New York, NY- “Not Morris, Felix, or Fritz, this tom cat has swagger and he’s taking it all the way to the White House in 2012,” says Corinne Innis. Twey2, her four-year-old tom cat, is campaigning to become First Cat. He hopes to leave his cozy couch in New York to sleep on the grand historical ones in the White House with Obama, Gingrich, Ron Paul or Romney next year. Innis, a SOHO artist, has created a series of copyright-free paintings/posters to launch Twey2’s political campaign.

Innis believes that there would be no greater lap cat and loving companion for Obama, Gingrich, Ron Paul or Romney. Twey2 can sit at their feet and purr peacefully during boring press conferences and complicated multinational negotiations. He can also be trusted to contain his urge to cough up hairballs, chase string, crumpled balls of paper, rodents or birds on such occasions.  

The First Cat paintings range in size and scope. Most are from 8 x10 inches and 18 x24inches. All are mixed media on paper.  Innis avoided using the names of Obama, Ginrich, Ron Paul or Romney in the works and did not give Twey2 a particular party affiliation. She believes that humor can go a long way in our increasingly negative political arena. 

 Gingrich in a Diaper, Romney in Speedos, Obama in Trunks, and a Nude Ron Paul Make Politics and Art Collide

New York, NY- Politics and art collide in The Naked Truth Beach Party, a painting by Corinne Innis. The painting pushes boundaries by making fun of the current political arena and the candidates who are campaigning for the presidency. Candidates are depicted as cartoon characters with wacky word bubbles. The word bubbles have Barack Obama (in swim trunks) claiming to love to watch Hawaii Five-O, Mitt Romney (in Speedos) wanting to play volleyball, Michele Bachman (in a two-piece )surprised to be able to fit into her bathing suit, and Newt Gingrich (in a diaper) confessing, “Oops, think I peed a little.”

According to Innis, the work is meant to make fun of both sides of the political race. She addresses what she defines as noise and rhetoric by including phrases such as “When it’s quiet you can hear” and “Stay out of the gutter, tigers.”  One has to look closely to notice a volley ball net, ice cream cones, and cartoon cats. Ron Paul’s cartoon is perhaps the most revealing due to the fact that he is depicted in the nude. Innis’s rationale for Ron Paul’s nudity stems from the fact that many of his followers revere him for telling the “naked truth.”

The painting is 36 x 60 inches on canvas and part of Innis’s Mystic Cat Series, which plays with the notion of cats as wise and mysterious creatures. Her inspiration for the series comes from the fluid stream of communication that is fostered by the graffiti/street art on walls around New York City. Innis has a BA in socio-cultural anthropology from SUNY Purchase.  Her work has been shown at the African American Museum in Texas and has appeared in the International Review of African American Art. For more information or to exhibit the painting send an email to Corinne@corinneinnis.com.

 Steve Jobs Tech God Altar in SOHO

New York, NY- “Steve Jobs was a tech god. I took his image, placed it in a hand-carved altar from India, leaned it against a building in SOHO and placed flowers around it,” says Corinne Innis. Innis, a New York City fine artist, watched in amazement as people stopped and took pictures of the Steve Jobs altar.  According to Innis, their first reaction was uncertainty. Many onlookers pointed and asked her if it was Steve Jobs before snapping a picture to place on Facebook. One pedestrian in particular, a German tourist, was interested in purchasing the altar. He thought it over for awhile before deciding it was impractical. There have since been many offers to purchase the altar.

Other “tech gods” such as Bill Gates and Jerry Yang exist in the public consciousness, but Steve Jobs was Innis’s first choice for an altar to represent these times. Innis has been a loyal customer of the Apple brand, using many of its programs to edit photos and video. She is currently reading Steve Jobs by Walter Isaacson. “People either like or dislike Jobs, but no one can deny that he was a pacesetter or creative thinker. I love his high-tech machismo,” says Innis.

 Innis plans to create a series of paintings about Steve Jobs. To view other paintings by Innis go to www.corinneinnis.com.  Her inspiration for the series comes from the fluid stream of communication that is fostered by the graffiti/street art on walls around New York City. Innis has a BA in socio-cultural anthropology from SUNY Purchase.  Her work has been shown at the African American Museum in Texas and has appeared in the International Review of African American Art. For more information or to exhibit the altar send an email to Corinne@corinneinnis.com.

  Florida Primary, A Twist, Santorum Leads, Then Huntsman, Ron Paul Wins

New York, NY- “I wish the Florida GOP primary was more like a horse race,” says SOHO artist Corinne Innis. “I’ve seen long shots with odds as large as 60 to 1 come out of nowhere and win a race,” she adds. Innis hoped that the Florida primary would have similar results with Huntsman, Santorum or Ron Paul taking the lead.

Innis has been creating comedic paintings portraying a lighter side of the 2012 campaign. The next painting in the series will be called The Race. It will play with the notion of long shots and show Santorum and huntsman as strong contenders in the race. “It’s really unfortunate that the media gives so little coverage to long shots and candidates who run as Independents,” says Innis. In this respect, She feels that horse races are more interesting because all of the horses are given an equal opportunity to get to the finish line.

She has created two other works poking fun at the presidential race, The Naked Truth Beach Party and First Cat. In The Naked Truth Beach Party Obama, Gingrich, Romney, Ron Paul and Bachman are assembled on a beach and are depicted as cartoon characters with word bubbles coming out of their heads. First Cat is a campaign poster that Innis has created for her four-year-old tabby Twey2. In the poster Twey2 is campaigning to be First Cat. He wants to live in the White House with whoever wins the presidential election.

 Innis’s work is often compared to Jean Michel Basquiat. Her unique style comes from her love of folk and street art. She mimics the fluid stream of communication that is fostered by the graffiti/street art on walls around New York City. Innis has a BA in socio-cultural anthropology from SUNY Purchase.  Her work has been shown at the African American Museum in Texas and has appeared in the International Review of African American Art. For more information or to commission political art with Twey2 and Obama, Gingrich, Ron Paul or Romney send an email via her website at www.corinneinnis.com.