The Oreos on display don't twist or crumble, and you definitely can't bite into them. The popular cookies are just a sampling of the smorgasbord of art in the victual-themed "Feast Your Eyes" exhibit at (SCENE) Metrospace, 303 Abbott Road.
In a portrait of a woman noshing on chocolate, Corinn VanWyck, personal chef and artist, merges her artistic and culinary skills. The creation is composed of Cheetos, Bugles, Ritz crackers, gummies and Oreos, but snacking on the foods would be a mistake — they're sealed to the canvas with fiberglass resin.
"I wanted everything on it to be snack foods. I also wanted to have an image of this slender, model-type woman eating," VanWyck said.
She was perturbed by advertisements for snack foods that often depict slim models eating excessive amounts of food.
"They don't show men like that so much, and sneaking off to eat chocolate sets us up to think 'Why can't I eat like that and still look like that?'" she said. "You're supposed to look a certain way because being thin is something that is a virtue … in our society"
Joel Wyse's paintings are sunny-side up with the intent to show the deliciously humorous side of food. His depiction of a man caught in a bacon storm is reminiscent of the children's book "Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs" by Judi and Ron Barrett. The man in the painting proclaims, "It's raining bacon, and I have no pants."
Wyse's art is done in a stream of conscious method. "I was just doodling and thought it was good enough to do a paining of. I'm implying that there might be a meaning but not having a specific meaning in mind myself," he said
Abstruseness is also an element implied in Mary Parisi's mystery meat photographs. Parisi's rare photographs are optical illusions stuffed with ambiguity. Soaking up the content of her work is a stalled process.
"When I look at those pictures and they have the plastic over the feet, it kind of delayed the read from when you see the image and it sinks in," she said. "First you can't tell what the photographs are of, then you see meat and then the bodies of the animals wrapped in plastic.
"When we eat meat we see it more as a ham or a roast or chicken soup, but we don't often see it as the body of the animal. It's not that I'm trying to make a vegetarian statement because I'm not a vegetarian."
The San Francisco dweller's meat musings are more of an exploration of where meat comes from rather than a clear statement. "There is that bit of a disconnect between city people who don't catch it, slaughter it," Parisi said.
Parisi has also photographed fruits in the past.
"I'm interested in unlocking the aesthetic potential of ordinary things. I like the work to invoke something, to not just be a photograph of a thing," she said.
There is quite a spread of appetizing artwork in the collection. Kelly Zechmeister's space spews of the stress and worries related to her eating disorder.
Art education senior Cedric Tai's room delves into the uncertain future of genetically modified foods while Cody Hinz's banana made of yield signs slips in a creative touch.
Heidi Kenney's personified adorable plush foods are fun. Her crafts caught the attention of (SCENE) Metrospace coordinator and curator Emma Kruch while she was browsing boutiques in New York.
Kruch hopes that the exhibit will capture the attention of students and community members.
"I just want to have the option for students to come get cultured. It's a very welcoming place. I encourage people to come and hang out," she said.
Music on Saturdays will make the exhibit an eclectic multimedia extravaganza. This Saturday, Ann Arbor-based electronic band Shenanigans.tv and two other experimental bands will play at (SCENE) Metrospace at 7 p.m.
"Feast Your Eyes" features 14 artists and runs until March 5. The Metrospace is open Fridays and Saturdays from 6 to 9 p.m. and Sundays from 1 to 4 p.m. Call (517) 319-6832 or visit www.scenemetrospace.com for more information.
