of tiny lines and spots in red, green, blue and yellow) stare glassily out at readers. A key at the back provides information about the artists and their styles. Packaged with an extra illustration laid in and a die-cut wrapping strip, this lovely artifact will be received eagerly by both cat lovers and connoisseurs of bookmaking. (Picture book. 6-9, adult)