Food

Food is much more than a daily necessity: it is culture, memory, identity, and a way of bringing people together. At the heart of human life since ancient times, it has also been an endless source of inspiration for artists, who have explored its meanings and transformations across different periods and artistic languages.

This catalogue takes readers on a journey through the history of art, showing how the representation of food has evolved over time — from the celebrated creations of Giuseppe Arcimboldo to the still lifes of Clara Peeters, Wilhelm Kalf, and Paul Cézanne, and on to the contemporary reflections of Andy Warhol, Joseph Beuys, Daniel Spoerri, and Félix González-Torres.

The works featured — including paintings, sculptures, installations, and films—reveal how food can become a metaphor for the passage of time, a symbol of desire and abundance, a vehicle for social and political critique, or an opportunity for encounter and participation.

Artists such as Ori Gersht, Sam Taylor-Johnson, Martha Rosler, Carrie Mae Weems, Sigalit Landau, Yinka Shonibare, Ernesto Neto, and Superflex explore its many dimensions, addressing themes that range from identity and globalisation to ecology and memory.

Richly illustrated, the volume offers a fresh perspective on a universal subject that continues to shape our relationship with the body, society, and the world, demonstrating how food remains one of the most powerful ways of telling the story of the human experience.

Text in English and Italian.