The Polygon Presents Feast for the Eyes: The Story of Food in Photography

Comments 71 by Rebecca Bollwitt Thursday, February 25th, 2021 — 12:08pm PST

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The Polygon Gallery presents the Canadian premiere of the delectably colourful touring exhibition Feast for the Eyes: The Story of Food in Photography. Initially scheduled for 2020, but postponed due the COVID-19 pandemic, the sweeping show will be on display from March 4 to May 30, 2021.

Feast for the Eyes: The Story of Food in Photography

Where: The Polygon Gallery (101 Carrie Cates Ct, North Vancouver)
When: March 4 to May 30, 2021 (Wednesday to Saturday 10:00am to 5:00pm, open until 8:00pm on Thursdays)
Tickets: Admission to The Polygon Gallery is by donation, made possible through generous, multi-year support from BMO Financial Group.

Curated by writer Susan Bright and Aperture Foundation’s senior editor Denise Wolff, Feast for the Eyes tells the history of photography through the enticing lens of food. Featuring the work of more than 60 of the world’s leading artists from the late 19th century to today, including Guy Bourdin, Man Ray, and Wolfgang Tillmans, the exhibition brings together a mouth-watering assortment of over 100 images from photojournalism to fashion photography, from rare cookbooks to advertising.

“The exhibition documents not only the history of photography through one of the most commonly depicted subjects in visual mediums — food — it also illuminates the shifting outlines of our individual and collective identities through acts of communing, hospitality, and sharing. We are delighted to showcase some of the more provocative images created by renowned artists such as Andy Warhol and Cindy Sherman, and to share how disparate genres of photography have been used to express food’s central, sustaining, role in our lives.” – Reid Shier, Director of The Polygon Gallery.

Still Life pays homage to photography’s earliest inspiration, still-life painting, with a focus on classical subjects and composition. The images demonstrate how photography has both borrowed from and subverted the genre of still-lifes, while showcasing the technical and artistic potential of the photographic medium. Black-and-white works by photographer Roger Fenton, one of the world’s first war photographers, are featured alongside work of other pioneers, Edward Weston, the first photographer to receive a Guggenheim Fellowship, and Imogen Cunningham, who broke through gender barriers to help redefine modern photography.

Around the Table examines the social and cultural rituals and traditions around food and community. Some highlights include photographs by Weegee (Arthur Felig), who documented everyday rituals around food such as early-morning bagel deliveries in 1930s and 40s New York, and the Foods of the World series of cookbooks published by Time and LIFE, which captured representations of cultural and national identities through food. A special display of both historical and local cookbooks will be showcased adjacent to the section.

Playing With Your Food reveals how food ignites all five of the senses. Carolee Schneemann’s groundbreaking performance Meat Joy NYC (1964) reflects patriarchal views on cooking by visualizing men and women in ecstatic ritual with food. Pop Art’s tongue-in-cheek humour will be on display with Vik Muniz’s peanut butter and jelly recreation of Warhol’s Double Mona Lisa, and Ed Ruscha’s deadpan portraits of cans of Spam. This section is complemented by a library of rare cookbooks attendees can browse through.

Following the 2017 Aperture publication of a book by the same name, Feast for the Eyes has since traveled to Foam (Amsterdam), The Photographer’s Gallery (London) and the Hasselblad Foundation (Gothenburg).

COVID Safety Protocols

The Polygon has put in place preventative measures to reduce the spread of COVID-19. All exhibitions are planned in accordance with the Provincial Health Officer’s most recent order, including capacity restrictions, social distancing, mandatory mask wearing, and sanitization of high-frequency touch points.

Enter to Win

To spread the word about the exhibition, the Polygon has offered up a $150 prize package to a lucky Miss604 reader! The package will include a variety of kitchen supplies, pantry items, and a cookbook. All of the items will be pulled from The Feast Shop, an expansion of the gallery’s retail store (open during the exhibition’s run) guest curated by Eric Pateman from Edible Canada.

Here’s how you can enter to win:

Leave a comment on this blog post (1 entry)
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[clickToTweet tweet=”RT to enter to win a foodie gift basket (value $150) from @PolygonGallery – Feast for the Eyes: The Story of Food in Photography opens March 4th http://ow.ly/eHcm50DK6nh” quote=” Click to enter via Twitter” theme=”style6″]

I will draw one winner at random from all entries at 12:00pm on Wednesday, March 3, 2021. UPDATE The winner is Tricia!

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