Miami Art Week 2015: Food-Inspired Works
Paintings and sculptures that are a little bit scrumptious
If anything can be said to illicit a real gut reaction: it’s food. We all know the reactions our brain and body indulge in, when in the presence of food and drinks—whether desirable and not. These are visceral, animalistic responses—much like that of experiencing a piece of art that truly moves a viewer. Maybe that’s a stretch for some, but the following five pieces appealed artistically while also tapping into the food world for inspiration. The pieces hailed from a selection of fairs, strewn throughout the city for Miami Art Week. Fortunately, only some of them look good enough to eat.
Jonathan Stein‘s “Fishing for Compliments (Swedish Fishes)” (2012) employs an element of oversized realism, but takes the visual experience to the next level with hand-encrusted jewels lending a nice sparkle to the candy favorite. Seen at Galerie von Braunbehrens during the Art Miami fair, the resin piece embodies everything we love about Swedish fish, only with glitz instead of chewiness.
Thursday morning at the Rubell Family Collection saw the performance of “Devotion” by Jennifer Rubell (of the same family), her 12th annual food-based interactive installation. Employing her recently engaged friends (Alban de Pury and Fanny Karst) Rubell explored how mundane, everyday actions over time accumulate and are remembered retrospectively and wholly as labors of love—the meaning of love in the small things. On a raised platform, De Pury sliced bread, Karst dipped a knife into a mountain of butter (which managed not to melt in the Miami heat) and spread it thickly. These pieces were passed down to the lined up guests, who had the option of adding a pinch of sea salt from another mountain. These mundane, repeated motions fed the public for hours.
Also seen at Art Miami, on the walls of the Gazelli Art House booth, “Meat with Flies” (2014) by Philip Colbert ditches the realism, but offers up charm instead. Equal parts painting and sculpture, the work is composed of sequins on canvas so it sparkles when viewed in person. And while not appetizing for the viewer, it’s certainly appealing to the flies portrayed within.
As part of their Miami Art Week debut, the Nautilus, a SIXTY Hotel presented a food-oriented piece commissioned through their collaborative project with Artsy. Chloe Wise‘s 2015 series featured multiple baked good replicas, “Belgian Moschino Waffles,” “Rasta Dior Brioche” and “Whipped Cream”—embellished with luxury logos—all held within a real life bakery vitrine. Altogether, it was one component within Artsy Projects: Nautilus, but the representations were accurate enough that people who spied it, went over with a view in mind to order something before wondering what fried eggs were doing sitting in a vitrine with luxury logos affixed to them.
Certainly the most saliva-inducing, the mixed media piece “Glazed Donut” (2015) by sculptor Peter Anton is exactly as it’s been named: a large, textured glazed doughnut. Seen at the Art Miami fair, it was one of many of Anton’s food-themed repertoire. From shape to texture (though certainly not size), the artist strives for sensational accuracy and it definitely tricks viewers. To sweeten the presentation, Palm Beach florida Arcature Fine Art gallery hung three other Anton pieces—all based on ice-pops.
Chloe Wise image courtesy of BFA, all other images by Cool Hunting
