ABC the Cat Climbing
Artist Pekka Nevalainen
Sinikaislankuja 1, Helsinki
Pekka Nevalainen’s (b. 1951, Tyrvää) work takes its title from a well-known Finnish nursery rhyme.
It features a grey cat climbing up a ladder onto the letter A to reach for a crescent moon shaped like the letter C, with a small letter B on top. The sculpture speaks a language familiar to children. The cat resembles those seen in cartoons.
About five metres tall, the work is made of painted steel and fibreglass, with its book-shaped pedestal made of cast concrete and ceramic tiles. The sculpture is installed in the yard of the Ruoholahti Primary School, which has a focus on art education.
The work was produced under the Percent for Art programme, and it belongs to the collection of the City of Helsinki, managed by HAM Helsinki Art Museum.