Magnum O-Pspsps at Cornell

In Dialogue

Curator Michael Morgan with George Boorujy’s *Dredger* (2017) in the Foundry, home to Cornell’s MFA studios. Photo courtesy of Michael Morgan

Curating an exhibition at Cornell doesn’t require waiting until after graduation or climbing a long academic ladder. The Art Department makes the process unusually accessible—for undergraduates, graduates, and faculty alike. Within the department, there are two dedicated galleries, and under the larger umbrella of the AAP College, a third gallery also accepts exhibition proposals. Each semester, a committee comes together to review applications for the following term. It was within this framework that two graduate students took on the challenge of organizing a large group exhibition. Michael Morgan, who co-curated the exhibition with Elina Ansary, tells us about the process behind the show.

Michael, you and Elina are graduate students at Cornell. Tell us about the genesis of this expansive exhibition.

I was in a few group shows this summer, and this group show was a nice opportunity to invite other participating artists and organizers I liked from those shows and continue the conversation. Elina graduated in May and moved back to Brooklyn, where she has a studio and gallery space called Peach Pit Gallery. This is serving as a drop-off and pick-up point for artists in NYC, which has allowed us to expand who we could ask to participate in a show all the way in Ithaca.

Elina and I agreed to work on this exhibition last spring. We would mention it to visiting critics and faculty, and interest slowly started to balloon. For example, JJ Manford, an alumni of Cornell’s BFA program, signed on while visiting our program soon after we hatched the idea. We submitted a shortlist of participating artists with our proposal in the Spring.

It is devoted to cats (and, in limited solidarity, dogs), an unapologetic celebration of our furry companions as muses, metaphors, and comfort objects. A playful nod to the latin phrase magnum opus, this show avows that, very often, an artist’s greatest work… is their cat. It features paintings, drawings, sculptures, and mixed-media from current Cornell students, alumni, faculty, lecturers, visiting critics, and invited artists beyond Cornell. Magnum O-pspsps is both a love letter and a low-stakes, high-reward gathering of our extended creative litter. The exhibition spans domestic cats and wild felines, as well as symbolic, metaphorical, and tangential interpretations.

Tell us more about the idea behind this exhibition?

There were a few inspirations for this exhibition. I found a 1922 edition of Edward Anthony’s The Pussycat Princess, which includes black-and-white photos of cats wearing royal attire. I shared it with Elina the next day, since we’re both huge cat-lovers. I think their royal attire, humor, and artistic quality inspired both the exhibition and eventual title Magnum O-Pspsps. I want to evoke the same sense of hunger for the next image with the works we curated for the show. The playful spirit is echoed in Tatiana Tatum’s Meow from the Back Seat (2025), a stick figure cat playfully etched onto a car window’s condensation with a finger.

Tatiana Tatum, *Meow from the Back Seat*, 2025, Oil on Canvas, 18 x 18 x 1.5 in.
Image courtesy of the artist, Instagram: @tati_tatum

I’m also a huge fan of Louis Wain. Wain cemented cats as household icons in reality and as stylized anthropomorphic companions in our pop culture. Cats were not just an inspiration for him, but also an anchor. That feeling underpins the show: Kate Clark’s The Sisters’ Embrace (2021), a human-animal hybrid in coyote hide, reads like three cats folded into one another for warmth and solace. When his life unraveled, he turned to cats as emotional companions; embodiments of resilience, mischief, tenderness, and play. We reached out to Chris Beetles Gallery in London about including a Wain work; they replied but weren’t able to help with a loan.

Kate Clark, *The Sisters’ Embrace*, 2021, Medium: coyote hide, foam, clay, pins, thread, rubber eyes, Size: H 48 x W 35 x D 14 inches, Image courtesy of the artist, Instagram: @kateclarkstudio

Cats appear everywhere in the cultural consciousness, from historical paintings to social media. We felt it was a broad enough theme to encompass a wide range of artists, but also specific enough to create a strong coherence through the work. A Florida panther tearing into a waterfowl moments after a successful hunt might seem like a jarring outlier beside tender portraits of house cats. Yet George Boorujy’s Dredger (2017) reads, in this context, as a wry nod to how our cats imagine themselves.

George Boorujy, *Dredger*, 2017, Ink on paper, 72 x 44 in., Image courtesy of the artist
Instagram: @georgeboorujy

What is your takeaway from this curatorial experience?

After the Department of Art approved our proposal, we began inviting artists. Some participating artists made entirely new works for the show, such as Pamela Sneed’s poetic Lost and Found (2025) – cats have long been an important part of Sneed’s practice. We weren’t limited to the shortlist of artists we submitted, we’ve been able to add more and more since. One of the real pleasures has been seeing a range of works from each artist and selecting pieces that speak to the theme and to one another.

Pamela Sneed, *Lost and Found*, 2025, 20 by 16 inches, Watercolor, Instagram: @pamela_sneed

Will Hutnick’s How I Bloomed For Your Gaze (2025) threads wildcat prints through gradients and swatches of regal color; perhaps a playful nod to the show’s title.

Will Hutnick, *How I Bloomed For Your Gaze,* 2025, Acrylic, graphite, ink, sand, watercolor and wax pastel on canvas, 20.5 in x 16.25 inches, Image courtesy of the artist, Instagram: @willhutnick

Magnum O-Pspsps at Cornell Includes works by: Kiki Smith, Pamela Sneed, Leeza Meksin, Eric Hibit, Dona Nelson, Joanna Malinowska, Leslie Brack, George Boorujy, Julianne Hunter, Steve Keister, Kate Clark, Will Hutnick, Erika Ranee, Catherine Haggarty, Lisa Lebofsky, Emily Henretta, JJ Manford, Aimée Burg, Emily Weiskopf, Jan Baracz, and more; as well as occasional contributions by the artists’ cats.

The show runs through September 25^th, 2025
Olive Tjaden Gallery, Tjaden Hall

About the curators: Elina Ansary creates dreamlike images using a blend of personal ephemera, archival material, and photographic glitches. Born and raised in San Francisco, Elina received her BFA in Painting from Pratt Institute in 2013 and her MFA from Cornell University in 2025. She’s been a resident artist at BigCi (Australia 2017), Chautauqua Institution Visual Arts Residency (NY 2021), La Macina di San Cresci (Italy 2022), and Raumars (Finland 2023). She lives and works in Brooklyn, NY, where she is the co-founder of Peach Pit Gallery. IG: @e.m.ansary
Michael Morgan earned his Bachelor of Arts in Environmental Sciences & Policy from Northwestern University in 2014. After the passing of his father, he shifted his focus from a legal career to art and art education. He went on to graduate from Columbia University with a second Bachelor’s degree in visual arts. During his time at Columbia, he was also a researcher and graphic designer at the Columbia Center on Sustainable Investment and was a finalist for the 2020 Elie Wiesel Prize in Ethics for his writings on environmental theory and art. Currently pursuing his Master of Fine Arts in Creative Visual Arts at Cornell University, Morgan works across mediums including painting, sculpture, collage, and mixed-media installations. His work often highlights underrepresented voices, including a project honoring Christine Jorgensen, a prominent trans figure from his hometown. He lives, works, and studies in Ithaca, New York.IG: @mikemorganart

About the writer: Etty Yaniv is a Brooklyn-based artist, writer, curator, and founder of Art Spiel. She works in installation, painting, and mixed media, and has shown her art in exhibitions across the United States and abroad. Since 2018 she has published interviews and reviews through Art Spiel, often focusing on underrecognized voices and smaller venues. The publication also serves as a platform for writers, supporting new voices in writing about art. Yaniv’s studio practice is central to her work, and she is also active in the ongoing conversation around contemporary art. More about her art can be found at ettyyanivstudio.com and on Instagram @etty.yaniv