FEAST FOR THE EYES - ART INSPIRED BY FOOD AND DINING IN A SWEEPING MUSEUM EXPEDITION

July 30-November 6, 2016
 Feast for the Eyes, guest curated by Franklin Hill Perrell, explores how cuisine has always inspired artists. The exhibition opens at Nassau County Museum of Art on July 30, 2016, and remains on view through November 6, 2016. Feast for the Eyes, a sweeping two-floor exhibition focused on food and dining in art, features works by a sweeping array of artists, including Audrey Flack, Red Grooms, George Grosz, Henri Matisse, Claes Oldenberg, Cindy Sherman and Andy Warhol, among many others.
 
Drawn from a wide variety of media, the exhibition offers viewers eclectic portrayals of feasts, eateries, restaurants, cafés, groceries, and table settings. Included are luscious depictions of edible delights by artists such as Ben Schonzeit, Gina Beavers, Luigi Benedicenti and Wayne Thiebaud. Berenice Abbott contributes iconic 1930s photographs of the Automat and other dining destinations of New York City.  The designer Judith Leiber makes fabulous jeweled evening bags modeled after sensuous fruits and vegetables.
 
Stylistically, the works range from a classic 1908 still life by William Merritt Chase to a 1973 Pop Art painting by Roy Lichtenstein.  The illustrator Al Hirschfeld produces famed Broadway restaurant drawings filled with celebrity diners, while The New Yorker’s Roz Chast pens humorous cartoons on a range of culinary topics. Photorealistic works from the 1970s to the present day by Don Eddy, Ralph Goings and others portray a variety of gastronomic experiences. Among the Long Island artists represented in A Feast for the Eyes are Frank Olt, Susan Cushing, Richard Gachot, Bruce Lieberman, Christian White and Joe Szabo.
 
In conjunction with the exhibition, the Museum will be offering many public programs for adults and family groups. To learn about these programs, visit nassaumuseum.org/events.
 
Nassau County Museum of Art is located at One Museum Drive in Roslyn Harbor, just off Northern Boulevard, Route 25A, two traffic lights west of Glen Cove Road. The museum is open Tuesday-Sunday, 11 a.m.-4:45 p.m. Docent-led tours of the exhibition are offered at 2 p.m. each day; tours of the mansion are offered each Saturday at 1 p.m.; meet in the lobby, no reservations needed. Tours are free with museum admission. Family art activities and family tours are offered Sundays from 1 pm; free with museum admission. Call (516) 484-9338, ext. 12 to inquire about group tours. Admission is $10 for adults, $8 for seniors (62 and above) and $4 for students and children (4 to12). Members are admitted free. The Museum Store is open Tuesday through Sunday, 11 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Call (516) 484-9337 for current exhibitions, events, days/times and directions or log onto nassaumuseum.org.
 
Nassau County Museum of Art is chartered and accredited by New York State as a not-for-profit private educational institution and is governed by a privately elected Board of Trustees. The Museum and its programs are made possible through the support of Nassau County under County Executive Edward P. Mangano and the Nassau County Legislature; the Board of Trustees and Museum Members; Sponsors of Exhibitions and Events, Government and Foundation Grants, Corporate and Private Donors as well as earned income.

Photo:
Berenice Abbott
Automat, 1936
Silver gelatin print, ed. 15/40
17.75 x 23.15 inches
Heckscher Museum of Art; Gift of Mr. Morton Brozinsky, 1985.2.4

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Claes Oldenburg Flying Pizza, 1964 Lithograph on paper, ed. 98/200 15.6 X 21.45 inches Heckscher Museum of Art, Gift of Dr. & Mrs. Milton M. Gardner

Tjalf Spaarnay Fruit Salad, 2015 oil on linen 47 x 71 inches Courtesy of the Artist and Bernarducci Meisel Gallery

Gina Beavers Yummmm, 2015 Acrylic on canvas 16 x 16 inches Private Collection care of Clifton Benevento Gallery

Roberto Bernardi I’ippopotamo al tramonto, 2015 (The Hippo at Sunset) Oil on canvas 55 X 62 inches Courtesy of the artist and Bernarducci Meisel Gallery, NY

Roz Chast Factory Second Food published May 8, 2006 watercolor and ink on paper sheet: 12 x 9 inches Courtesy: the artist and Danese/Corey, New York

Scott Martin The Provider, 1976 Oil on canvas 18 x 36 inches Allan Stone Projects, NYC

Don Nice Turnip, 1967 Oil on canvas 89 x 42 inches Allan Stone Projects