Itchy York article

Food for thought

Artists who like to use food

For most of us, the closest we ever got to making art out of food were those primary school art lessons where we stuck bits of pasta and lentils to big sheets of cardboard. That, or what you created the last time you got home from a heavy night in the pub and got busy with whatever you found hanging around in the back of the fridge.

There are some people though, who’ve taken their obsession with mixing alimentation and artistic expression a bit further than making portraits from old penne. From chefs to sculptors, these food artists have taken everyday ingredients, mixed them with a little imagination, and come up with a feast for your eyes and taste buds. Welcome to Itchy’s taster menu of the best of Food Art.

The Toastman

Aka Maurice Bennet, and self-proclaimed as New Zealand’s most renowned artist, The Toastman exorcises his creative demons by burning bits of bread and then putting them together to make pretty patterns. He’s also perfected the art of burning letters and pictures onto his breakfast slice, surely making him the toast of the Food Art world. www.mauricebennett.co.nz

Sonja Alhäuser

Not happy with the cost of pick ‘n’ mix at her local cinema, this German artist decided to give confectionery back to the people, in the form of sculpture. She starts by turning chocolate, ice cream, cake, sweets and even popcorn into installation art. Once her work is exhibited, she invites her audience to nibble away at it, until it’s completely eaten up. What better reason could you have for getting your culture levels up?

Andy Warhol

Prince of pop art, Warhol was best known for his depiction of consumer products. His screen prints of Campbell’s soup tins helped propel him into the stratosphere of 20th century art, and later pieces included depictions of Coke cans and bananas, as featured on the cover of The Velvet Underground album, The Velvet Underground and Nico.

Heston Blumenthal

Since his Berkshire restaurant, The Fat Duck, was named as the world’s best restaurant by Restaurant magazine in 2005, Blumenthal’s innovation in the kitchen has become a byword for cutting-edge cuisine. His menus are based on the principles of molecular gastronomy – using an understanding of chemistry to come up with novel ways of cooking food. What this means in practice is some pretty unusual ways of cooking – blowtorches, liquid nitrogen and vacuum jars are all frequently used – not to mention dishes worthy of any botched late-night cooking attempts. Anyone for bacon and egg ice cream? Or how about some snail porridge for breakfast tomorrow?

www.fatduck.co.uk

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