From the plate to the work of art

Mix fix- A taste of art

The artists’ fascination with food

by Alex Humbert

Since the dawn of time, food attracts artists, whether through the representation of everyday life, the diversion of food in the painted way or even in use as materials, food is entirely part of the art as well as landscapes or religious representations in the past.

Initially, food only served as a model for painting, sculpting or drawing, but as time went by, it became a material on its own. As a result, we can find it in many genres or artistic movements: still life, Surrealism, Minimalism, Pop Art, Hyperrealism and Dadaism, for the most important. If it was only in this kind of art at the beginning, now, food is also in installation art, fashion design or performance art.

From Antiquity to now: the path of food in art

The beginning of the representation of food is in Antiquity with Egyptians, Greeks, Romans and Mesopotamians between the mosaics, the calculation’s tablets, the sarcophagi and also the amphoras or the vases. But the artists didn’t only represent the food alone, there were also scenes such as banquets, gatherings and even preparations. In addition, thanks to this kind of representation, archaeologists and anthropologists could trace life and traditions.

If some readers think of older traces, such as the caves of Lascaux for example, they are considered animal art, moreover, the animals represented were not the majority that Prehistoric men consumed: they drew mostly aurochs, horses and other animals but fed mainly reindeer. So they can’t be really included in the chronology, the real first representations of food have been painted later.

As in Antiquity, there were many banquets, gatherings and preparation paintings in the Middle Ages, ut the paintings at this period were principally religious.

In the Renaissance, a new genre was born: still life and as a result, the representation of food began to change: food became the centre of the painting.

But since this era, many other genres have seen food become their object of fascination, not necessarily by representing it realistically as food. The most famous example is “Estate” by Arcimboldo, where he uses fruits and vegetables to represent a face.

Timeline from Antiquity to the beginning of 20th Century.

Since the beginning of the 20th Century, food take another place in art. Artists are beginning to use it as a material: temporary art is slowly starting to emerge. Ephemeral art is a global word to discuss works that deteriorate or disappear. And with food, this term is logical because it is not eternal.

Another form of art is emerging and must be linked with food art: performance art and this one is also ephemeral.

Art is increasingly lived in the moment, no longer necessary in time; the only traces of this kind of art are the photos and/or videos.

Timeline from the beginning of 20th Century to now.

© Wikicommons

Food art invaded your space

Now, food art is even beyond the museum, we can find it on social media, on television, in the street or also in your plate, this expression take another dimension with social media and the creation of a lot of new words invaded the hashtags’/internet world like: Foodie, foodporn, foodistas, food stylist, foodgasm etc.

For a few years, the number of emissions about food has increased: the principle of his programs is not only to cook but to make the cook creation as visually beautiful as possible. Generally speaking, if we talk about artists, we think primarily about painting, sculpture, this kind of art but cooking is also an art and the chefs or the home cooks are the artists. But moreover, we are talking about culinary art or food design and these two terms take all their meaning when we see the beauty of some culinary works.

In conclusion, food is an integral part of our lives: we need it to live but not only, it is also our guilty pleasure at times or a source of inspiration! Initially, it was only the artist and the chef’s inspiration. But now, most people are inspired by food, whether by staging photos to show their dishes or by cooking and discovering new dishes or flavours.