ArtPrize 2025: Bryley Deneen’s ‘Big Cat 01’ and ‘Small Cat 01’

26 Sept. 2025

By Justin Tiemeyer

Contributing Writer

Tucked inside Happy Cat Café, at 447 Division Avenue South, is a pair of paintings by Bryley Deneen titled “Big Cat 01” and “Small Cat 01.” Cute - and a little bit trippy - these two kitties, in their natural habitat, could not have found a better venue.

At first blush, Deneen’s acrylic paintings look like 1990s “Magic Eye” optical illusion posters updated following the advent of those so-called “LOLcats” who posed the eternal question, “I can has cheezburger?” In fact, the “Magic Eye” autosterograms and “I Spy” picture riddle books were some of Deneen’s most powerful influences in crafting these cat paintings. Moreover, one of Deneen’s artistic side projects involves producing animated kitty cat memes.

With all of this in mind, you might think Deneen created “Big Cat 01” and “Small Cat 01” with Happy Cat Café in mind, but you would be wrong. Having received a master’s degree from Kendall College of Art and Design, Deneen studied the intersection of fine arts and design. Her op art, short for optical art - a genre of art that uses geometric shapes and patterns to create optical illusions and effects - bridges easily into pop art, which walks the line between fine art and mass-produced consumer products.

Like Andy Warhol and the titans of the pop art movement, Deneen takes visuals that are seen as kitsch and present them in fine arts spaces. The main difference is that the kitsch factor for Deneen is cuteness - rainbows, unicorns, and kitty cats, for example.

“In the art world, these might be seen as lower hierarchy,” Deneen said. “I like to bring those up into a fine arts space. I’m definitely trying to push boundaries for certain things.”

Much of Deneen’s body of work challenges the hierarchy and centralized control that determines what art is and what makes it good, and this, at times, has worked to her detriment. While her professors and colleagues at Kendall were generally supportive, she received pushback while applying to graduate schools out of state.

“A lot of people got back to me just kind of looking down on it, just because of it being so cutesy,” Deneen said. “Not everyone is going to like your art, but to be rejected by programs because you like cutesy material - I wanted to challenge that.”

Deneen had a long history with cutesy kitsch painting prior to ArtPrize 2025, but the subject of her art did make Happy Cat Café the most obvious pick for a venue. “It’s the perfect match, a match made in heaven,” Deneen said. “I’m super grateful that they accepted my artwork.”

There are five other cat-themed ArtPrize entries at Happy Cat Café, Laura Maloney’s “Fancy Felines, Some Tuxedos Required,” Hudson West’s “Kitties,” Kathy’s “Literary Cats,” Kyle Wellfare’s “Our Cat,” and Amanda Wymer’s “Swimming in a Sea of Shapes.” Deneen would be open to other venues, especially as an opportunity to further push the boundaries of cuteness in fine arts, but she would love to show at Happy Cat Café again.

“I’d be a little intimidated to ask other places,” Deneen said. “‘Hmmm. Do I really want giant cat art?’”

Deneen entered ArtPrize to get her work out there. “Winning isn’t even on my radar,” she said. “I would be shocked.”

When Deneen graduated, many public spaces were still closed due to the COVID-19 pandemic, so she did not get to showcase her works outside of graduate exhibitions. “These works have been sitting in storage for so long,” Deneen said.

Unlike many ArtPrize contestants, Deneen’s paintings “Big Cat 01” and “Small Cat 01” are not for sale. She has sold many similar paintings over the past few years, but she is holding on to these two. “These are the two that I wanted to keep for myself,” Deneen said. “They are my favorite out of my whole thing.”

Bryley Deneen’s “Big Cat 01” and “Small Cat 01” are on display inside Happy Cat Café, at 447 Division Avenue South, and you can vote for her using Vote ID 56938. For those looking to learn more about Deneen’s art, she has two Instagram handles, @bryleydeneen for her paintings and @goudaloop for her cat meme animation.