"Reluctant Cat" Satirical Drawing by John Marx

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A man bends down to pet a cat sitting on the sidewalk. He seems intent on coaxing affection from the … Read more A man bends down to pet a cat sitting on the sidewalk. He seems intent on coaxing affection from the animal, but the cat remains wary. Its ears are pulled back, sideways glance — it clearly isn’t taken with the man’s enthusiasm.

The man embodies a clumsy attempt at connection with an autonomous, perhaps suspicious creature. The drawing captures that suspended moment where nothing quite happens, except the display of a one-sided desire. In Marx’s work, even the simplest gestures are caught within social structures, invisible tensions. See less