Overview

Savour a taste of the edible alphabet, from A to Z. Throughout history, visual and performance artists of all stripes and degrees of renown have rendered their visions within the whimsical medium of food. But however ubiquitous the practice may be, in Carolyn Tillie's deeply satisfying and gloriously illustrated A Feast for the Eyes, we embark on a delicious adventure that redefines the world of art. Explore the surprising artistry of apple-head dolls, butter sculptures, coffee paintings, and a grand cathedral carved entirely from salt. Learn about the ancient role of food creations in ritual and global folk art. Experience the modern magnificence of electrified vegetable sculptures and ethereal molecular gastronomy. Discover why Salvador Dal had an obsession with lobsters, and why there is a giant palace in the American Midwest made entirely of corn. For food lovers and art aficionados alike, A Feast for the Eyes serves up an aesthetic banquet that will delight the senses — and nourish mind, body, and soul.

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9781789140637

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Reviews

This ravishingly luscious book proves once and for all, if it ever were in doubt, that food is art. An abecedarium of comestible confections and culinary marvels from around the world that is at once arrestingly beautiful and usually edible. --Ken Albala, University of the Pacific Maurizio Cattelan's now-infamous banana is hardly the only work of art made from literal foodstuffs. In artist Tillie's gorgeously illustrated A Feast for the Eyes, she considers the role of art in the full span of art history, from prehistoric paintings done on the inside of eggshells, to elaborately crafted Renaissance banquets with extravagant sugar centerpieces. But the heart of this little volume--or should I say the gut?--is the incredible alphabetical rundown of artworks made from all types of edible ingredients, such as Vik Muniz's caviar Frankenstein (2004) and Blake Little's viral photographs of models dripping in honey. --ArtNet News Any survey of food as art has to feature Giuseppe Arcimboldo, the sixteenth-century Italian painter whose portraits are montages of food. There is a take-off on one, by the photographer Klaus Enrique, on the cover of this lovely volume, A Feast for the Eyes. The book is an alphabetical compendium, with entries showing and explaining fanciful Easter eggs, mosaics made from seeds and rice, carved radishes, butter sculptures, insanely elaborate lattes, and intricate Japanese confections. The introduction gives historical background from 60,000-year-old engraved ostrich shells to Instagram. --Florence Fabricant New York Times The illustrations are a careful selection of mainly contemporary materials, from a witty recreation of Arcimboldo's Vertumnus to astonishing crop art in the rice fields of Japan, corn palaces in South Dakota, and tea, chocolate, and coffee in strange manipulations, all brought together for the first time to give a delightful overview of edible art, beautifully designed and printed. --Gillian Riley, food historian

This ravishingly luscious book proves once and for all, if it ever were in doubt, that food is art. An abecedarium of comestible confections and culinary marvels from around the world that is at once arrestingly beautiful and usually edible. --Ken Albala, University of the Pacific The illustrations are a careful selection of mainly contemporary materials, from a witty recreation of Arcimboldo's Vertumnus to astonishing crop art in the rice fields of Japan, corn palaces in South Dakota, and tea, chocolate, and coffee in strange manipulations, all brought together for the first time to give a delightful overview of edible art, beautifully designed and printed. --Gillian Riley, food historian

This ravishingly luscious book proves once and for all, if it ever were in doubt, that food is art. An abecedarium of comestible confections and culinary marvels from around the world that is at once arrestingly beautiful and usually edible. --Ken Albala, University of the Pacific New York Times The illustrations are a careful selection of mainly contemporary materials, from a witty recreation of Arcimboldo's Vertumnus to astonishing crop art in the rice fields of Japan, corn palaces in South Dakota, and tea, chocolate, and coffee in strange manipulations, all brought together for the first time to give a delightful overview of edible art, beautifully designed and printed. --Gillian Riley, food historian New York Times Maurizio Cattelan's now-infamous banana is hardly the only work of art made from literal foodstuffs. In artist Tillie's gorgeously illustrated A Feast for the Eyes, she considers the role of art in the full span of art history, from prehistoric paintings done on the inside of eggshells, to elaborately crafted Renaissance banquets with extravagant sugar centerpieces. But the heart of this little volume--or should I say the gut?--is the incredible alphabetical rundown of artworks made from all types of edible ingredients, such as Vik Muniz's caviar Frankenstein (2004) and Blake Little's viral photographs of models dripping in honey. --Ken Albala, University of the Pacific ArtNet News Any survey of food as art has to feature Giuseppe Arcimboldo, the sixteenth-century Italian painter whose portraits are montages of food. There is a take-off on one, by the photographer Klaus Enrique, on the cover of this lovely volume, A Feast for the Eyes. The book is an alphabetical compendium, with entries showing and explaining fanciful Easter eggs, mosaics made from seeds and rice, carved radishes, butter sculptures, insanely elaborate lattes, and intricate Japanese confections. The introduction gives historical background from 60,000-year-old engraved ostrich shells to Instagram. --Florence Fabricant New York Times

The illustrations are a careful selection of mainly contemporary materials, from a witty recreation of Arcimboldo's Vertumnus to astonishing crop art in the rice fields of Japan, corn palaces in South Dakota, and tea, chocolate, and coffee in strange manipulations, all brought together for the first time to give a delightful overview of edible art, beautifully designed and printed. --Gillian Riley, food historian

Author Information

Carolyn Tillie is a freelance writer, award-winning artist, and the author of Oyster: A Global History, also published by Reaktion Books. She lives in the Californian coastal town of Montara.

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