Feasting on Art

This is the last weekend before the Feasting on Art Recipe Contest deadline. Submit your entries now to be in the running to win a copy of the cookbook, Food of the Louvre.

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 genitals. When Acdetis woke up, blood seeping from his genitals formed the pomegranate. The fruit was taken to the nymph Nana, who became pregnant by it and gave birth to Atys” (1). From the outside, the pomegranate is a fairly inauspicious fruit. It was not until I sliced it open, the crimson juice staining the cutting board and splattering on my clothes, that the corporeal aspect of the fruit was revealed. Within the iconography of the Christian Church, the pomegranate represents the blood of Christ. The name is derived from the Latin pōmum meaning apple and grānātus meaning seeded. Beating a section of the fruit with the back of a spoon yields a scattering of round ruby seeds.  The pomegranate is sometimes thought to be the forbidden fruit of the Garden of Eden, similar to the ‘garden of paradise’ of Qur’an where the ancient fruit with the jewel-like seeds grew (2).

Jacob van Hulsdonck, Still Life with Lemons, Oranges and a Pomegranate, c.1620-40
oil on panel, 42 x 49.5 cm, The Getty Collection

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Yellow is a colour of juxtapositions. In the natural world, animals and insects cloak their bodies (often in conjunction with the colour black) to signify poison, danger. Likewise, it is the colour of death, the sallow skin of a sick person and the brilliant autumnal yellow of leaves before they fall to the ground. The colour is derived from a number of materials including some of the most dangerous in the world, cadium sulfide, lead chromate and the pigment named orpiment made from arsenic. Orpiment, or King’s Yellow/Chinese Yellow, touches upon other connotations of the colour, power and wealth. As the colour of gold, the pigment was used to paint the halos of angels and the garments of the Hindu god Krishna. In China, yellow robes were reserved for only the Emperors to wear, hence the name King’s Yellow. As the embodiment of sunshine, yellow was most commonly derived from saffron, the stigmas of the crocus. The deep golden hue was used to stain foods and fabrics alike and is still today, the world’s most expensive spice. There are a number of food connotations with regard to the colour, hues vary from maize to mustard – popular colours in the 70′s appearing on a number of goods including bell bottoms and retro lamps – to the vibrant tones of lemon and apricot. Generally considered a happy colour, perhaps it is the sunshine-like colouration of citrus fruits that in conjunction with the bright flavour, that help to dispel the dark days of winter.

Gustavo Montoya, Still Life with Bananas
oil on canvas, 80 x 119.4cm, Private collection

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I am honored and excited to be included on the Design*Sponge website as part of the ‘In the kitchen with…’ series. I had several recipe ideas, bookmarked and filed away for a very special post, and was delighted when my recipe for a pear tart with whiskey cream was selected as it was inspired by one of my favorite still life artists. Hopefully the short description I sent with the recipe will tempt you to visit the Design*Sponge page to take a look at the pear tart with whiskey cream.

Combining the ingredients in Tom Wesselmann’s ‘Still Life #2′ was a natural
marriage, the dark molasses flavours of the whiskey compliment the subtle
sweetness of the pear with the toasty hints in the liquor mirrored in the toasted
hazelnuts of the crust. Cinnamon and ginger continue the warming flavour
palette and provides a sharp-spiciness to the tart – the perfect foil to the cooling
whiskey cream, speckled with vanilla seeds.

I would like to welcome all of the new readers arriving from Design*Sponge. I hope you take a bit of time and explore the site. You can find the entire listing of recipes here and if you are curious about the type of art you can find among the pages of this blog, then head on over to the art index and click on the images that catch your eye.

Tom Wesselmann, Still Life #2, 1962
oil and collage on board, 121.9 x 122.2 cm, Norton Simon Museum

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The frosting upon Wayne Thiebaud’s 1963 painting, Cakes, is so thickly applied that I am often tempted to reach out, run my finger along one of the perfect cake-tops to taste the sugary dessert. Thiebaud cleverly uses a thick application of paint to mimic the look and texture of frosting, highlighting the idea of ‘object transference’ where the paint literally assumes the appearance of the element it is depicting. His work from the 60s focused on mass culture was characterised by heavy, colourful pigment and solid outlines placed upon stark backgrounds. The balanced and symmetric arrangement of the cakes suggests a counter display at a patisserie and invites the viewer to visually consume the sweet confections.

Wayne Thiebaud, Cakes, 1963
oil on canvas, 152.4 x 182.9 cm, National Gallery of Art, Washington D.C.

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Hung Liu’s artistic production is a process of recollection – a symbolic excavation.  Having weathered the re-education of artists vis-a-vis Mao’s Cultural Revolution and immigration to the U.S. in 1984, Hung Liu’s influences are richly transcultural.  She is known as one of the very first Chinese artists to study within the U.S. and has since received numerous accolades for her dynamic work.  Starting from anonymous photographs (often of unnamed Chinese prostitutes), Liu’s portrayals pair elements of tradition with contemporary critique.  Vividly, her use of colour challenges her audiences’ emotive links to colour.  In an interview she gave in 1995, Hung Liu refers to her vibrant use of colour, particularly red: “Red is an alarming color. We use red lights to warn people; to tell about danger and to use caution.  In China, red is the color of the national flag. It is also the color of revolution; it suggests blood. Red also is used for celebration; it is festive and is used for such things as weddings, the Chinese New Year, and red banners. I like to work with layers of meaning.” (1)

Hung Liu, Yang, 2008

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