Feast

The companion to a one-of-a-kind exhibition at the University of Chicago's Smart Museum of Art, "Feast: Radical Hospitality in Contemporary Art" explores the role of the meal in contemporary art. "Feast "offers the first survey of the artist-orchestrated meal: since the 1930s, acts of sharing food and drink have been used to advance aesthetic goals and foster critical engagement with the culture of the moment. Both exhibition catalogue and reader, this richly illustrated book offers an interdisciplinary exploration of the art of the meal and its relationship to questions about hospitality, politics, and culture.From the Italian Futurists' banquets in the 1930s, to 1960s and '70s Western conceptual and performative work, to the prevalence of social practice today, "Feast "considers a diverse group of artists who have taken on practices of sharing food with friends, families, and strangers. After an essay by curator Stephanie Smith, the book includes new interviews with over twenty contributing artists and reprinted excerpts of classic texts. It also features a selection of essays expanding on central themes contributed by Irina Aristarkhova, Geoff Emberling, Charles Esche, Hannah Higgins, Carolyn Korsmeyer, Amy Mooney, Abigail Satinsky, Stephanie Snyder, David Teh, Jacqueline Terrassa, Jan Verwoert, and Lori Waxman.