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Seeing "Eating". The story of food in art.

2020/07/07
Shinzo Okuoka

As
Cervantes, the Spanish novelist and author of Don Quixote
, said, "Bread is almost enough to bear sorrow.

Life
is91 x 117cm

Missing one meal can cause frustration, and going without food and drink for a week can lead to death.
On the other hand, the act of "eating" has played an important role in human society.

For example, Sparta, the strongest military state in ancient Greece, placed great importance on "eating together.
For example, Sparta, which was considered to be the strongest military state in ancient Greece, placed great importance on "eating together" because they believed that sharing a meal would enhance unity.

There are other "food rules" as well.
Of course, it is not limited to personal preferences (e.g., "no carbohydrates at night"). For example, Islam forbids eating pork, Hinduism forbids eating beef, some factions of Buddhism only allow eating in the morning, and some religions impose strict rules on eating.

Some religions impose strict rules on eating. Food and eating seem to be important to humans, but what about in the art world?
How have we sculpted this weighty matter for ourselves?

Let's look at painting as an example.
There are roughly three types of painting: figurative, abstract, and in-between, and
Aira's work falls into the last category. in this Pop Art-like world, she uses a variety of colors to visualize grapes, freeing them from their original form
.

grape(2020#3)
47 x 54cm

What about "delicious-looking" works?
The sushi depicted by Kenta Nakajima uses the technique of realism to stimulate the appetite in an erotic way.
18th century writer Lessing said in "Laocoon" that "painting should capture the right moment"
.

Nakashima's sushi, in other words, captures the most delectable moment in time, the moment when it is made by the artisan and presented to the customer.


Sushi - Hamachi
-18.5 x 18.5cm

Click here for details

Bento is also an interesting form of meal.
In general, a meal is an act of sitting down at home or in a restaurant.

Shintaku's painting, which contains 733 calories and 20g of protein, is a perfect example
.


If you try to interpret it as "a lunch box made by someone for someone else," you will be able to see the story.
In this way, the morning after a fight, there may be nothing but rice in the box, or on the other hand, you may encounter a bento with plenty of time and ingredients, as in this work. In a sense, bento can be said to be a silent communication through food.





BENTO-May 18, 2018 (calories 733kcal, protein 20g, fat 32.8g, carbohydrates 85.7g, salt 1.75g / ingredients: rice, sausage, fried spinach and egg, fried eggplant and okura, carrot, corn, okura, konnyaku, broccoli, cheese sprinkles (bonito), salad oil, soy sauce, mirin-style seasoning, sesame
seeds35.5 x 45.5cm

Click here for details.

What does it mean to "eat" in the first place?
Aside from extreme minimalists and animals, "eating" and "nutrition" are two different things for humans. We eat what we want, when we want, where we want, and how we want.
It is a pleasure unique to human beings.
Or maybe it's a game unique to humans.


no
title9137 x 27cm

Click here for details of the work

The act of eating, which reflects extreme personal preferences and obsessions, is in a sense a way to express one's personality.

On the other hand, buying art also means buying the talent and ideas of the artist.
Buying a work of art that depicts food and eating may also be a way to look into the life of the artist.

Écrivain

Shinzo Okuoka