Hungry? You better be, because Thursday kicks off the first event in a wintry season of marathon eating and relatives overstaying their welcome. It’s time again to stock up for the colder months, and grandma’s not the only one planning a Thanksgiving feast. ARTINFO has carefully sifted through the canon of classic and contemporary art to bring you ten over-the-top food-related artworks to accompany your binge eating on Turkey Day.
Start out the main course by digging into an anthropomorphic arrangement of Archimboldo vegetables — we chose his "Autumn" (1573) as particularly "Thanksgiving-y" — or a rack of ribs from that contemporary wizard of gluttony, food artist Jennifer Rubbell, who made her name with massive piles of meat for an installation at Performa, almost exactly two years ago. For less, er, traditional fare, how about performance artist Xavier Cha, who presented herself along with piles of vegatables in a giant cornucopia at Taxter & Spengemann gallery a couple of years ago?
For dessert, contemporary art is particularly rich in options. Choose from a fine selection of Wayne Thiebald's creamy, dreamy pies, or if you’re really feeling gluttonous, Claes Oldenberg’s larger-than-life slice of cake. Looking for something more decadent still? Why not curl up alongside some of the langorous nudes on a big fluffy cloud of cotton candy in Will Cotton's "Consuming Folly, or bite into one of Marina Abramovic's dark chocolate lips covered in edible gold, produced in collaboration with the pastry chefs at San Ambroeus to celebrate her recent MoMA retrospective.
As a pure allegory of culinary excess, look out for Terry Richardson’s photos of model Lindsey Wixson inhaling spaghetti or Cosimo Cavallaro’s room of dripping cheese. And as for the classics, Willem Claeszoon Heda's "Breakfast Table with Blackberry Pie" (1631), with its oozing berries and toppled goblets, proves that "your eyes were bigger than your stomach" must have a Dutch translation as well.
No matter the season, these ten artworks are a feast for your eyes — loosen your belts, adjust your glasses, and enjoy.
To see ARTINFO selection of ten over-the-top food artworks for Thanksgiving, click on the slide show.