Brianna Morgan

Mini Post 3: Feast and Famine 

Divya Mehra, Chocolate Bar, Courtesy of the artist and Georgia Sherman Projects, Toronto. 2015/2019. 

Matthias Grunewald, Isenheim Altarpiece (closed), 1510-1515. 

Artemisia Gentileschi, Judith Beheading Holofernes, 1619-1620.

From the Feast & Famine exhibit, two themes that stood out to me were diversity and beauty within food and its production. Food is highly cultural, geographical, and its value is sometimes based on appearance. One piece from the exhibit that depicted this theme was “Chocolate Bar” by Divya Mehra, Courtesy of the artist Georgina Sherman Projects, Toronto. This piece is a block of chocolate bars in a pyramidal form with colorful labels reading “enjoy diversity.” This piece represents how chocolate and its ingredients are harvested in Africa and South America, typically done by people of color and of a lower socioeconomic class, but it is consumed globally. Not only is chocolate consumed by people all over the world, but it is eaten knowing that it is not healthy. The theme of diversity is also present in the first opening of Grünewald’s Isenheim Altarpiece as the angels on the left side of the middle panel are of different ethnicities, representing the global domination of the Church (Stockstad 695). In the same way that chocolate is consumed around the world, the Church was taking over during the Renaissance period. This theme of diversity is also present in the form of gender. In the Renaissance, women were not recognized for their work nor was their work held to the same standard as males’ work; hence, “Judith Beheading Holofernes” by Artemisia Gentileschi was a major revolutionary work for its time. In the painting, a powerful Judith is seen beheading Holofernes, who invited her in so that he could sleep with her, with the help of her maid (Stockstad 738). In the same way that “Judith Beheading Holofernes” represented the slim gender diversity in art, “Chocolate Bar”represents economical and political diversity. 

Chris Thorson, Of Wrath, 2015. 

Leonardo Da Vinci, Mona Lisa, 1503-1506. 

Chris Thorson, Boxed In (Harvest Fresh). 2012

Another theme from the exhibit was beauty in which certain foods that may not look good are held to a lesser standard, even if they are still healthy for you. One piece from the exhibit that portrayed this theme was “Of Wrath” by Chris Thorson. This piece consists of two artificial potatoes, made of oil on bronze, and a piece of vine in which potatoes are grown on, made of oil paint, bronze, and polymerized gypsum. Economically, it is costly to pay for the transportation of these foods and adds to the theme of diversity in which production and consumption of food is usually not in the same place. The food in this piece looks old and represents how food is typically disposed of if its appearance is not at a certain standard of beauty, even if it is important to your nutrition. Grünewald’s Isenheim Altarpiece represents this theme because the closed altarpiece and the Lamentation from the predella are grousome portrayals of Christ’s crucifixion, yet this story is extremely important to the Church and its traditions (Stockstad 695). Another piece that represents the theme of beauty is “Mona Lisa” by Leonardo da Vinci. When it was created, it was not perceived a beautiful because Leonardo strayed from traditional Italian paintings of wealthy wives wearing lavish clothing and jewelry that symbolizes their status and their husband's wealth (Stockstad 654). But, this painting is extremely important to modern culture in which it is arguably the most famous painting in the world.     

    

Works Cited

Stokstad, Marilyn, and Michael Watt Cothren. Art History. Pearson, 2018.