Banquet Art
Hokin Gallery, Chicago IL
Presented in conjunction with CAA ARTexchange and Committee on Women in the Arts
Banquet Art is based on 19th century artist, Caroline Shawk Brooks’, live butter sculpting demonstrations in which she sculpted faces one after another on the same bust of butter. This was to prove to skeptical audiences that this sophisticated woman, who was moonlighting as a farmer, was indeed the artist behind her work. Brooks was thinking about how this domestic material could provide her access to a world that was otherwise shut off to her. In Banquet Art, participants also sculpted a series of portraits one after another, on the same bust of butter. This time used to satirize the unstable nature of those in power.
