Palate Exhibit: A New Twist on Food

In honor of National Hamburger Month, take a new perspective on America’s favorite sandwich, among other “foods”, at the Palate Exhibit in Culver City.

Near the entrance of the exhibit, are tons of fast-food hamburger photographs taken by artist Jeff Vespa. You get to see every part of each burger in all of its glorious goodness. You’ll see the chili flowing out of Tommy’s Triple and Double burger. The smaller photos are priced at $750 a piece while the larger ones are on sale for $2,500 each.

Behind this exhibit is my personal favorite, Iced Out by Scott Hove. These cake creations are good enough to eat, but are strictly for looks. They are made of acrylic media and polyurethane foam. Just look at some of the detail the artists goes into with some of his pieces.

Another collection you can’t quite eat is Clare Crespo’s crocheted table of dishes. This was a fun and creative take on food that put a smile on everybody’s face that walked by. However, Clare Crespo has much experience with real with her popular cookbook/art books The Secret Life of Food and Hey There, Cupcake.

Another collection made strictly from cloth is Tamara Kostianovsky’s cuts of meats. You can actually see the tags protruding from the pieces, which were made from articles of clothing. The artist took advantage of the striations in the cloth to mimic those seen in the muscle. A closer look reveals much detail including all the layers of skin, meat, and bone.

However, there was a collection that used food as a medium. Jeph Gurecka took a more eerie artistic approach to food with his mound of bread skulls priced at $50 a piece.

Right next to this mound is another Jeph Gurecka thought-provoking creation called “Selfish”, made with pearls and the exoskeletons of shellfish. Viewers can interpret the artist’s message in this great artwork.

Come see food like you’ve never seen before at the Palate Exhibit showing through June 12, 2010.

Hours: Wednesday-Saturday 11am-6pm & by appointment (310)815-8840.

Location: Scion Installation LA, 3521 Helms Ave, Culver City (map)

Photos courtesy of Luna, Ink.