From press release:
One of the characteristics of man is to transform the act of feeding into a vital but risky moment, a moment of pleasure. First of all, to eat to satiety, to quench his craving. Depending on the circumstances, this time is sometimes lonely but it is most often collective. The group (small or large) finds itself there in the emotion of sharing, the need to be together.
"Total social fact" writes Marcel Mauss, he brings the group together and participates in the distinction of the eater according to his behavior (the fork stroke, appetite, signs of temperament). This highlight of collective life is the product of a chain of cooperation, from collecting food upstream, preparing food according to segmented processes until it is made available to guests. Paul Gauguin, speaking of this time of sharing, wrote: "Cooking supposes a light head, a generous spirit and a broad heart". A proverb specifies "The table is the go-between for friendship". It leads to a staging of food where the family finds itself at peace. "After a good dinner, you don't blame anyone, even your own family," writes Oscar Wilde.
The act of eating is therefore not reduced to the simple act of eating. Its necessity has gradually built the civilizational center where tastes and practices are developed which unite the group and open it up to others. "To the one who knocks on the door, we do not ask: who are you? We tell him sit down and have dinner "recommends a Siberian proverb; which corresponds with us to "keeping the poor man's share".
The body recharges its batteries emptied by the effort as the tank of a car fills up with gasoline after a long journey. Chewing produces a relaxation of the body and the mind, releases juices, scents and other sensory sensations of texture. The body registers them as so many positive signals, complemented by visual impressions of shapes and colors. All of these feelings induce a complex and renewable pleasure, which satisfies the immediate needs of the body, but also of the mind, whose upstream strategy is doubly rewarded. Claude Levy Strauss writes: "It is not enough for a food to be good, it must also be good to think about".
These crucial moments around food are at the heart of the civilization process of which they constitute one of the foundations. They ultimately lead to overcoming the party and / or ostentatious exhibition. Even if the complexity of human food is today targeted by controversies over waste and its effects on the environment, the symbolism of food participates in the construction of individual and collective identities. In a world that is hungry or full, food remains a space of projection on which the imagination embroiders.
Several of these levels are found in the exhibition, less on a critical level that is not very much approached by the artists (mass distribution, industrial production), than in allegorical forms and humorous or ironic creative outbursts, which are implicitly based on the impression of abundance. They develop edible universes à la Dame Tartine: heavenly or aesthetic, playing on the paradoxical relationship between the refinement of form, textures, colors and the intrinsic fragility of the support, celebrating the table and the party. Food becomes a creative field that widens into the realm of art.
Giuseppe Arcimboldo portrayed the city councilors of his time using fruits and vegetables. Artists today question food and its rites to portray our hyper-consuming society, including its aesthetic ambitions.
Curator: Jean-Paul Blanchet
Participating artists:
Thomas Broomé, Pilar Albarracìn, Aranthell, Damien Berthier, Liu Bolin, Louise Bossut, Nicolas Boulard, Mireille Blanc, Patrice Carré, Jeanne Chopy & Robin Tornambe, Claude Closky, Clément Collet-Billon, Claire Dantzer, Denis Darzacq , Arnaud Dezoteux, Sandra Foltz, Ana González Sola, Elsa Guillaume, Joseph Grigely, Marie Hamel, Hesse Romier, Clémence Joly, Jan Kopp, Enora Lalet, Joachim Lapôtre, Marc Lathuillière, Thomas Lévy-Lasne, Pablo Lobato, Charlie Malgat, Aurélie Mathigot, Chloé Mazlo & Bérengère Henin, Mathieu Mercier, Yao Metsoko, Lucy + Jorge Orta, Pôle-Fromage, Babeth Rambault, Olivier Richon, Gregg Segal Photography, Fabien Souche, Stéphane Soulié, Jeanne Susplugas.
For more information:
www.cacmeymac.fr
