LOLcats Art Gallery Ends Run In London

A LOLcats art gallery in London last month ensconced one of those bizarre moments when your internet world and the real, actual meatspace world converge in a surreal way.

When you hear there is a LOLcats art gallery it’s kind of one of those things where you never assumed this particular meme would go so far — but as such a circumstance comes to pass, it makes sense. What better captures internet culture and all its whimsy than LOLcats?

Last month, Huffington Post UK covered the LOLcats art gallery and explained that while the exhibit was playful at heart, it also served to raise funds for dogs and cats in need of services, and said:

“LOLCAT – TEH EXHIBISHUN, which opened at The Framer’s Gallery last night, features felines specially designed by established artists like Lizzie Mary Cullen, Jimmy Turrell, Paul MacAnelly , 12Foot6 and Sneaky Raccoon … As well as raising money for Battersea Dogs & Cats Home, which will receive 50% of the show’s profits, LOLCAT – TEH EXHIBISHUN has generated a debate as to whether an internet meme is a legitimate subject for art, with even the BBC weighing in on the discussion.”

The BBC covered the LOLcats art gallery — which sadly closed last week — and described the place of the meme in internet culture, explaining to readers who are not clued in:

“Hundreds of thousands of people around the world create and share online these feline-inspired, often humorous, artistic creations … Websites have sprung up to cater to the ‘lolcat community,’ and members have even developed their own language: an approximation of how cats might sound if they spoke, according to those in the know.”

Below is the BBC’s on-site coverage of the LOLcats art gallery in London.