Kinky Barcelona Co. brings ‘raunchy’ kitties to T-shirts

The bizarre situations cats find themselves in on Kyle Turpin’s T-shirts might make your mother cringe.

Turpin, a hair stylist and visual artist, is the mind behind Kinky Barcelona, a T-shirt company debuting this month online and at Inner Chef.

Turpin admits that the line, which he describes as “edgy” and “inappropriate,” isn’t for everyone. Featuring a litter of cats in a variety of quirky scenarios, the collection is meant to induce laughs from those who dabble in dark humor.

“There’s a little bit of me in some of those cats, much as I hate to admit it,” he said.
And it’s true. To truly know the facets of Kyle Turpin, one must become acquainted with his feline creations.

MEET LILY

Fishnets, spiked collar, thigh-high boots, piercings, mohawk and a glut of leather — at first glance, Lily is easily identified as the cat crew’s resident badass.

Not quite raunchy enough to fit in the “fetish” category, and with too little booze or culinary savvy for the “Drinking” or “Kitchen” collections, Lily is one of eight cats assigned to the miscellaneous section of http://kinkybarcelona.com. Her categorical companions include a cat on a motorcycle, a potty-mouthed diva and a bare-chested exotic dancer cat captioned “Who needs brains when you have six tits...”

Lily’s punky persona is based on that of Kim Tincher-Long, a fellow hairstylist and longtime friend of the artist.

Turpin’s coworkers don’t always become cats, but their ideas do influence his work.

“All of my friends at work all have perverted senses of humor, so we have no shortage of bad ideas,” he said.

Turpin, who attended Bedford North Lawrence High School, began beauty school courses as a way to get out of school half a day early. After graduating with the class of 1988, he attended IU briefly as an education major.

Turpin returned to IU this past school year to complete his degree started decades before — and he joked that it might take him decades more to finish.

“I’m just doing it for myself. I might drag it out for 30 more years. Graduate and retire — just have one party.”

An unsavory experience teaching at a day camp dashed Turpin’s dreams of becoming an art teacher.

“I decided no, I didn’t like kids that much, so (teaching’s) probably not a good call,” he said.

Turpin took to the road, traveling to Texas, Florida, New Mexico and Amsterdam, eating pot brownies and studying art, in an attempt to follow in the footsteps of his favorite artist, Vincent van Gogh.

“I really have a kinship with van Gogh,” Turpin said. “He’s a little off-kilter. Hopefully the parallels stop at a broad palette of color and not all the mental illness.”

After spending a winter painting landscapes and request-based portraits, Turpin sought refuge in a project that required less time — “something kind of stylized, with no thought, no measuring, just fun.”

After painting his cat, Vincent, he set out a bowl of tuna and painted the stray cats that came to feast.

From this, Kinky Barcelona was born.  

MEET KINKY

While Lily sums up much of the brand’s edgy, fetishist identity, Kinky is the true brand mascot.

An eye-patched Ukrainian, Kinky lounges within his matting and picture frames, draped in velvet playboy robes, smoking elongated cigarettes while gazing sleepily from his one good eye.

The original “Kinky” painting and other feline subjects will be up for sale at the Inner Chef, marking Turpin’s first exhibition in more than 20 years.

“The owner of Inner Chef is a friend of mine,” Turpin said. “He called me up and asked if I was interested, and I said ‘Are you sure? Did you see these cats?’”

Inner Chef will be the first outlet to stock the Kinky Barcelona T-shirt and art collection. To supplement the existing collections, Turpin set to work creating new cats for an exclusive Kitchen Collection to be sold at the store.

In one, a winking tabby purrs, “You had me at merlot.”

With the help of close friend Barbie Strange, Turpin hopes to expand the brand’s products from just T-shirts to mugs, aprons, and other merchandise. A possible deal with the franchise Spencer’s Gifts is in early stages.

As much a business partner as she is a ringmaster, Strange serves as the pull force of the operation, cracking the whip when the artist is in need of motivation. The line would be a success, she said, “as long as I keep him chained to the easel.”

“I’m his reality check,” Strange said.

In fact, “If it wasn’t for you, I would have (painted) four of them and I would have been done,” Turpin said to Strange.

At present, Turpin has 25 paintings completed and 140 waiting for production. Given the variety of subjects Kinky Barcelona intends to complete, no imaginable avenue will be left untapped.

“There are fetish conventions, and we have fetish cats,” Strange said.

MEET BROOKE

High school cheerleader Brooke nurses a cigarette in one hand and clutches a pom-pom in the other. The very pregnant teenager, clad in Varsity Blue, revels in her nicotine-laced reverie while her other pom and megaphone idle on the ground beside
her.

Brooke’s character will be joined by others in the “redneck” collection, one Turpin hopes to roll out next.

“Every time I go to Walmart, I get a T-shirt idea,” Turpin said, laughing.

In the meantime, Brooke sits on the wall with other Kinky Barcelona creations at Inner Chef.

The opening night of the exhibition coincided with the Downtown Bloomington Gallery Walk. A makeshift sign was erected outside of Inner Chef, declaring the venue a “detour” from the main route.

Inside, three setups of paintings adorned the walls, blending happily with the stainless steel and neon-hued kitchen utensils in the retail space.

Peals of laughter emanated from the cluster of photos where Brooke was on display.

The source: friends Sharlene Toney and Mary O’Shea, who attended the opening at the invitation of the artist.

“The cheerleader reminds us of someone we know,” Toney said.

The cheerleader in question, of course, is Brooke, resting her pom-pom beside her very pregnant stomach.

“I think that people can look at them and think of people that they know, which is part of what makes them fun,” O’Shea said of the paintings.

The lighthearted sentiment was echoed by Gallery Walk participants Katie Marlowe and Linda Boyle. While the pair said they might not purchase Kinky Barcelona apparel, they, too, thought the work was fun.

“We’re not cat people,” Marlowe said.

Though the blow-up sex doll cat, the urinating cat and the bondage cat all made their public debut, other of Kyle’s raunchier kittens remained at home.

“There were a few that we didn’t bring tonight,” Strange said. “Kyle was like, ‘How ’bout this one?’ and I was like, ‘No, no, put that down! That’s not going!’”

O’Shea and Toney both expressed their excitement — and perhaps relief — when they heard the images would be printed on mugs as well as shirts.

“You have to think about what am I willing to walk around town wearing,” Toney said.
The art’s not all family-friendly, and both Turpin and Strange have been met with their
parents’ chagrin.

Despite this, both Turpin and Strange believe there’s a potential audience for Kinky Barcelona here in Bloomington.

“They’re not for everyone, that’s for sure,” Turpin said. “If they take off, great. If not, I’ll just be stuck with forty raunchy cat paintings in my living room.”