Exhibition Interview – ‘What’s Cooking Uncle Sam’ at The National Archives
‘What’s Cooking Uncle Sam‘ is the newest exhibition on view at the National Archives in Washington DC. It is a show that traces the government’s role in both food production and consumption of the Unites States. The exhibition features a collection of office stationery ranging from posters and pamphlets to product labels and photographs of...
Ken + Julia Yonetani – Preserved Lemons
In French, the term ‘still life’ is nature morte, which literally translates to dead nature. In Ken + Julia Yonetani’s Still Life: The Food Bowl (2011), the irony is not lost that a still life, depicting the nourishing foods that maintain life, is cast in a substance that simultaneously preserves food and prevents growth –...
Jon Feinstein – Pork & Chipotle Sliders
Jon Feinstein’s 2008 series titled Fast Food features an assortment of sandwiches and sides purchased from chain restaurants. Stripping each foodstuff from a contextualizing background, the food floats against a stark black void — each detail meticulously recorded via the flatbed scanner. For Feinstein, the use of the scanner in place of a camera is...
Henri Matisse vs. Pablo Picasso – Sweet & Sour Chicken
Pablo Picasso and Henri Matisse were two of the most influential Modernist artists working in the first half of the twentieth century. The two artists met in 1905 at one of author Gertrude Stein’s gatherings (Stein was a patron of Picasso’s). Their work was – and still is – often compared, and upon meeting, the...
Colour Blue – Pablo Picasso – Broccoli + Blue Cheese Soup
The colour blue – reserved for the robes of the holiest of mothers – was one of the rarest and most expensive pigments in use during the Renaissance. For the depiction of Virgin Mary, only ultramarine was used due to its price and elusiveness as it is was found only in Asia and is presently...
Claude Monet – French Toast with Garlic + Herbs
Within the history of art, the egg has been used to symbolise life, rebirth, fertility and potential. The icon has a long history and according to Silvia Malaguzzi in Food and Feasting in Art, “They symbolise rebirth, and that symbolic value was subsequently christianized in biblical exegesis and took the form of Easter eggs, the...
Janet Tavener – Vanilla & Blueberry Frozen Fruit Mold
Currently on view at Brenda May Gallery is a curated group exhibition titled Art + Humour Me featuring the works of twenty Australian contemporary artists. In addition to a cardigan-wearing tree, the show includes artworks in a range of mediums from sculpture to video and naturally I was drawn to the three cast resin jelly...
Francis Cadell – Sweet Tomato Relish
“A cooked tomato is like a cooked oyster: ruined.” – Andre Simon, The Concise Encyclopedia of Gastronomy Francis Cadell’s association with the Scottish Colourists stemmed from his early exposure to the French avant-garde movement of Fauvism. Still Life (Tomatoes) (c.1920) was painted while Cadell was living in Enderburgh and by isolating the tomatoes upon the...
Feasting on Art Recipe Contest II Results
Floris Gerritsz van Schooten, A Still Life of Cheese, c.1585 oil on oak panel, 39.3 x 55.2 cm, Private collection I would like to thank all of the participants in the 2nd recipe contest. I am delighted to announce the winner is Deana of lostpastremembered. Her recipe for cheese toasties with chipotle, dijon mustard and...
Nicolas-Henry Jeaurat de Bertry – Soufflé Edged with Asparagus
Nicolas-Henry Jeaurat de Bertry established his reputation as an artist via a series of still life paintings reminiscent of those by the master Jean-Siméon Chardin. De Bertry studied under his uncle, Etienne Jeaurat, and was accepted for membership in the Académie Royale de Peinture et de Sculpture in 1756. His kitchen scenes often functioned as...
Jacob van Hulsdonck – Orange & Almond Cake with Pomegranates & Poppy Seeds
Historically, the pomegranate was used to symbolise fertility due to the mythical origins of the fruit. As related by Silvia Malaguzzi in her book Food and Feasting in Art, the god Acdestis, violent and lustful, was “handed over to Bacchus, who got him drunk. Once Acdestis had passed out, Bacchus tied up his feet and...
François Bonvin – Chili & Garlic Roasted Pumpkin with Coriander & Lime
François Bonvin, a French Realist painter, was a predominantly self-taught artist who spent copious amounts of time at the Louvre where he gained an appreciation for the Dutch Old Masters. The deeply shadowed still life above, with the inclusion of the reflective cup, highlights the influence these historic paintings had on his own aesthetic. Depicting...