Following on from the composition blog of 13th January, using food items for a composition, an email popped into my inbox this morning from Artists and Illustrators, giving an amazing example of how common food items can be turned into fabulous and profitable art. Rodney Kingston - Kitchen Cupboard Bits and Bobs is an acrylic original retailing for a respectable £400. The artist notes that the work is painted from life, which in real terms means he selected a few select objects from out of the cupboard, to create a super, professional composition. You can look at more of Robert's work here :
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| ©Rodney Kingston : Kitchen Cupboard Bits & Pieces Acrylic 30cm x 25cm high |
So how much mileage can be gained from using household objects and food packaging? One only has to think of Andy Warhol's work to appreciate the beauty of simplicity. Both exploiting and embracing consumerism, his 'Campbell's Soup 1', is instantly recognisable for what it is, and who painted it. Along with the artist's questioning, demanding, 'Well, what, after all, is art?'
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| Campbells Soup 1 © Andy Warhol 1968 |
Art evokes feeling, emotion, perhaps memories. Art moves us, often in an unexpected way.
We can all relate to product and food. Each of us has to eat. We can all relate to the tomato sauce clinging to the bottom of the bottle, defiant to all shaking and thudding of the bottom to coax the life partner of the humble chip to slither up the neck of the bottle, blobbing out on to the plate. Just as most of us of a certain age, have fond memories of Campbell's Tomato Soup. For me, it was always served in a mug, steaming hot and generously sprinkled with pepper. So for me, Warhol's work instantly starts an internal video of shared soups with folk no longer around, in an era that for me, entering my teenage years, overflowing with memories of very happy times.
Going back to Rodney Kingston's work, he has carefully selected items that would possibly appeal to all age groups. Coca Cola, Oxos, Golden Syrup, Marmite, and of course, Heinz Tomato Ketchup. Instantly recognisable to most of us. Each product concealing a personal trigger for most of us..
The ketchup.. Most of us prefer the glass bottle to the plastic version, as we grew up with the glass Marmite jar, rather than the plastic squeezy one. The Oxos are timeless, as are the tin of Golden Syrup and Coca Cola bottles.
The subliminal messages in Rodney's work are 'authenticity' & 'originality'. Had Rodney chosen say, a supermarket brand, or modern plastic packaging, the work wouldn't have the same impact. It wouldn't trigger off memories of our first Coke, or the taste of a mug of Oxo on a cold day, or simply memories of the staple items found living on the formica kitchen table of the 1960's.
Food and product paintings sell. One word sums up the unique selling point of the 'Food' genre. Comfort. Just gazing at a painting of toast on the end of a toasting fork will evoke smells, tastes, social times, home, holidays, in fact, any random memory that involves toast. Even writing this, as I write I am smelling toast. Thus is the power of food. Don't underestimate it!
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| The Fruit Bowl © Kate Lomax All Rights Reserved |
My own painting, 'The Fruit Bowl', was painted after I went to the fruit bowl to select some fruit to accompany my lunch. I placed the pear and the satsuma beside the bowl and went to the kitchen to fetch a plate. When I returned, the light was catching the bowl in such a way, that I had to paint it. So I did. Whenever I look at the painting, I am reminded of that day, the bowl that I purchased from a charity shop with my Grandson, and the pear that became over ripe waiting for me to finish the work!
Most people remember meals, foods, and social events with fondness. Perhaps think of your own foodie memories and try and recreate your memory in a painting this weekend. Or, rifle through your store cupboard for staple brands that have been around for years, or perhaps a wok and some Chinese spices and herbs. Don't dismiss the food genre as being meaningless to anyone but yourself. Perhaps Google food paintings and do your own research as you roll through the images to see how many switches they flick within you!
Happy painting!
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