Feast For The Eyes

Feast for the Eyes, an exhibit guest-curated at the Nassau County Museum of Art by Franklin Hill Perrell, explores how food has always inspired artists. The exhibition opens on July 30 and remains on view through Nov. 6. 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.
Caricaturist Al Hirschfeld shows celebrity diners from stage and screen in his famed line drawings 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 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.