Ricardo Romero: CAT #000 – A Collectors Edition with GraffitiStreet Gallery

Ricardo Romero’s black cat has spent years moving across rooftops, inhabiting the spaces between architecture and sky. Seen from the street, it was always slightly out of reach — a silhouette in motion, never fully settled. With CAT #000, that gesture takes a new form.

This release marks Romero’s first collector’s edition. Produced by the artist in collaboration with GraffitiStreet Gallery, CAT #000 translates a monumental public sculpture into an intimate object, without losing its story.

Ricardo Romero – CAT #000 (Black) Copyright © GraffitiStreet / Ricardo Romero

First appearing in Leiria in 2019 as Olhar e não Ver (To Look and Not See), the cat began as a question rather than a monument. The artist explains …

In fact, it all began with the location of the work and with a subtle provocation aimed at the 19th-century Portuguese writer, Eça de Queirós.

For a while, Eça lived in Leiria, in a house located right next to where the sculpture was installed. It was there that he wrote one of his great works, The Crime of Father Amaro. It is said that he had a strong superstition about black cats, especially one that lived near his home.

I appropriated that metaphor to question the viewer about what they ‘truly see’ or ‘choose to see’.

Placed just out of reach, it asked viewers not simply to look up, but to consider what they were choosing to see. The reference was local, but the gesture was universal.

Ricardo Romero – Olhar e não Ver, Leiria Copyright © Ricardo Romero

The raised paw is the key. It introduces hesitation. A pause between frames. The sculpture never settles. Carried by wind to another place. That sense of movement is what keeps the work alive — not as an image, but as a presence.

Ricardo Romero – O Gato e o Vento, Setúbal Copyright © Ricardo Romero

The cat no longer watches from above. It enters our home quietly, carrying with it the memory of the street — the altitude, the wind, the act of looking upward. The form is restrained, slightly stylised, and defined by movement rather than detail. It resists becoming decorative.

Issued in an extremely limited edition, CAT #000 represents a shift, not a departure. From public square to private collection, the work continues its journey — still unresolved, still in motion.

Artist: Ricardo Romero
Title: CAT #000
Medium: Sculptural edition
Edition: 20 (Black)
Artist Proofs: 5 (White A/P)
Signed / Numbered: Yes
Authentication: Artist authenticated

Enquiries are now open.