Happenings

Tasty

Gallery Exhibition

Dates:

August 14 through October 1, 2008

Donor-Only Preview Reception:

Thursday, August 14, 2008, 6:00 to 7:00 pm

Opening Reception:

Thursday, August 14, 2008, 7:00 to 9:00 pm

Location:

3245 16th Street (at Guerrero Street), San Francisco CA 94103

Come and get it! This summer, you can satisfy your craving for art for the kitchen and home with a new exhibition and sale of works dedicated to food, glorious food. Tasty is an ‘All U Can Buy’ buffet of original drawings, paintings and sculptures that feature a mouth-watering array of incredible edibles from dancing radishes to the mid-century modern joys of Jell-O.

“Everybody likes to eat,” says curator and Creativity Explored instructor Judith La Rosa. “And the artists around here have some big appetites, so they just jumped on this subject. Plus, they discovered that when you really start looking at food, you see some amazing layers of color, patterns, and textures. The show is just so incredibly vibrant.”

A stand out among the radiant work on display is the vast collection of desserts by long time Creativity Explored artist Camille Holvoet. Holvoet, whose passion for pastries has been a life long inspiration, contributes a series of luminescent oil pastels of cupcakes and cakes, as well as an array of frosty beverages like root beer floats and an elaborate ‘cut glass’ Jell-O salad in a cocktail glass.

Text-based artist John Patrick McKenzie also sticks to sweets with an ode to pies scrawled over Neopolitan ice cream-striped wallpaper, while Yolanda Ramirez focuses on healthier treats like slices of fruit.

Meat was much on the mind of the artists working on the show as well. Kevin Roach contributes a not-so-traditional butchering chart for pork. One of the cuts he cites is the ‘Picnic Shoulder’. The snout is labeled as ‘Oink (canned)’. Valerie Jenkins’ shrimp drawing is also something of a chart covered in dozens of delicate drawings of the popular crustaceans next to which she has jotted words like ‘pink’ and ‘eyeballs’. Peter Cordova, who also works part time as a bagger at Safeway, used that store’s coupon mailer to find images for his collaged papier mache ‘meat’ bowl.

It’s not just the things we eat, but the places we go to buy a meal that get attention in the show. James Miles pays homage to the beloved and highly anticipated snack truck that pulls up in front of the gallery every day at 10:45 a.m., and also contributes an elaborate line drawing of a food mall presided over by a giant chicken with an oversized burger for a table. Valerie Long creates a fascinating map-like portrait of a Mission district helado cart, and Gordon Chin whips up a series of restaurant signs: “Pop’s Greasy Spoon – It ain’t healthy but it sure tastes good!”, as well as a list of daily home cooked specials including “pasgetti” and “hot cake”.

“Tasty” art is what’s cooking this summer!

artwork: CAKE by Camille Holvoet ©2008/CE

Related News Entries:

• CE Gallery will be open on Labor Day August 27, 2008

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