A Tasteful Palette: A dozen pieces of food art

In the BU Gastronomy program we look at food through many different lenses including gender, culture, history, and nutrition, but we rarely get the chance to observe food through the eyes of an artist. While the culinary arts is clearly an expression of art in its own right, some modern artists are pushing the boundaries of food and idea of the edible to places beyond the plate. Sometimes food serves as the medium and other times it is the concept or inspiration for a piece. To investigate this unique branch of Food Studies, take a scroll through a curated collection of a few new art installations (all available for online viewing) and let the creative juices flow.


The following painting was created by Renaissance artist Giuseppe Arcimboldo and is, by far, one of the most well known pieces of food art.

photo credit: Smithsonian

Instead of paint, some modern artists prefer to achieve a similar portrait look using real food.

photo credit: The Vegetable Museum

Other artists use food for inspiration and employ other mediums…like string and sequins…

photo credit: Kate Jenkins

…or paper…

photo credit: Prim Prim Studio

Some artists use food to create striking geometric (and organic) creations…

photo credit: Sakir Gokcebag

photo credit: Carl Kleiner

Others use food to build new things…like wine glasses made of molten sugar…

photo credit: Amelia Desnoyers

…and architectural structures, like this one made entirely out of sticks of gum…

photo credit: Design Boom for Jeremy Laffon

And others use art to show new ways to interpret the same old foods…

photo credit: Beth Galton

photo credit: Red Hongyi

photo credit: David Schwen

photo credit: Design Boom for Luciana Rondolini


So, are you feeling hungry or inspired?

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