Food as Art: From Butter Sculptures to Cheese Suitcases
A survey of food in art history, from Giuseppe Arcimboldo's fruit portraits to Dieter Roth's 1970 cheese-filled suitcases in Los Angeles. Roth's 'Staple Cheese (A Race)' featured 37 suitcases of cheese that attracted maggots and flies, which he collected as his 'true' audience. Caroline Brooks created butter sculptures in the 19th century, including 'Dreaming Iolanthe' (1876), but missed the 1878 International Exhibition in Paris due to insufficient ice. Jason Mecier made a Kevin Bacon portrait from bacon, Ruby Silvious paints on used teabags, and Amelia Fais Harnas dyes fabric with red wine. Karl Brendel, an outsider artist, chewed bread into obscene figures in 1912, later deemed 'degenerate' by Nazis. The Wieliczka salt mines near Kraków, Poland, feature reliefs carved from rock salt.
Key facts
- Giuseppe Arcimboldo created portraits from fruits and vegetables.
- Dieter Roth's 'Staple Cheese (A Race)' (1970) in Los Angeles used 37 suitcases of cheese.
- Roth collected dead flies from the cheese installation as his audience.
- Caroline Brooks sculpted butter, preferring it to clay.
- Brooks's 'Dreaming Iolanthe' (1876) is at the Metropolitan Museum of Art.
- Brooks missed the 1878 International Exhibition in Paris due to lack of ice.
- Jason Mecier made a Kevin Bacon portrait from bacon.
- Ruby Silvious paints on used teabags.
- Amelia Fais Harnas dyes cotton fabric with red wine for portraits.
- Karl Brendel chewed bread into figures in 1912, later destroyed by Nazis.
- Wieliczka salt mines have rock salt reliefs.
Entities
Artists
- Giuseppe Arcimboldo
- Jan Davidsz. de Heem
- Paul Cézanne
- Wayne Thiebaud
- Andy Warhol
- Ogyen Trinley Dorje
- Caroline Brooks
- Dieter Roth
- Jason Mecier
- Ruby Silvious
- Amelia Fais Harnas
- Karl Brendel
- Candy Bedworth
Institutions
- Metropolitan Museum of Art
- Musée d'Orsay
- Rubin Museum of Art
- Museum of Modern Art
- DailyArt Magazine
Locations
- New York City
- New York
- USA
- Paris
- France
- Los Angeles
- California
- Kraków
- Poland
- Wieliczka