38 minute read
exhibits
Social Works II,
October 7 – Decmeber 18, 2021 Gagosian Gagosian is presenting Social Works II, the sequel to the American chapter that was on view at the gallery in New York. Curated by Antwaun Sargent, Social Works II spotlights artists from the African diaspora and their insights into the relationship between space— personal, public, institutional, and psychic—and social and artistic practice. Bringing together intergenerational artists working in different mediums, Social Works II considers geography and its role in informing how identity is created and experienced through communities and spaces. Architect and artist David Adjaye presents a group of sculptural forms made using a rammed earth technique inherited from West African architectural vernacular. Examining ideas of landscape in the context of metropolitan London, Adjaye probes the relationship between the earth and the built environment. Sumayya Vally, principal of the Johannesburg/Londonbased studio Counterspace and architect of the 2021 Serpentine Pavilion, has produced a fragment of wall that will transform itself over time, functioning as an interactive site for research and ritual. In Lubaina Himid’s mixed-media collage A Fashionable Marriage: The Art Critic (1986)—a study for her noted 1987 installation of painted and cut-out figures, A Fashionable Marriage—the protagonist of the British Black Arts movement of the 1980s riffs on Marriage A-la-Mode, painter William Hogarth’s eighteenthcentury moralizing satire of the British upper class. Himid turns Hogarth’s critique of greed and overconsumption into a broader moral commentary on the British slave trade. Isaac Julien, a pioneer of multiscreen installation, presents the London premiere of a single-screen version of Lessons of the Hour (2019), a contemplative journey into the life and work of Frederick Douglass, the visionary African American abolitionist. The film is accompanied here by a large-scale photographic artwork produced especially for the exhibition. Rick Lowe, who founded the renowned art-based community platform Project Row Houses in Houston in the 1990s, is represented by a series of cartographic paintings, first shown in Social Works, commemorating the notorious 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre, where white supremacists in Oklahoma razed the city’s prosperous Black-owned Greenwood District. Kahlil Robert Irving’s sculptures positioned on low wooden
platforms pay homage to the nocturnal city as a place both of witnessing and community. Hand-pressed black ceramic tiles allude to a rich material history, emulating the rugged texture of asphalt streets littered with aggregate and discarded objects and while suggesting the night sky. What black is this you say? (2020–21) is a series of poignant oil and watercolor paintings that artist and architect Amanda Williams produced as an identityaffirming response to the most recent tumultuous racial events in the United States. Alexandria Smith also confronts the present moment using allegory. In shaped wood panels featuring sinuous cut forms that delineate abstracted, disjointed figures, she investigates the contradictions, uncertainties, and objectifications impressed upon the Black femme body. Photographer Tyler Mitchell, whose soulful practice slips seamlessly between autonomous art and commercial assignments, conjures intimate dreamscapes that celebrate Black family, community, and youth. Shot on location in Georgia, where he was born, Mitchell’s new series considers notions of home and leisure commonly associated with the American pastoral idyll,
Artwork, left to right: © Isacc Julien, © Tyler Mitchell, © David ADjaye. Photo: Prudence Duing Associates.
charged here with the ineluctable racist history of the American South. Artist and designer Grace Wales Bonner creates conceptual shrines to Black Atlantic style and history, stressing the ritualistic importance of learning about and connecting to one’s cultural roots. Manuel Mathieu’s roiling canvases record slippages, erosions, and transformations of memories of his native Haiti; eschewing overt representation, his abstracted approach illuminates the vagaries of history with acute psychological insight. Social Works II underscores the conscious engagement of these artists with the cultural present where numerous social factors have converged to produce a heightened urgency for artists of the African diaspora to utilize space as a community-building tool and a means of creating visionary possibilities.
RECLAMATION: Recipes, Remedies, and Rituals
January 18 – December 31, 2021 National Museum of Women in the Arts RECLAMATION: Recipes, Remedies, and Rituals is a new participatory online exhibition featuring nine interdisciplinary artists. Conceived as a virtual experience that re-contextualizes the traditional role of women in providing sustenance and healing, RECLAMATION will also feature content submitted by the public, interwoven with the artists’ work. RECLAMATION is an evolving online exhibition and ingredient archive that examines food as a creative medium for visual art and a connective tool for exploring intergenerational and intercultural experiences. The exhibition centers around a kitchen table, the central domestic object for gatherings of family and friends. Nine artists will activate their own kitchen tables, sharing photographs, videos and stories about how they use this domestic object. These intimate glimpses into the artists’ homes simultaneously reveal a work of art and the process by which it is made. Through a digital ingredient archive, developed in partnership with the Family Arts Museum and Ten-Fifteen Media, online visitors can participate in the exhibition by sharing recipes, anecdotes, photos and reflections related to food. Submissions will be layered with the artists’ work, creating a dynamic portal for exploring the interconnectedness of food and the communal nature of nourishing and curing the body. In this way, both artists and viewers will use those materials to honor women’s roles in the practices and traditions surrounding food. RECLAMATION: Recipes, Remedies, and Rituals opens a year-long season of programming that examines the relationship between food, art, and women as part of the Women, Arts, and Social Change initiative at the National Museum of Women in the Arts. exhibition will demonstrate the process of translating an artist’s rendering to fabric, and ultimately fashion, through silkscreen printing.
Courtesy of Sharayn Ashanti.
Legacy of Ceylon: Art and Photography of Sri Lanka
November 27, 2021 – April 24, 2022 Phoenix Art Museum Legacy of Ceylon: Art and Photography of Sri Lanka explores 1,000 years of the island nation’s history through rare and never-before-exhibited works of art. Sri Lanka, an island nation located 40 miles off the southeastern coast of India in the Bay of Bengal, has a deep history spanning more than 3,000 years, with a culture that was influenced by nearly every major human civilization and dominant world power, including the Persian Empire, Ancient Greece, Rome, and the European world. Known for more than 100 years by its British colonial name, Ceylon, Sri Lanka gained its independence in 1948. With more than 50 objects spanning 1,000 years, Legacy of Ceylon: Art and Photography of Sri Lanka provides an unparalleled opportunity for U.S. audiences to experience a selection of rare and outstanding Sri Lankan artworks, many of which have never been publicly exhibited. Viewers will discover the influence of Buddhist and European traditions on the nation’s art history, while gaining particular insight into bronzecasting techniques through small, technically refined sculptures and bronze pieces that weigh more than 50 lbs. Featured works date to as early as the sixth century. The majority, however, span the 16th and 19th centuries, the height of the nation’s colonial period when the island was colonized first by the Portuguese, then by the Dutch, and finally by the British. Collectively, this wide range of works offers deep insight into pre-colonial, colonial, and post-colonial life on the island. The exhibit will also feature original black-and-white photographs by Quintus Fernando, PhD, who passed away in 2004. These photographs were only discovered within the past decade and were likely taken just prior to the Fernando family’s emigration. This exhibition represents the first time these works will be exhibited to the public. Capturing images of not just Buddhist ruins and other iconic locations, the photographs depict simple, everyday slices of life in mid-20th century Sri Lanka, including scenes of fishermen, village women gathering water, and other moments of rural activity. These photographs, featured alongside works of historical significance, document the transition of a nation and a people exploring the potential of hard-earned independence. In the 17th century, global commerce fueled the economy of the Netherlands and sparked an artistic boom. Dutch merchants sailed from Amsterdam and other ports across seas and oceans, joining trade networks that stretched from Asia to the Americas and Africa. This unprecedented movement of goods, ideas, and people, both free and enslaved, gave rise to what some have called the first age of globalization. Prosperous citizens commissioned and collected art in great volume and the artistic high points of this period continue to be deeply admired today. A suite of seven renovated galleries at the MFA will employ up-to-date research to explore the nexus between art, commerce, and science in the Dutch Republic and Flanders. Nearly 100 paintings by the greatest masters—including Rembrandt van Rijn, Peter Paul Rubens, Gerrit Dou, Frans Hals, and Anthony van Dyck—plus works on paper and decorative arts such as silver and Delft ceramics represent this rich visual culture. Organized thematically, the installation examines a variety of subjects: women artists and patrons; the growth of a modern art market; and the unexpected connection between still life paintings, the sugar trade, and slavery. Among the many highlights are Rembrandt’s moving Portrait of Aeltje Uylenburgh (1632), a Dutch doll’s house filled with nearly 200 miniature furnishings, and an early self-portrait by Van Dyck posing as Icarus, painted when the artist was just 19 years old. The opening of the new galleries celebrates the launch of the Center for Netherlandish Art (CNA), an innovative center
Unknown, Altar niche (Nicho de altar), not dated. Wood and pigment. Gift of Barry Fernando MD and Coleene Fernando MD. Photo by Ken Howie.
Maria Schalcken, Self-Portrait of the Artist in her Studio, about 1680. Oil on paint. Gift of Rose-Marie and Ekjk van Otterloo, in support of the Center for Netherlandish Art.
for scholarship housed at the MFA and the first resource of its kind in the US. The CNA was established with initial endowment funds from RoseMarie and Eijk van Otterloo and Susan and Matthew Weatherbie, given as part of a landmark 2017 gift that also included many of the paintings on view in the installation.
New Galleries of Dutch and Flemish Art
Opens November 20, 2021 Museum of Fine Arts Boston In the 17th century, global commerce fueled the economy of the Netherlands and sparked an artistic boom. Dutch merchants sailed from Amsterdam and other ports across seas and oceans, joining trade networks that stretched from Asia to the Americas and Africa. This unprecedented movement of goods, ideas, and people, both free and enslaved, gave rise to what some have called the first age of globalization. Prosperous citizens commissioned and collected art in great volume and the artistic high points of this period continue to be deeply admired today. A suite of seven renovated galleries at the MFA will employ up-to-date research to explore the nexus between art, commerce, and science in the Dutch Republic and Flanders. Nearly 100 paintings by the greatest masters—including Rembrandt van Rijn, Peter Paul Rubens, Gerrit Dou, Frans Hals, and Anthony van Dyck—plus works on paper and decorative arts such as silver and Delft ceramics represent this rich visual culture. Organized thematically, the installation examines a variety of subjects: women artists and patrons; the growth of a modern art market; and the unexpected connection between still life paintings, the sugar trade, and slavery. Among the many highlights are Rembrandt’s moving Portrait of Aeltje Uylenburgh (1632), a Dutch doll’s house filled with nearly 200 miniature furnishings, and an early selfportrait by Van Dyck posing as Icarus, painted when the artist was just 19 years old. The opening of the new galleries celebrates the launch of the Center for Netherlandish Art (CNA), an innovative center for scholarship housed at the MFA and the first resource of its kind in the US. The CNA was established with initial endowment funds from Rose-Marie and Eijk van Otterloo and Susan and Matthew Weatherbie, given as part of a landmark 2017 gift that also included many of the paintings on view in the installation.
Ciara Elle Bryant: Server: Love Ta, Love Ta Love Ya
October 16, 2021 – January 8, 2022 THE MAC Ciara Elle Bryant’s Server: Love Ta, Love Ta Love Ya puts forth a dynamic culmination of the Dallas artist’s recent artistic projects. Encompassing each gallery space of The MAC, the exhibition serves as a visual bibliography of Bryant’s personal histories as they relate to the wider experience of being Black in America. Utilizing a wide range of media, from video to photography, collage, and readymade objects, Bryant manifests her encyclopedic collection of digital ephemera from Black popular culture into large-scale installations. Social media posts, news stories, memes, viral videos, and the like are presented en masse, offering a physical space for Black identity and selfactualization to take center stage. Named after Timbaland’s 1997 single Luv 2 Luv U, the exhibition encompasses a nostalgic view of the relics and memories that shaped Bryant’s upbringing. Central to the exhibition, a new work, Run It Back (2021), utilizes numerous analog televisions to display looping video and imagery. The installation harkens to a bygone era when TV reigned supreme in disseminating the popular music and media that remain pivotal to the artist’s existence. In Server: Checks On The Block (2021), Bryant pays homage to the Nike Air Force 1 and its long-standing impact on street fashion, solidifying the sneaker’s cultural significance. Through works like these, the exhibition as a whole establishes an origin story for the cherished objects, experiences, and values that drive Byrant’s work as a visual artist.
Food in Action
Alberto Zamaniego Figueroa is a photographer and creative director who first became interested in photography from his father, an engineer, who carried his camera everywhere. “He used to take photos of building structures and many other visually interesting objects. After years of looking at his photos, I finally understood that he had a very sharp eye, using different angles, playing with colours and black and white,” Alberto recalls. He was 13 years old when his father finally let him use the Canon Powershot A560 camera. “I was shooting all sorts of stuff but mainly shooting some off-road action on our trips.”
Alberto studied Science of Communication at the University of Baja California in Mexico and intended to become a sports journalist. “During my uni days, I studied a year of photography as part of my degree. I wasn’t very sure what I wanted to do with this, but I thought maybe I could do some photography and make some extra money.”
His photography teacher who used to run a sports photography website gave Alberto his first taste of working as a photographer. One day he asked Alberto to shoot some content for his website, and Alberto agreed. “I was a massive fan of Off Road Racing (very famous in Baja California, California, Nevada, and Arizona). Me and my best friend used to camp in the desert and wake up with the smell of VP racing fuel and the sound of 800 hp Off Road trucks driving pass our tent.” He can clearly remember the first photo he ever took and relates that something clicked for him that day. It was then that he decided to redirect some choices in his life. After a couple years of shooting and selling photos, Alberto landed his first job at a production company and became a professional off-road racing photographer with Vildosola Racing.
Alberto began to focus his attention on food photography in 2014. The agency he was working for at the time had a client who required food photography. “I was excited as I love cooking and food; I’m some sort of a frustrated chef,” he says. His very first assignment was shooting some hamburgers in a gas station for a big pharmacy chain with locations all over his state. “The food was crap, and the presentation was very poor, but we managed to make it look okay.”
Alberto continued to work with more and more culinary clients. Because it was his job to make the food good, he began studying more about food photography, styling, lighting techniques, equipment, natural light, etc. “A couple of my friends started working in restaurants or opening food places in the city. So to develop my skills, I traded my photography for some free food. It was
Alberto Zamaniego Figueroa
awesome as I had complete creative freedom. They trusted me and I will always be very grateful for that.”
When Alberto first began, he developed his food photography skills without a mentor. He recalls that there wasn’t much he could look to for creative influences. “Instagram wasn’t a thing so there wasn’t much inspiration around, just National Geographic and Thrasher,” he remembers. This forced Alberto to develop his own style. “I combined my action photography skills and Anthony Bourdain’s narrative style, and started to try new angles and approaches. I’ve always been a bit of a rebel, so I used to see what others were doing, especially in a city where the creative hub is so small that everyone knows what the other one is doing and decided to go on the opposite direction.”
Alberto approaches food photography in the same dynamic way he has approached action photography. He knows that every single shot matters and tries to shoot as clean and accurately as possible. “I try always to capture that little moment when we are enjoying food, or those eureka moments when cooking. A big part of that, in action photography and food photography, is the people infant of the lens,” he says. “Their stories will reflect a lot their personalities, so I try to connect with people as much as I can. That way, they can open up to me, and I can come in with camera in hand and freeze that moment.”
His appreciation for the people responsible for the food is also clearly evident in his art, and he often includes them as part of his composition. “I believe that food is not just only what we eat, it’s also what we see. You know, the interaction between the customer and the person behind the counter, that first bite, the drips, the stains, the aftermath of a great bite.”
He adds: “There’s a particular type of shot that I love. It’s one where the cook is holding the food with both hands, as if they were giving it to you. I think that’s the purest expression of how we connect through food, no matter our background, nationality, religious or political view… we all eat.” Alberto uses a documentary-style approach to his photography. A self-professed foodie, Alberto is constantly looking for an angle that’s appealing to the eye. “I grew up watching the Travel Channel. I remember there were so many documentaries about traveling and food; it was my favourite channel and my way of knowing the world. Then I discovered Anthony Bourdain, and I fell in love with his approach to traveling and food, but also life.”
Alberto likes to learn why someone decided to create a certain dish, or what drove that person to put specific ingredients together and share it with the world. “When I can, I love focusing on the food, just the food, how it is, no distractions. I take a deep look into what you are about to eat and how you would like to eat it.”
Alberto’s work has been featured in two books: Cook with Love by Enna Lakhani and STRAIGHT OUTTA CYMRU by Owain Hill, where he not only captures the personality of the authors inside and outside the kitchen, but also their journey. He is currently working on a creative proposal for another book and exploring opportunities to work with brands in the UK. Alberto has also started working on a documentary project called Secret Eye Club, where he says he can be totally rebellious with his documentary photography, focusing on people and portraits.
Alberto concludes: “Food is the most noble and purest way to say thank you to someone. Without food we die, so when someone is cooking for us, we are receiving life and like any art, cooking reflects the memories, backgrounds, and references of people, using culinary semiotics to put everything on a dish. I find that amazing, mesmerizing. I will continue my journey as a documentarist, with an aim to collaborate one day with National Geographic, working hard, continuously learning, eating and traveling.”
To learn more about Alberto, visit his website at zamaniegostudio.com.
Alberto Zamaniego Figueroa
Alberto Zamaniego Figueroa
Alberto Zamaniego Figueroa
Alberto Zamaniego Figueroa
Alberto Zamaniego Figueroa
Daniela Retorre
The Spice Trade
By Norman Anthony Balberan
Since ancient times, spices have played a vital role in society. They have been a driving force behind many aspects of history, from political to economic, and even religious. Spices used to find their homes only in the respective geographical areas in which they were grown. But that later changed due the spice trade.
The spice trade began almost 4,000 years ago as soon as humans left their primitive hunter-gatherer stages of development. Spices were sought on many occasions to be used for bartering for other goods and traveled long distances to reach their trading points on continents across Asia and Europe.
The main spices involved were pepper, ginger, cardamom, turmeric, nutmeg, and cinnamon. Spices such as these were used mainly to preserve food but also used for meditation rituals by Buddhists and yoga sessions by Hindus. During the Middle Ages, spices such as saffron were used to heal diseases, but saffron was only accessible to wealthy people due to exorbitant prices. Spice trading took on a pivotal role in history between the 15th century and 17th century when Portugal, Spain, and Holland fought for control over routes and territories.
The countries involved in the spice trade relied heavily upon them to keep people fed in impoverished land areas. Without spices, food was considered bland and unappetizing because spices were so expensive at that time that only wealthy people could afford them.
During that time, spices were considered to be more valuable than gold or silver because of their rarity and exotic nature. The most common spices used were ginger, cinnamon, nutmeg, cardamom, pepper, and turmeric. The most popular spice up until 1492 was black pepper due to its ease of transport.
However, when Christopher Columbus discovered the New World, which included South America, where the chili pepper originated, the popularity shifted from black pepper to chili peppers due to its lower cost and increased availability. Herbs like sage, mint, basil,
and thyme were also used in cooking during this period but not nearly as popular as spices were, for they usually grew locally and seasonally.
The long-distance traveling during this time was done by boat, where spices would travel using the monsoons. The first leg of the journey took them from Asia to Africa, then up north into Europe, where they traded with different countries for goods like gold, silver, and ivory.
Upon returning to Asia across the Indian Ocean, another trade would take place to get spices like cloves, nutmeg, and mace, which came from Madagascar, the northern coast of Indonesia, or parts of southeast Asia. Then these spices returned to be distributed again, only this time it was through Europe. The Dutch East India Company (VOC) was one of the most successful companies involved in the spice trade until it went bankrupt in 1800.
The spice trade has had a significant impact on the world, culinary and otherwise. It introduced spices and herbs to new regions, and it built and destroyed empires and countries alike. Its legacy lives on today through the different types of cuisines we see all over the world.
Today, spices are still expensive but not nearly as much as they were due to advances in technology such as refrigeration, making them easier to store for more extended periods than during the 15th century. They would quickly spoil if not used immediately. Since most kitchens now have access to both fresh and dried spices, many cultures will incorporate both into their cuisine, although some dishes may heavily favor each other.
The most popular spices, herbs, and seasonings today are still the ones that have been around for a very long time, such as black pepper, garlic, oregano, basil, and thyme. They are not as expensive as they were during the 16th century, but they still retain their importance in society today, proven by their enduring popularity.
Food Cinema
Andrew Kung Group is a commercial, advertising and lifestyle photography and commercial video production company, founded by Andrew himself who serves as the president, director of photography and a commercial photographer for the company. Based in the Midwest, the company’s portfolio is full of visual media that creates imagery for a wide range of clients.
“I never thought that becoming a professional commercial photographer would be my profession but here I am today, with over 10 years in the field of commercial and advertising photography,” Andrew says. He first became interested in photography when he was 9 years old. Andrew’s father had an interest in collectable cameras and pursued photography as a hobby. “I started casually shooting 35mm film with point-and-shoot cameras and would typically be the designated ‘photographer’ when our family or friends went on vacation,” he says. “I didn’t focus much on photography once I was in high school, likely because of too many distractions but then picked it up again around 2004 at the end of my college career.”
Andrew earned two Bachelor of Arts degrees in Sociology and Economics. His professional career began in the field of higher education, and he started pursuing his MBA but didn’t continue, as he realized that he really wanted to be in the world of commercial photography and advertising. He started becoming interested in photography once again when he came across a more surreal style of photography that uses strobes to overpower the sun. “At the time, I did not know how to achieve that look. It intrigued me greatly and in my pursuit of knowledge on how to achieve and refine my own style of using strobes, I was introduced to the world of commercial, advertising and, editorial photography.”
Andrew admits that it took him some time to leave his full-time day job. ”I worked with some respectable people and it provided a good amount of security, health care, and a retirement fund,” he says. “I tried quitting my day job three times, each time being lured back into the
Andrew Kung
corporate world because of a promise of more pay or more benefits. Ultimately, I began to realize that none of that mattered as I knew I wanted a career that would be much more fulfilling to me as an artist and to give myself and opportunity to build something of my own.”
Andrew first operated as a solo freelancer from 2004 to 2008. But as his business grew and the size of the jobs got larger, Andrew says it became increasingly difficult to operate as a one-man band. “I remember the days of having to pack and transport my camera kit, strobes, and grip gear to and from jobs, sometimes for quite some distance. That would leave me more tired than inspired once I arrived at the shoot,” he says. “I knew that I would soon have to add an assistant to help me produce quality work that my clients deserved, even though it would mean that my profit margin would decrease. It was then he launched Andrew Kung Group, and since 2008 he has grown his team and scaled his business. “We expanded our video and cinematography division around the year 2016 and it has grown significantly since then. A lot of this is due to the talented individuals on our team who have contributed to AKG’s growth in many ways.”
When Andrew introduced food photography into his business, he had no real interest other than taking on those jobs for the sake of growing the business. A lot of the food photography that he come across was predominantly captured with natural light and a shallow focus resulting in less vibrant photography, he explains. This was quite the opposite from the style Andrew had developed shooting with depth (f/13 or higher) and making use of strobe wattage. “I was under the impression that if that was what the market and what clients wanted, though I appreciate the art of that style and respect those who produce work in that fashion, it wasn’t personally appealing to me.”
Later, Sophisticated Living contacted Andrew to photograph food and dining features in a number of different cities. “The magazine indicated that the art direction and treatment for these culinary features were in-line with my personal style of photography – deep focus, punchy and vivid hero images that would really show the colors and textures of the food and drink.”
With his food photography, Andrew always prioritizes capturing food first, by itself as the hero with all its textures, colors, and dimensions set within a vivid scene. “I think if I can evoke a sense of hunger from the viewer when they look at my food images, if they can almost smell it, my mission has been accomplished.” Ultimately, Andrew says his job is to sell the food to the consumer, convince them to dine at the restaurant or to inspire them to expand their culinary horizons. This might include enlarging the field of view and adding in background textures/colors and carefully curated, styled props, ingredients and drinks in order to deliver the desired feel. “But, again, if I can live in the world of very upclose, almost life-like, almost macro, hero shots of food, I am quite happy,” he says.
Andrew Kung
Andrew Kung
Andrew primarily shoots food photography on location at a client’s location/restaurant. When on location, his goal is to capture the food at a client’s venue that is indicative of the space’s mood and ambiance. ”If I see the background, tabletop surface(s), bars, seating in the shot, I want to try my best to capture these elements in the shot that would make the viewer familiar with them and recognize them again if they were to make it into the venue in person.” Andrew recognizes that many restaurants and venues invest time and money in design features and choices in furniture to create a specific feel to their establishment. “I feel it would behoove me to incorporate that into my pictures of their food and drink if I can.”
Andrew works closely with his team of food stylists and/or the chef to develop concepts, “Special mention goes to my other director of photography, Rachel Lutz, who is an exceptional food and prop stylist as well.” Shots and concepts are also inspired by colleagues and other professionals in the industry across the world. Andrew has found photographers and professionals with similar tastes so a concept by a particular artist can be built upon and personalized. “Occasionally, some harebrained and wild ideas come to me in my sleep, and then I will try and get them implemented at the very last minute so that no one on my team has time to object.”
To see more of Andrew’s work, check out andrewkung.com and follow him on Instagram: @andrewkungphoto.
Jo Baker Waters Bespoke Tailoring
Andrew Kung
Andrew Kung
Andrew Kung
Andrew Kung
Andrew Kung
Andrew Kung
For Your Sweet Tooth
An award-winning blogger, cookbook author, recipe developer and much more, Maria Asselin infuses her French-Canadian roots and love of Italian cuisine into delicious recipes that are easy to follow and beautifully packaged. We wanted to learn more about her culinary journey — where it began and where it’s taking her.
AD: When did you first realize you wanted to dive into baking and cooking?
I started cooking with my mom when I was a kid. She was a stay-at-home mom, and she made everything from scratch. Very early on I learned to make desserts with her, and I soon took over the task whenever we had guests. After I left home, as a young adult, I had a phase of eating pretty bad, processed stuff—I didn’t have the same knowledge in cooking actual meals as I did in baking desserts.
Two things converged to make me become serious about food: I studied graphic design in the late 90s and I soon discovered the publications that inspired me the most design-wise were cookbooks and food magazines. I would literally spend the little student money I had on books and super expensive magazines from France and Australia. This inspired me to register my website, FoodNouveau.com, in 2000, and I used the platform to practice my web design skills and store my favorite recipes. Around that same period, I discovered that I was lactose intolerant. This forced me to make more conscious choices about what I was eating, and to make the effort to find alternatives to dairy products to use in my desserts. My experiments in the kitchen led to a growing passion for food and cooking in general, and over the years, I started dreaming about making it a career. (It would take 10 years before I would get to that, though!)
AD: Have you always had an interest in developing recipes? If not, when would you say that began?
I would say that my passion was first and foremost in following recipes. I would cook and bake my heart out using my growing cookbook and magazine collection. Contrary to chefs that tend to be more intuitive in their cooking style, I loved the guidance of recipes. In that sense, cookbooks were at the heart of my culinary education. It was only after several years of cooking and baking other people’s recipes that I grew the confidence to start riffing, and then to come up with my very own recipes.
I think my interest in cookbooks and recipes is what allowed me to become a good recipe developer. I’ve always been a meticulous cook, and this is a quality that comes in handy when you write recipes you want others to use.
Marie Asselin Fresh Peach Gelato Photography by Marie Asselin
AD: How do you come up with your recipes? Are they family recipes, experiments that you have tried/perfected over the years?
The first recipes I developed were inspired by my travels. I’ve travelled a lot and I’ve always traveled to eat, basically. The reason why I turned my site, Food Nouveau, into a blog in 2010, is because I wanted a place to nerd out about dishes I’d tasted abroad and wanted to recreate in my own kitchen. This gave me the confidence to follow my inspiration and create more recipes based on my own life experience and interests.
AD: When and how did you develop an obsession with citrus?
Well, I like to say that it all began with the crates of clementines my mom would buy during our super cold, super snowy Québec winters. The aroma of the freshly peeled clementines I’d eat after coming back from school is one of my most vivid food memories. One of the first desserts I made on my own was lemon meringue pie, too! Granted, I made it using store-bought Shirriff kits, but I was so very proud of these pies!
I’m sure people that are lucky enough to have citrus fruits growing in their backyards love them dearly too, but I think for those of us who live in Northern countries, citrus fruits are lifelines that get us through dreary winters. We literally need them to keep healthy! So my citrus-fueled childhood memories evolved into a full-blown obsession after I started cooking “for real” because citrus fruits are so incredibly versatile and useful in both savory and sweet dishes. Citrus fruits wake up taste buds and make food more exciting!
AD: Why is it that French and Italian cuisines heavily influence your recipes?
I feel like anyone can cook any food they love to feed their families, but if you’re going to create recipes and teach other people how to cook, you should draw from your own heritage and what is instinctive to you.
I’m French-Canadian and our food culture is, of course, influenced by our French roots. Growing up, I also had family living in France and my parents were francophiles, so I’d say my upbringing may have been more heavily influenced by France traditions and food than the average Québécois. France is one of the countries I wanted to travel to first, as a young adult, because I’d heard my parents talk about it so much (we never went there as a family.) Later on, I found a second home in Paris, this is a city I truly feel at home in and I try to return for a week or two every year.
French pastry is my biggest source of inspiration when it comes to baking. While I won’t always have time to make super intricate desserts, I feel like we can draw a lot of inspiration from the sophisticated flavor profiles and beautiful presentations of classic French desserts. I love boiling these down to clever touches you can add to your everyday sweets to give them an extra special touch without having to spend hours in the kitchen.
As for Italian cuisine, it’s very simple: I’m quite simply head over heels in love with the country. Italy is the country I’ve traveled to the most (even more than France) and I speak the language too, so I like to think of myself as an adoptive daughter. Italian cuisine is what made me develop an interest in savory cooking. Simple recipes that use few, but quality ingredients, are principles from Italian cuisine that drive my own day-to-day cooking.
To me, there’s just no other cuisine that is as heart-warming and satisfying as Italian food. It puts smiles on everyone’s faces! For all these reasons, this is the cuisine I researched, learned from, and practiced the most over the years, which is why I now feel comfortable sharing my Italian cuisine knowledge with others.
Marie Asselin Easy Orange Yogurt Cake Photography by Catherine Côté
AD: How did the idea of managing a cooking school come about? What did you have to do to prepare for that venture? What was your day-today like?
The cooking school came to life in sort of a round-about way. After coming out of design school, I founded a design firm with a friend who was an industrial designer. We offered a wide variety of design services to clients ranging from manufacturers to individuals who wanted to renovate their kitchens. We built a fully functioning kitchen in our showroom to attract clients and, to be honest, the reason why we started inviting chefs to teach classes was to make the space profitable. But then I grew an outside interest in managing that part of the business, even though it only took up a tiny fraction of my actual time (classes only happened a few times a month, and at night.) This was the first time the idea of weaving food into my career seemed a possibility at all. This was in 2004-2005, and I would only make the fulltime transition into the culinary world in 2010. But it all started when I’d layout and print out those recipe booklets while working overtime!
AD: What was it about your time in Paris that inspired you to revive Food Nouveau?
Ah well it was quite simply so overwhelming for the senses to live there! My exploration of countless Parisian pastry shops is what sparked my passion for pastry making. At first, I was especially obsessed with French macarons, which I learned to make in Paris. I perfected my technique after coming back home and started teaching my friends to make them too. My how-to recipe for French macarons is the very first recipe I published in March 2010 and it’s still, almost 12 years on, one of the most popular destinations on my site. AD: Your imagery is stunning! Do you take your own photos? I imagine this could be where your graphic design background comes in handy?
Thank you! I did take my own photos for the first 8 years of my site. I never liked taking photos though, it was more of a necessary evil. In 2018, I wrote my first cookbook, Simply Citrus, and I just couldn’t imagine taking the photos for an entire cookbook. I’d been collaborating with a talented food photographer, Catherine Côté, on client projects for a few years, and she’d become a friend. I decided to hire her to photograph my cookbook, and then we did another one together (French Appetizers), and then we did two more cookbooks together for a client. Working together became so easy and fun that I then made the transition to hire her to make the photos for my site, too. It was such a relief for me not to be behind the camera anymore! I can now concentrate on creating my recipes and styling the food, and then Catherine creates the images I could previously only dream of.
It’s funny because for the longest time, I thought my studies in graphic design were for naught. I also have a B.A. in translation, and this is what I credited as the credential that gave me the confidence to start writing and creating culinary content. I’ve always been a creative person, but it took me years to realize that the food styling part of my job actually pulls directly from my design background. So, you could say translation gave me the confidence to start writing, and graphic design allowed me to make my recipes come to life!
AD: Are there any future projects you are working on that we should lookout for?
Marie Asselin Chocolate Hazelnut Pots de Crème Photography by Catherine Côté
Marie Asselin Blood Orange and Dark Chocolate Fondant Cakes Photography by Marie Asselin
After seeing my two first cookbooks being published and distributed by a traditional publisher, I’ve decided to take the self-publishing route for future cookbook projects. I actually had self-publishing experience before my first physical cookbook was published: my first eBook was published in 2015 (Sweet Spot) and it helped me get noticed as a food writer. After riding the traditional route twice, I’ve decided to go back to self-publishing. I love that flying solo allows my creativity to flow without constraint and that I can have control over the whole publishing process. I can even build my eBooks from scratch too, thanks to my design background! I’ve just put 4 brand new eBooks out into the world: Citrus Desserts and Savory Citrus Delights can be considered sequels to Simply Citrus, Creative Appetizers is a follow up to French Appetizers, while Maple Desserts & Treats pulls directly from by maple-loving Québécois heritage.
This is just the beginning: I have a spreadsheet full of eBook ideas I’d like to pull together over the next few years. History will tell if this new venture is a success, but I’m hopeful the people who come to my site and love my recipes will find the eBooks helpful and useful too.
Marie Asselin Foolproof Shortcrust Pastry Photography by Catherine Côté
Marie Asselin Hazelnut and Strawberry Galette Photography by Catherine Côté
Marie Asselin Chamomile Lemon Tartlets Photography by Catherine Côté
